History
Shanghai Pierce Ranch
The home of a great trail driver Abel H. Pierce, born in June 29, 1834. Died December 26, 1900. From a penniless cowboy, he rose through energy and shrewdness to the rank of "cattle king."
History
Shanghai Pierce Ranch House
Built 1886, in lavish style. On first floor was office of highly successful ranch. Legend says Pierce (cattle king famed for introducing Brahmas in Texas) used to stand on Southern Pacific station, a mile away.
Civic & Local
Shearith Israel Synagogue
Jewish families in Wharton began meeting together for worship services about 1899. The congregation received its official charter in 1913 and was registered as Shearith Israel Synagogue. A synagogue building was erected on S. Rusk Street in 1921, and J. Keilin was the first rabbi. A cemetery was established on N. Alabama Rd. in 1937.
History
Site Of Pierce Hotel
Here, in the 1890s, the celebrated Texas Cattleman A. H. "Shanghai" Pierce (1834-1900) platted the townsite of Pierce, which he hoped would become the Wharton County seat. Its proximity to his ranch headquarters in the central part of the county was a major factor in his choice of locations for the town. He laid out a public square, courthouse square, academy square, and a cemetery.
Military
Site of Post West Bernard Station
In the summer of 1837 Post West Bernard Station was established as an ordnance depot of the army of The Republic of Texas. Its location on the West Bernard River was strategic in protecting Houston, then capital of Texas, from possible invasion by Mexico. Cannons, rifles, muskets, powder, and shot were stored at the station. Troops under Lt. H. L. Grush and later Capt. Martin K.
History
Site of Quinan Community
The village of Quinan was established about 1872 on the Wharton-Richmond road. It was named for Judge George E. Quinan (1819-1893), who lived south of here on Peach Creek. A native of Ireland, Quinan served in the Texas Senate and on the state Court of Civil Appeals. He was one of the founders of the State Bar of Texas.
History
Site of World War II Prisoner of War Camp
Included in a land grant awarded in 1824 to Martin Allen, one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists, this property has had a long and varied history. In the 1840s Allen's heirs sold most of his land to Albert Clinton Horton, Wharton County planter, Texas revolution veteran, and the state's first lieutenant governor.
Civic & Local
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Rev. Ernst August Wenzel, a German Lutheran missionary, began visiting German immigrant families in the Kriegel area east of Wharton in the 1890s. They formed a congregation, and in 1898 purchased the former Methodist church building in Wharton and named it after St. John. After the storm of 1900 destroyed their sanctuary, the members rebuilt, and in 1930 moved to this location.
Civic & Local
St. Paul Lutheran Church
This church traces its history to 1893, when German settlers in Waterhouse (about 10 miles W) began worshiping together. Officially named St. John Lutheran Church in 1895, the congregation moved to Glen Flora in 1920, after storms destroyed its first three houses of worship. The Glen Flora sanctuary, built in 1920, was destroyed by a 1929 tornado.
History
St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Parish
The city of El Campo began in 181 as a rail stop on the New York, Texas & Mexican Railroad connecting Houston and Victoria. The region's fertile soils encouraged farming, and numerous families of diverse backgrounds moved to the area.
Industry & Science
Texas Gulf Sulphur Company-Newgulf
The Gulf Sulphur Company began in Matagorda County in 1909, and in 1918 changed its name to Texas Gulf Sulphur Company. A plant was built at the Big Hill Dome, and the first sulphur was produced in 1919. A company town was created and named Gulf, Texas. New reserves of sulphur were acquired in Wharton County.
History
Wharton Cemetery
Wharton County was established in 1846, and the county seat, Wharton, was laid out on the Mexican land grant of "Old 300" colonist William Kincheloe. In 1866, county commissioners appointed James Whitten to find a suitable location for a cemetery. The site chosen was just a few blocks from the courthouse square and was already used as a graveyard.
History
Wharton County
Wharton County, created April 3, 1846, from Matagorda and Jackson counties, Organized same year. Named for William H. Wharton, 1806-1839, Texas minister to the United States 1836-1837, and his brother John A. Wharton 1809-1839. Adjutant at San Jacinto; member of Congress of the Republic of Texas 1837-1839. Wharton the county seat.
History
Wharton County Abstract Company
Attorney William S. "Billie" Brooks founded this abstract firm in 1890. He was assisted by Daisy Speed, who made the original hand-written entries in the tract books. Brooks was joined in 1899 by his law partner Henry A. Cline. Other prominent associates of the firm include several member of the Cline family and L. Z. Moreland, who worked here from 1923 to 1974.
Architecture
Wharton County Courthouse
The Texas legislature created Wharton County in 1846, incorporating part of Stephen F. Austin's original land grant from Mexico. The William Kincheloe family donated land on the east bank of the Colorado River for a courthouse square, and the home of first county treasurer Daniel Kincheloe served as a temporary courthouse.
History
William Jones Elliot Heard and Egypt Plantation
William Jones Elliot Heard was born in Tennessee in 1801, the first of Stephen R. and Jemima M. Heard's nine children. Sometime in the 1820s Heard moved to Alabama where he married America Morton. Heard received a land certificate from Stephen F. Austin in 1830 and in 1832 settled here on 2,222 acres he acquired from John C. Clark, one of Austin's "Old 300" settlers.
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.
