Independence, Texas

Independence, Texas
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 within the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
History
Independence was established in 1835 on in Stephen F. Austin's colony by J. G. W. Pierson, Robert Stevenson, Colbert Baker, and Amasa F. Burchard. This land was a portion of a land concession made by the Mexican government to Thomas S. Saul, who then gave it to Pierson and Baker. The community flourished and developed into an important center for education and religion in the Republic of Texas. The Independence Baptist Church was founded in 1839 by elders Thomas W. Cox and Thomas Spraggins. Cox served as the church's first pastor. The second-oldest church connected to the Baptist General Convention of Texas was still a thriving congregation in the 1990s. In 1854, the church in which Sam Houston belonged baptized him in Little Rocky Creek, located two miles southeast of the community. In Independence, a post office was founded in 1846. The town also had a jail, a Masonic lodge, a cemetery, a hotel, a stagecoach depot, and a minor business center by the 1850s. Independence was formed in 1852, and T. T. Clay served as its first mayor. Despite their desire to assist Independence, the Baylor officials and city fathers refused to provide the Santa Fe train the right of way. Most of the local railway lines had bypassed Independence by the 1880s, and a large portion of trade was moving to rival towns. 200 people were living there in 1966, and the post office was no longer in operation. Independence had 140 residents in 1990 and was a small rural community. In 2000, that number stayed the same. The Independence Baptist Church, the Texas Baptist Historical Center, Judge Coles' house, and Baylor College Park were just a few of the many historical sites there. Other noteworthy locations include the Old Independence Cemetery, which has the burial places of Judge Coles, Sam Houston Jr., Moses Austin Bryan, T. T. Clay, and other notable Texans, as well as the Margaret Houston House and Houston-Lea Family Cemetery, which contains the graves of Margaret Lea Houston and her mother. Its population was reported as 140 in 2010.
Milam Lodge No. 11, of the Grand Lodge of Texas, was located in the community.
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.
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.
Geography
Independence is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 390 and 50, northeast of Brenham and west of Houston in northeastern Washington County.
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, Baylor University opened its doors as a coeducational institution in Independence in 1846. The school was split into male and female sections in 1851, and in 1866 it was given the official names Baylor Female College and Baylor University. Due to transportation issues, officials moved Baylor Female College (now the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor) and Baylor University to Belton and Waco in 1885. This decision signaled the start of Independence's century-long decline. Today, the community is served by the Brenham Independent School District.
Notable people
George Washington Baines
Jerome B. Robertson
William Bizzell
Sam Houston Jr.
Lawrence Sullivan Ross, 19th Governor of Texas, attended Baylor University.
Andrew Jackson Houston, son of Sam and Margaret Lea Houston and politician.
George W. Littlefield, Confederate Army soldier, attended Baylor University.
Thomas Chilton, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, co-founded Baylor University.
Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor is buried in the community's cemetery.
Martin Varner, Old Three Hundred member
William Carey Crane, Baptist minister who preached at Independence Baptist Church from 1864-1867 and 1869-1884.
Hosea Garrett, clergyman and philanthropist, who served as President Pro tempore at Baylor.
Henry Arthur McArdle, painter
Hugh Wilson, Presbyterian minister, who served as an administrator at Independence Female College.
Royall T. Wheeler, judge who became Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Edward Taylor, brother of Horace D. Taylor, built a store in Independence in 1838.
Nancy Moffette Lea, mother of Margaret Lea Houston, moved here in 1852.
Antoinette Power Houston Bringhurst, the fifth child of Houston and Lea, got her education at Baylor Female College.
George Wythe Baylor, Confederate soldier.
Henry Weidner Baylor, physician and Texas Ranger.
In popular culture
American western TV series Walker: Independence takes place in Independence.
Gallery
References
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.
See also
Texas State Highway 211
The Texas Collection
Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
Populated places established in 1835