History
Stafford Plantation
Stafford Plantation Tennessean William Joseph Stafford and his second wife, Martha Cartwright, moved their family to this area in 1822 as part of Stephen F. Austin's "old 300" colony. Here they reared eight children and developed a plantation with a sugar cane mill and cotton gin.
History
Stafford's Point (Ghost Town)
One of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300," William J. Stafford (1764-1840), founded the settlement of Stafford's Point on the 6819.7-acre land grant he received in the winter of 1824. Bringing his family and slaves from his Louisiana sugar plantation, he was planting much land and had a sugar mill and cotton gin in operation by 1834. His manager, Clement c.
History
Sugar Land
Founded 1853. Named by B. F. Terry and W. J. Kyle for sugar mill and plantation bought on their return with fortunes from California Gold Rush. The town's founders organized Terry's Texas Rangers at the start of the Civil War. Farming market. Site of Texas' only cane sugar refinery. Texas prison farms are located nearby.
Architecture
Sugar Land Auditorium
Built in 1917, this auditorium is the oldest public building still in use in Sugar Land. It was designed in the Mission Revival style by Imperial Sugar Company engineer M. R. Wood as the central structure in a crescent-shaped eleven-building school complex.
History
Sugar Land Independent School District No. 17
A public school was established as early as 1912 for families moving to the company town of Sugar Land. In 1918, the State Legislature created Sugar Land Independent School District No. 17, with the requirement that at least two of the seven board members be women. Mary Anna Collins Woods served as the first school superintendent. Sugar company engineer M. R.
History
Taylor Ray
(1863-1936) Born in Wabash, Indiana, Taylor Ray left home at the age of 13 to seek his fortune. In 1890 he married Mattie Newton (1871-1951) and they had seven children. As railroad freight agent for the Wells Fargo Co., in 1894, Ray was temporarily assigned to Rosenberg where he remained for the rest of his life.
Architecture
Teague-Waddell House
Local businessman Norman P. Teague (1879-1913) and his wife Sidney Claire (Brooks) (1879-1952) erected this two-story residence in 1910. It has ornate columns and Classical Revival detailing popular at the time. This was one of several elegant homes that stood along this street, known as Rosenberg's "Silk Stocking Row." In 1925 Jake H. Waddell (1868-1942) purchased the house.
History
Terry v. Adams
During the first half of the 20th century, the U. S. Supreme Court heard a series of significant Texas voting rights cases which collectively ended the 'white primary' system established in many areas of the South after the Civil War. White primaries were unofficial, pre-election polls barred to African Americans that effectively prevented them from having any political influence.
History
Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building
Central State Farm's roots trace to the late 1870s, when the original 5,235 acres of the sugar plantation here were worked by convict labor. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, public sentiment largely supported a self-sustaining prison system, with no state funds for facilities or operations. Beginning in 1878, Edward H. Cunningham and Littleberry A. Ellis leased prison labor from the state.
Architecture
The Darst-Yoder House
This 14-room classical revival structure of cypress and pine has 11-foot ceilings, four fireplaces; built in 1908 by R. H. Darst (1859-1938), grandson of an 1829 Texas pioneer, direct descendant of Daniel Boone. Here Darst and his wife Pearle (Ransom) reared three sons, kept open house, lived to old age -- Mrs. Darst surviving to 94.
History
The Fitzgerald and Fenn Families
David Fitzgerald, a veteran of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, came to Texas from Georgia in 1821.His son-in-law, Eli Fenn, followed in 1832. Fenn served during the Texas Revolution and signed the 1837 petition for the creation of Fort Bend County. An expert in natural remedies, his wife Sarah aided sick residents. One of their sons, John R.
Architecture
The John H. Pickens Davis House
Built by son of Kinchen Davis, who escaped death by drawing a white bean in famous ordeal of Texans in 1842 Mexican conflict. As a "Jaybird" leader, builder J. H. Davis (1851-1927), prevented lynchings in Jaybird-Woodpecker War of the 1880s. He was owner of much land and livestock. This house, built about 1880, is of cypress and white pine, with many fine details unusual in its era.
Architecture
The McFarlane House
A native of Scotland, Isaac McFarlane (1840-1900) served with Terry's Texas Rangers during the Civil War and later became a successful merchant in Richmond. This home was constructed for his family in the early 1880s by local builder Thomas Culshaw. Prominent features include the Italianate hood molds over the windows and doors and the cut metal cresting on the roof ridge.
Architecture
The Peareson-Winston House
Col. P. E. Peareson, a Civil War veteran and lawyer whose firm practiced in richmond almost a century, moved this house to this site in 1869. The builder is not identified, and there have been Victorian additions, but the house retains great dignity. Peareson relatives lived here until 1931. Thomas Blakely Winston, a great-great grandson of Jane Long, the "Mother of Texas," lived here 1931-1961.
History
The Sugar Land Refinery
Stephen F. Austin's colonists brought sugar cane to Fort Bend County in the 1820s. The Sugar Land area was once part of Oakland Plantation, where Nathaniel (1800-84) and Matthew Williams (1805-52) planted sugar cane about 1840. They began processing the cane in 1843 using a horse-powered mill and open-air cooking kettles. In 1853 the plantation and mill were purchased by William J.
History
Thomas Jefferson Smith
Born in Virginia 1808, reared in Georgia. Fought in Texas War for Independence, 1836, under James W. Fannin at Refugio Mission. Captured at Goliad, was spared to repair guns for Mexican Army. Escaped during Battle of San Jacinto. Settled in Richmond after the war; owned blacksmith shop, hotel, livery stable. Sheriff of Fort Bend County 1853-1857. Married twice and father of eight; he died Feb.
History
Town of Fulshear
On July 16, 1824, land grant of Mexico to Churchill Fulshear, one of the "Old 300" settlers of Stephen F. Austin, father of Texas. Churchill Fulshear, Jr., veteran of Texas War for Independence, built 4-story brick mansion in 1850s, bred and raced horses at Churchill Downs (at Pittsville, 2 mi. N). His pupil, John Huggins, won world fame by training first American horse to win the English Derby.
History
Town of Needville
Had beginning in 1892 when settler August Schendel opened general store, here, on his land. Blacksmith shop, cotton gin, and room for post office had been added by 1894, when Schendel was appointed first postmaster. He suggested naming place "Needmore" because it needed more of everything, but another town already had that name. Slowly village became trade center.
History
Trone-Ray-Lane House
This house is located on the 1824 land grant of one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300" colonists, Henry Scott. It was built as a wedding gift in 1909 for rancher-banker Earl R. Trone and his wife. Her parents from Indiana had it constructed of pine and cypress with a granite foundation to withstand hurricanes and floods. In 1925 Taylor and Mattie N. ray bought the house.
Architecture
Vogelsang Building
Built in 1910 by Jacob Gray, this building was leased by Louis a. Vogelsang (1874-1961) in 1916 for his general merchandise business. Vogelsang bought the property in 1922, and continued to operate his store at this site until 1947. The early commercial building features brick construction with simple corbelled cornice, segmented-arch upper windows and shop-front lower windows and doors.
History
Walter Moses Burton
(August 9, 1840 - June 4, 1913) Born a slave in North Carolina, Walter Moses Burton was brought to Texas about 1860. At the end of the Civil War, he purchased land from his former owner, Thomas B. Burton, from whom he had also learned to read and write. Walter Burton became a successful farmer and in 1869 was elected sheriff of Fort Bend County.
History
Williams Family
The southeastern road into Richmond is named Williams Way Boulevard after the Williams family who shaped the area's history. Joseph Crawley Williams, Sr., born in 1838 in Louisiana, came to Fort Bend County in 1860 after earning a law degree in Tennessee. He was a captain in the Civil War 1861-1865.
History
Wyly Martin
Scout under Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, 1813; served under Gen. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812; alcalde, San Felipe de Austin; delegate to the conventions of texas, 1832-33; member of the Consultation, 1835; captain of a company in the Army of Texas, March 7 to May 15, 1836; chief justice of Fort Bend County, 1838-41; born in Georgia, 1776; died April 2, 1842. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
