History
Katy Holland McDowell Treadwell Cobb
In 1822, at the age of seven, Katy Holland migrated to Texas with her parents as a member of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300" Colony. Her life reflects the harshness of frontier life in Texas. Twice widowed before her marriage to William Cobb in the 1840s, she was the mother of five children.
History
Kenneth Lewis Anderson
Anderson Erected by the State of Texas In memory of Patience Burdett Wife of Kenneth Lewis Anderson Born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, Dec. 25, 1806 Died July 4, 1886 Buried at San Antonio, Texas in memory of Kenneth Lewis Anderson Born in Hillsboro, North Carolina, Sept.
History
La Bahia Trail
Originally an Indian trail through Southern Texas and Louisiana; known to Spanish explorers as early as 1690, when the De Leon Expedition passed this site on the way from Mexico to East Texas. With 115 men, 721 horses, 82 loads of flour, and other supplies, Alonso de Leon, Governor of Coahuila, and Father Massanet, a Franciscan priest, entered the wilds of Texas.
History
Lake Grove Community
Grimes County law partners Ben Goodrich and H. H. Boone (Texas Attorney General 1876-78), donated four acres of land at this location to trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1874 for church, school, and cemetery use by the surrounding loosely-knit farm community of Lake Grove. The community promptly built a church structure that they used for religious and school purposes.
History
Lee Tabernacle Methodist Church
This Methodist congregation was founded in 1860, and worshipped with the Baptist church in shared facilities in Navasota. A church building was erected in 1866 in what was called "Freeman's Town." The Methodist group was formally organized in 1876, and built a separate facility a few years later. This church building was erected in 1896.
Architecture
Lewis J. Wilson Building
A native of Connecticut, Lewis J. Wilson (1832-1895) moved with his parents to Grimes County in 1851. His father Samuel opened a general merchandise business in Anderson. Lewis managed the store until 1861 when he left to serve in the Civil War. After the war he returned to Anderson and opened a mercantile store in partnership with W. R. Howell and John Quincy Yarborough.
History
McAlpine Cemetery
About 1851 North Carolina native Dugald McAlpine (1795-1876) moved here to the pioneer community of Wallace's Prairie and purchased a large tract of land. Adjacent to his property and at this location were four burial sites associated with his neighbor's nearby "Alta Vista" (Spanish for Fair View) farm and farmhouse.
History
Michael Moore Kennard
Born in Tennessee. In 1828 he and family joined Robertson's Colony, bound for Texas. Arrived in 1830, probably having stopped to "make a crop" along the way. Lived in present Grimes County; was granted a third of a league of land in Robertson's Colony. For his service in the Texas Revolution, received additional land in Menard and Leon Counties.
Architecture
Mickelborough Building
Eliza Johnson (d. 1876) had this building constructed in 1874 following a fire which destroyed several structures on the block. It was made of limestone rubble to comply with a city ordinance requiring all new construction to include fireproof materials. August Horst (d. 1920), a local investor, bought the property in 1877 and sold it two years later to his wife's brothers, E. P. and J. H.
History
Miss Sally Thompson School Building
Miss Sally Thompson School Building, about 1840. Blue-back speller taught here. Fee: $3 a month. Now Allen Home. Recorded Historic Landmark, 1965
Architecture
Norwood House
Built to serve as the first residence of Ewing and Mattie (Brosig) Norwood, this house was completed in 1898, while Ewing Norwood was president of the First National Bank of Navasota. Designed and built by local architect Ernest Lord, the home exhibits Queen Anne influences in the entry and porch detailing and features a depressed arch and a balustrade over the entryway.
Architecture
Old First National Bank of Navasota
Local architect, contractor and stonemason James Davern and his brother-in-law C. C. Camp built this commercial edifice in the 1880s. Constructed of cement-covered stone rubble, it was remodeled with Renaissance Revival detailing in the 1890s, during the ownership of the First National Bank of Navasota.
History
Old Oakland Cemetery
Founded in 1867 in connection with the Oakland Baptist Church, which stood here until moved to Roans Prairie in 1913. Graves of many pioneers are located here. Oakland was once a popular way-station for the Bates and Black Stagecoach Lines, which ran from Austin to Huntsville until 1880.
History
Orphans Friend Lodge No. 17 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons
Organized April 8, chartered June 30, 1842. Pioneered in education. Operated Masonic Collegiate Institute, 1846-1851. Reserving lodge room, gave school to St. Paul's Episcopal College, which was in operation until 1856. Later plant was used by various schools. In 1905 it was sold, and lodge relocated here.
History
Plantersville Cemetery
Settlers from the southern United States began arriving in this area as early as the 1830s. A post office opened in 1856 as Plantersville, a name suggested by Sarah Greene to honor local planters. Members of her family are buried here. This site was used as early as 1864 as a burial ground when young H.G. Jameson was interred here; his is the oldest marked grave.
History
Primus Kelly
A slave. Came to nearby Courtney, Grimes County in 1851 with his master, John W. S. West from North Carolina. West was a prominent and wealthy pioneer planter and landowner. At the outbreak of the Civil War, West sent Kelly "to take care" of his three sons-- Robert M., Richard and John Haywood-- who joined the famous Terry's Texas Rangers, where they served with distinction.
Architecture
R. B. S. Foster Home
Early Texas plantation home in architectural style of the Atlantic states. Malcolm Camp, wealthy cotton planter, built this structure in 1859, with lumber hauled from East Texas sawmills. High-ceilinged rooms are very large. Formal dining room in sandstone-lined cellar was unique. Had detached kitchen. Purchased 1883 by a leading local citizen, R.B.S.
History
Richards Colored School
In the mid-1800s, area African-American children attended school in nearby Longstreet. The first school in Richards began in St. Thomas Methodist Episcopal Church circa 1913. School moved to the Masonic Lodge Hall before a two-story schoolhouse with auditorium was built near the railroad tracks.
Architecture
Robert A. Horlock House
Alabama native Robert Augustus Horlock (1849-1926) came to Navasota in 1871. Here he became a prominent businessman and civic leader. He and his wife, Agnes (White), had this home built in the early 1890s. The house, which remained in the Horlock family for nearly 100 years, exhibits influences of the eastlake and stick styles of architecture.
History
Saint Paul's Episcopal Church
In 1864, Bishop Alexander Gregg organized an Episcopal mission in Navasota that became a parish in 1866. Originally known as the Church of the Holy Comforter, it was renamed in 1870, when the church building from St. Paul's in Washington (7 mi. SW) was acquired and relocated to Navasota on land donated by the Houston and Texas Central Railway.
Architecture
Sangster House
Built in 1902 by Robert Andrew "Buck" Sangster (1878-1957), with part of the proceeds from a winning lottery ticket. Constructed in the Queen Anne revival style with classic revival elements on the exterior. Curly red pine woodwork decorates the 12-room interior. Ernest Lord (1860-1941) was the architect. The house was purchased in 1929 by Sangster's brother, W. W.
History
Sarah Bradley Dodson
(January 8, 1812-October 9, 1848) Kentucky native Sarah Bradley came to Texas with Stephen F. Austin's Old 300 Colony in 1823. She married Archelaus B. Dodson in 1835, and made a blue, white, and red flag with a single white star for her husband's army company during the Texas Revolution.
History
Sarah Bradley Dodson
Born in Kentucky in 1812, eleven-year-old Sarah Bradley and her parents arrived in Texas in 1823 with Stephen F. Austin's old three hundred colonists, settling near Brazoria. Sarah married Archelaus Bynum Dodson of nearby Harrisburg on May 17, 1835.
Military
Site of a Munition Factory
Site of a munition factory of the Southern Confederacy. Established in 1861. In operation until 1865. Cannon, cannon balls, guns, pistols, swords, sabers, bayonets and gun powder were manufactured. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Site of Freeman Inn
Built by Ira M. Freeman, 1856; way station and hotel for passengers on several stage lines through city. Two-story pine building housed many travelers, among them, Sam Houston. Important visitors, officers stayed here in Civil War. Coaches and teams were kept in Freeman's barns.
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.
