Independence, Texas
Independence | |
---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
Coordinates: 30°19′10″N 96°20′48″W / 30.31944°N 96.34667°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Texas |
County | Washington |
Elevation | 358 ft (109 m) |
GNIS feature ID | 1338384[1] |
Independence is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 140 in 2000. It is located about an hour northwest of the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
History
Independence was established in 1835 on 78 acres (32 ha) in
Milam Lodge No. 11, of the Grand Lodge of Texas, was located in the community.[4]
Seward Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A tornado hit Independence in December 1983. On May 26, 2016, an EF0 tornado struck Independence, in which numerous trees were downed in a convergent pattern.[5]
In the 1838 Republic of Texas presidential election, Mirabeau B. Lamar claimed that he had moved to Texas in 1835 to become a citizen and purchased land rights from the community's land surveyor from which he could produce a receipt as evidence.[6]
Geography
Independence is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads
Education
The Union Baptist Association obtained a charter to construct a university through the Texas Baptist Educational Society in 1845. Several cities submitted bids, but Independence—at the time Texas' richest community—won the right to keep the institution. With 24 students,
Notable people
- George Washington Baines, a co-founder and president of Baylor; great-grandfather of Lyndon B. Johnson
- Jerome B. Robertson
- William Bizzell
- Sam Houston Jr.
- Lawrence Sullivan Ross, 19th Governor of Texas, attended Baylor University.[7][8]
- Andrew Jackson Houston, son of Sam and Margaret Lea Houston and politician.[9]
- George W. Littlefield, Confederate Army soldier, attended Baylor University.
- Thomas Chilton, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, co-founded Baylor University.
- Robert Emmett Bledsoe Bayloris buried in the community's cemetery.
- Martin Varner, Old Three Hundred member[10]
- William Carey Crane, Baptist minister who preached at Independence Baptist Church from 1864 to 1867 and 1869 to 1884.[11]
- Hosea Garrett, clergyman and philanthropist, who served as President Pro tempore at Baylor.[12]
- Henry Arthur McArdle, painter[13]
- Hugh Wilson, Presbyterian minister, who served as an administrator at Independence Female College.[14]
- Texas Supreme Court.[15]
- Edward Taylor, brother of Horace D. Taylor, built a store in Independence in 1838.[16]
- Nancy Moffette Lea, mother of Margaret Lea Houston, moved here in 1852.[17]
- Antoinette Power Houston Bringhurst, the fifth child of Houston and Lea, got her education at Baylor Female College.[18]
- George Wythe Baylor, Confederate soldier.[19]
- Henry Weidner Baylor, physician and Texas Ranger.
In popular culture
American western TV series Walker: Independence takes place in Independence.[20]
Gallery
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Site of Home of General Sam Houston and Family
-
Original Site of Baylor University
References
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Independence, Texas
- ^ a b Independence, TX (Washington County) from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ a b "Independence, Texas". Texas Escapes Online Magazine. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ Directory of Constituent Lodges in Texas. (2005-2006) Waco, Tx: The Grand Lodge of Texas.
- ^ Texas Event Report: EF0 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
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ignored (help) - ^ Gulick, Charles Adams Jr. (ed.). "No. 746". The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar. Vol. 2. Austin, Texas: A.C. Baldwin & Sons. pp. 166–168. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
- ^ Benner, Judith, "Ross, Lawrence Sullivan", The Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association, retrieved March 3, 2015
- ^ Ross Family Papers, Inclusive: 1846-1931, undated, Bulk: 1861-1864, 1870-1894, undated, Baylor University, December 22, 2014, retrieved January 30, 2022
- ^ Texas Heritage Foundation, Texas Heritage, Volume 1, 1959, page 100
- ^ "Varner, Martin". The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ Summerlin, Travis L. (June 12, 2010). "Handbook of Texas Online". Texas State Historical Association.
- ^ "Collection: Hosea Garrett, Jr. Civil war letters | Kenan Research Center Finding Aids".
- ^ Hazelwood, Claudia. "Henry Arthur McArdle". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
- ^ Louise Kelly, "WILSON, HUGH," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi52), accessed June 15, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- ^ "History". Baylor Law School. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
- ^ Red, Ellen Robbins (1986). Early Days on the Bayou 1838–1890: The Life and Letters of Horace Dickinson Taylor. Waco, Texas: Texian Press. p. 59.
- ^ Hesler, Samuel B. "Lea, Nancy Moffette". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
- ^ "Bringhurst, Antoinette Power Houston". Handbook of Texs Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
- ^ Daniell 1887, p. 105.
- ^ Walker: Independence | Legacy | Season Trailer | The CW, archived from the original on August 22, 2022, retrieved May 19, 2022
Further reading
- B. D. Augustin, "Independence: The Athens of Early Texas," Texas Highways, March 1984.
- T. Lindsay Baker, Ghost Towns of Texas, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986.
- Lois Smith Murray, Baylor at Independence, Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 1972.
- Gracey Booker Toland, Austin Knew His Athens, San Antonio, TX: Naylor, 1958.