History
New Cemetery of Montgomery
Burial place of many honored Texans, including Dr. Charles B. Stewart, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first secretary of state; also wife of Gen. Memucan Hunt, Texas soldier and statesman. Other noted individuals here include soldiers of the Texas army and veterans of the Civil War and other wars engaged in by the United States.
History
Noah Griffith (1786-1853) _ Esther Wightman Griffith (1788-1863)
Members of Stephen F. Austin's second colony, Noah Griffith (1786-1853) and his wife Esther (Wightman) (1788-1863) came to Texas in 1829 from New York. They lived in the port community of Matagorda before moving here in 1831. This site is part of their original Mexican land grant. Griffith was a farmer and miller, and the Griffith home was used as an early polling place. Recorded - 1980
History
Oklahoma School
Early residents of what would become the Oklahoma settlement moved into the area in the middle to late 19th century. Families farmed, raised livestock and used the rail station at nearby Hufsmith for shipment of local products.
History
Old Dr. Wm. P. Powell Home
Remaining portion of 13-room house built in 1872 by carpenter Sid Inglet. Powell-- a pioneer physician, Confederate veteran-- married Miss Mary Eugenia Thompson, 1863, in Waverly; six of their 12 children born here. He traveled by horse and buggy to visit the sick; used home as office and improvised hospital until his death, Nov. 6, 1915. Purchased in 1946 by justice of the peace, R. M. Jordy.
History
Reinhardt Homestead
Conrad Reinhardt (1886-1969) bought this property in 1918 and established this homestead where he and his wife, Lillie Bell Freeman (1894-1970), raised a family and lived until their deaths. Built about 1920 of heart of pine and magnolia lumber cut from the property's trees, the house reflects the bungalow style in its hipped roof and three-bay porch with tapered columns on brick piers.
History
Reuben Jonathan Palmer
(January 18, 1829 - March 20, 1868) Born in Appomattox County, Va., son of Reuben DeJarnette and Martha P. (Christian) Palmer; he was educated at Randolph-Macon College. Moved to Texas in 1856. A Montgomery lawyer; served in 9th Legislature, State of Texas, and in Secession Convention, 1861. Married Frances Winifred, the daughter of Robert G. and Agnes (Wood) Branch.
History
Shelton-Smith House
A part of this house may have existed as early as 1855, when site and improvements were sold to John E. Shelton. He was a master craftsman who built other fine houses prior to 1860. Shelton built the main portion about 1858 for his friend and business partner, Thomas Wesley Smith (1829-1902), who later was a leading cigar manufacturer in this county. Smith and his heirs owned the house until 1924.
History
Site of Former Town of Danville
Founded before 1840 as trade center, rich plantation area. Many prominent families had Texas beginnings here. At peak, town had 15 businesses, several churches, good schools; refusing right-of-way to Houston & Great Northern Railway in 1870s, lost its people and commerce to new town of Willis, on the railroad. Sheperd Hill Cemetery (at this site) is all that remains of the once-thriving town.
History
Site of the Home of Dr. Charles B. Stewart
1806-1885. Member of the Consultation, 1835. First Secretary of State. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Delegate from Montgomery County to the Constitutional Convention of 1845. Member of the Texas Legislature. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Site of Willis Cigar Factory
Following the Civil War, area farmers found the climate and soil conditions of Montgomery County were ideal for the production of tobacco. The varieties grown here were of the highest quality, winning international awards in Chicago and Paris. At the height of local tobacco production, there were eight cigar operations in Willis. One, the Willis Cigar Factory, was located at this site.
History
Sunday-Moore House
George J. Sunday, an early area sawmill worker, and his wife Aletha built this home in the 1890s on land his father bought in 1870. In 1906 it was purchased by Alabama native Will Moore and his wife Mary, who farmed here until the late 1920s.
History
Telegraph Road
A pioneer trail connecting the towns of Montgomery, Houston, and Huntsville, in use as early as 1845, became an important transportation and freighting route for early settlers. After the Texas and Red River Telegraph Company was established in 1854, wires were strung along the historic trail to extend service to Montgomery and Houston. The route soon became known as the "Telegraph Road.
Architecture
The Davison Home
County's first prefabricated house. Built 1887-88 by R.A. Corry. Parts were shipped from St. Louis. Hand-carved wainscot, staircase, mantels. Wood is cypress. Original doors and hardware are still in use. In family of C.H. Davison since 1889. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
History
The Griffith Homesite and Cemetery
Elias R. Wightman, a surveyor in Stephen F. Austin's first colony, returned to the United States in 1828 to recruit additional settlers. Two colonists who joined him in New York were his sister Esther (1788-1863) and her husband Noah Griffith (1786-1853). In the early part of 1829 they arrived at the Texas port of Matagorda, platted earlier by Wightman.
History
The Isaac Conroe Property
Temporary Montgomery County Courthouse. A native of New Jersey, Isaac Conroe (1834-1897) served with the Union army during the Civil War. Moving to Southeast Texas with his wife Margaret (Richardson) (1846-1896) in 1866, he lived at Lynchburg and Houston. In 1878 he built a sawmill at Haltom (12 mi. S) and three years later moved his business to the Beach community (2.5 mi. E).
History
The Old Methodist Churchyard
In Jan. 1839, the Rev. Isaac Strickland organized a Methodist Church whose members soon built a log meetinghouse on this site donated by founders of the town of Montgomery. The churchyard came into use for burials during the 1840s. When Pastor G. W. Rabb was dying in 1851, he requested burial beneath the altar of the frame church then being built to replace the log cabin.
History
The Railroad in Montgomery
Problems with transporting farm crops to market, along with the growing importance of rail transportation were major factors that prompted area businessmen to organize the Central and Montgomery (C & M) Railroad in 1877. Completed by 1880, the C & M consisted of a 25-mile track connecting Montgomery with the Houston & Texas Central Railroad at Navasota.
Architecture
The W. A. "Bay" Evans Home
Architect Blum E. Hester, who designed the Creighton Theatre, drew the plans for this house in 1933. Built for William Arthur "Bay" Evans (1900-1954) and his wife Garnet, the residence features elements of the Renaissance Revival style. A leader in Conroe during the city's oil boom period, Evans operated the Humble Oil Co. Bulk Station and was a director of the First National Bank.
History
West Fork of The San Jacinto River
Patiri and other Indians lived here in Archaic and Neo-American periods. When Spanish incursions began in the 1700s, the river was named either for hyacinths or for the saint on whose day it was discovered. Pioneers from the United States settled on the San Jacinto before Stephen F. Austin founded his colony to the west in 1821.
History
Willis
Founded in 1870. Named for P. J. and R. S. Willis (large land and timber owners who formerly were merchants in area). They gave townsite, on the Houston & Great Northern Railroad. With the line came prosperity, and in 1874 Willis and Montgomery vied for county seat, but both eventually lost to Conroe.
History
Willis Male and Female College
Founded 1888, when coeducation was rare. Willis citizens raised funds for 2-1/2 story building put up by contractor Sidney L. Inglet. Taxes funded three of the six months of school; monthly tuition for rest of year ranged from $1.50 (first grade) to $4.00. First directors -- M. H. and S. N. Barker and N. A. Cravens -- sold out (1890) to C. H. Stovall and F. P.
History
Wood-Valda Home
"Homewood." Built 1887 by merchant, landowner, farmer Wm. Baker Wood (1853-1941) and wife, Amelia Davis (1859-1943). Choice heart pine, shiplap siding. Square nails. Board and batten kitchen at first was detached. Cypress-lined underground cistern. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
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.
