Architecture
Ross-Carroll House
About 1899, Mary (Dwyer) Ross built this house on land she inherited from her father, Thomas Dwyer. Built of cypress, the Queen Anne style house features Victorian ornamentation in its open tower, a second level porch with horseshoe arches, and jigsawn friezes and brackets. Mary's daughter Matilda (Ross) Carroll inherited the house in 1941, and it remained in the family until 1970.
History
Salem Lutheran Church
This church was organized in the Salem community on Nov. 22, 1856, by The Rev. Johann G. Ebinger and 17 charter members. Worship services were first held in a log cabin on land deeded by Wilhelm Bohne (.3 mi. SW). In 1913 the church moved to the present site. The second oldest German Lutheran congregation in Washington County, Salem Lutheran Church has led in the development of the area.
History
Salem School District No. 4
Early schools of Salem were created through the organization of Salem Lutheran Church is 1865. Two acres of land was given to the Salem church trustees by William Bohne in 1858 for the establishment of a church and schoolhouse, and another two acres for a second church building in 1867. The old church house remained as a schoolhouse and parsonage.
Architecture
Schmid Bros. Building
Swiss immigrant Josef Schmid began a mercantile business in Brenham in 1880. He was joined by his brothers Benjamin and Sigmund to form Schmid Bros. in 1889, and in 1899-1900 they erected this building to house their business enterprises. Built in the Renaissance revival style, it features multi-bay configurations on both floors and round-arched windows with hood moldings. Sold by Schmid Bros.
Architecture
Schuerenberg House
Local blacksmith and hardware merchant Frederick William Schuerenberg, II, and his wife, Bertha Reichardt, lived in this house with their family. Built in 1895 by local contractor Alex Griffin, the house is an excellent example of the Queen Anne style. Hallmark features include a 7-bay wraparound porch, decorative wood detailing, and a turret. The house remained in the family until 1993.
Architecture
Seelhorst-Lehrmann House
Handsome Victorian residence with 18' x 18' ground floor rooms; 13" plastered brick walls; and a copper roof from which rain is piped to cistern on back porch. Constructed about 1879 by W. E. Seelhorst, a German settler who built many fine Brenham houses. About 1883 a nephew Adolph and wife, Louisa (Winterfelt) Seelhorst, moved here. Their family owned the house 1891-1944. Mr. and Mrs.
History
Site of Chappell Hill College
Established in 1852 by the Methodist Church as Chappel Hill Male and Female Institute. After Soule University for Boys was established in 1856, Chappel Hill College was a school for girls. Existed until 1912.
History
Site of Independence School
Although private schools were in operation in Independence as early as 1835, tax-supported public schools were not established until the 1870s. In September 1870 the county court ordered that each of the five precincts in the county be divided into two school districts--one for white students and one for black students.
History
Site of Masonic Academy
Replaced Hickory Grove School, organized 1840. Land was given to Graham Lodge No. 20, A.F. & A.M.; lodge built Masonic Academy in 1849, only school in the area. Texas Public School Act of 1875 caused academy to close, and property sale proceeds were given to Brenham public school. (1973)
Military
Site of Mustering of a Unit of Hood's Texas Brigade, C.S.A.
Co. I, Fifth Texas Infantry Regt., Army of Northern Virginia, was raised here Aug. 1861, as "The Texas Aides" by Capt. J.B. Robertson. Unit fought in many battles of Civil War--Gaines Mill, Second Manassas, Antietam, Gettysburg, Chickamauga and the Wilderness. Robertson became brigadier general and succeeded Hood as Commander Oct. 1862. Replaced by brigadier general John Gregg, Jan. 1864. Col. R.
History
Site of Old St. Anthony Hotel
Center of Brenham hospitality for 122 years. Originally a two-story log stage depot adjoined by a log cabin complex called the Washington County Hotel. Changed owners several times through the years. General Sam Houston once stayed here while campaigning against secession. Renamed St. Anthony Hotel 1914, by new owner Mrs. A. A. Hacker, who did extensive remodeling.
History
Site of Rees Sanitarium
Brenham's first hospital. Dr. H. Clay Rees (1864-1914), president of a Waco medical and surgical clinic, built (1897) a 2-story sanitarium on this site. Dispensary and surgery were in a detached building. By 19th century standards, this was an advanced medical complex. But strained by his work here and in Waco, Dr. Rees' health failed. He moved to Kerrville.
History
Site of Soule University for Boys
Established in 1855 and chartered in 1856 to replace Rutersville and Wesleyan Colleges. Closed during the Civil War and later by yellow fever. Succeeded in 1875 by Southwestern University
History
Site of the Home of General Sam Houston and Family
Site of the home of General Sam Houston and family; Original house built in 1837 by Thomas Barron; first occupied by the Houstons in 1854; torn down and rebuilt in 1897 by James Dallas.
History
Site of Wesley School
Czech immigrants came to this area in 1859 and renamed it Wesley community. Professor Josef Masik tutored children in his home. The Bohemian Slovakian Reading Club of Wesley provided the first area school building about 1863. School was taught in the Wesley Brethren Church, a larger facility, beginning in 1866. As the area grew, another structure was required in 1873 and again in 1898.
Transport
Southern Pacific Freight Depot
In the early 1860s, local residents built a county rail line to connect to the Houston & Texas Central Railway, which bought the line in 1869. Brenham became a regional distribution center, and its population grew dramatically. Circa 1916, the H&TC, then owned by Southern Pacific Railroad Co., built this depot. Southern Pacific maintained a presence in Brenham until 1975.
History
St. Paul-Rehburg School
Although the earliest written records of the St. Paul and Rehburg Schools date to 1880 and 1883 respectively, local tradition suggests they originated with informal classes held at the homes of pioneer farmers in this area of Washington County in the late 1840s. A schoolhouse was erected on St. Paul Lutheran Church property in 1898. This structure served both the St.
History
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church
German immigrants began settling in Washington County in the 1840s. The first German Lutheran congregation began in 1855 in the community of Berlin. The growing German Lutheran community in Brenham organized this congregation, first known as the German Evangelical Lutheran Church, in 1890 and called The Rev. Gottlieb Langner to serve as pastor.
History
St. Peter's Lutheran Church
This congregation was founded by German immigrants who came to the Gay Hill community in the 1880s. In 1884, they purchased land at this site and constructed a church building. Pastors of neighboring congregations held worship services here until The Rev. Ed Schuelke arrived in 1885 to become the first full-time minister. The German language was used in all official church records until 1937.
Architecture
Steiner & Dallmeyer Building
Built by 1875, this commercial structure first housed the Burton Farmers Co-op. In 1903, German immigrants William Dallmeyer and Joe Steiner opened a mercantile business, which was in operation for over fifty years. The store housed the first telephone in town and served as a local cotton marketing center.
History
Texas Confederate County Commissioners Court
Composed of a chief justice (now county judge) and four county commissioners, these elected governing boards directed vital Civil War programs. Provided arms, clothing, horses and saddles for troops from county. Gave aid to wartime factories. Obtained and distributed to soldier's families scarce medicine, food, cloth, salt and cotton and wool cards.
Civic & Local
The Brenham Maifest
The Brenham Maifest has evolved from the German Volksfest, a spring festival carried to this area by German Texans who settled near Brenham. When the Brenham Fire Department assumed the duties of the Volksfest Association in 1880, the exclusively German celebration was opened to the public, and the name Maifest was adopted.
Architecture
The Gantt-Jones House
One of the homes in the early Union Hill settlement, this Greek Revival residence was built about 1860 for Dr. William Henry Gantt (d. 1867), a physician and scientist who later taught at Galveston Medical College. The second owner, 1865-1890, was Henry B. ("Jo-He") Jones, the inventor of a multi-purpose medicinal ointment. The family of Louis Prenzler lived here from 1908 to 1973.
History
The Nancy Lea Bell
Given to Independence Baptist Church in 1856 by Mrs. Nancy Moffette Lea, in thanks for conversion of her son-in-law, Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas. Cast in copper and tin, for soft tone, by Meneely Foundry, New York. Broken in fall from belfry, 1969.
Architecture
The Witte-Williams House
Victor Witte (1820-1900), who came from Hanover, Germany, to Latium in 1848 built a 3-room frame house here for son Armin in 1872; later added log cabin from Mill Creek Crossing of nearby Houston-Austin wagon road, as a hay barn. Witte's granddaughter, Emma Williams, and family moved here in 1906, built 2-room ell and porch in 1914. Her descendants sold place in 1969 to Mr. and Mrs.
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.
