Texas Historical Marker #08099
Trammel's Trace. Traces began as foot paths used by the Indians to mark their trails through wilderness areas. They later were used by surveyors in mapping early land grants. In 1824 Nicholas Trammel (1780-1852), a government scout, began opening up the trace that now bears his name. Trammel's Trace was, for many years, an important route of immigration into Texas. Approximately 180 miles long, it began at Fulton, Arkansas, and continued to Nacogdoches, Texas. Trammel's Trace entered Marion County on its northern boundary and left the county about 3.5 miles south of Jefferson. #8099
?, Jefferson, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08100
A. M. Urquhart House. This early twentieth-century cottage was built for Angus Mezappa and Mary Jane (Wood) Urquhart. A native of Marion County, A. M. Urquhart (1875-1909) was the grandson of Allen Urquhart, one of the founders of Jefferson. This family residence, originally located at Broadway and Owen streets, exhibits Eastlake styling. Outstanding features include the wraparound porch with its balustrade and spindle frieze, and the jig-cut bargeboards. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985 #8100
1105 S. Line St., Jefferson, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08101
John M. Vines. (1844-1914) Born in Alabama. Joined W. P. Lane Rangers, C. S. A., 1861; was discharged 1865, rank of farrier. Served as sheriff-tax collector for Marion County, 1874-1876. In April, 1877, sent as agent of the state of Texas to bring Abe Rothschild back to Jefferson from Ohio to stand trial for the murder of "Diamond" Bessie Moore (one of the sensational murder trials of the 19th century.) Construction superintendent for Jefferson Federal Courthouse, 1888. #8101
?, Jefferson, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08102
R. B. Walker House. Jefferson merchant and former mayor, Robert Bruce Walker (1854-1930) had this home built for his family in 1910. An active civic leader, Walker later served as president of the Commercial National Bank. The classical revival style house features colossal order Doric columns interwoven with a wraparound porch; front entry with sidelights and transom; and brick chimneys with elaborate corbelled caps. It remained in the Walker family until 1972. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990 #8102
524 N. Polk, Jefferson, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08103
Richard Waterhouse. (Star and Wreath) (January 12, 1833 - March 20, 1876) Native of Tennessee, participant in United States war with Mexico, Texas businessman, colonel of the 19th Texas Confederate Infantry, commended for gallantry at Milliken's Bend during Vicksburg Campaign, fought at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill during Red River Campaign, brigadier-general in Confederate army. #8103
?, Jefferson, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08104
Perry Woods Home. French town house of 19th century Jefferson-New Orleans trade era. Original plan is intact. Now Perry Woods home. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965 #8104
507 Walker, Jefferson, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08105
James Tarrant Pattison. Located at important junction of Atascosito Road and the San Felipe Trial, this homesite was established by James Tarrant and Sarah Smith Pattison on their Republic of Texas land grant. Their plantation of 5,000 acres had its own grist mill, sawmill, and cotton gin. The first church and school in the community were founded through the efforts of Pattison. Town developed here before 1854 was named by a son, George Madison, for the original settler, James Tarrant Pattison (1810-72). Heirs still live here. #8105
FM 359, Pattison, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08106
Pine Island Baptist Church. Organized in the Hopewell schoolhouse, Aug. 13, 1888, with 13 members. Named for a small grove of pine trees nearby. This building erected in 1900. #8106
Brumlow and Pine Island Roads, Hempstead, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08107
Reid's Prairie Baptist Church. Organized Aug 24, 1890 with 17 members. Sanctuary built, 1895 on Navasota Stage Road. #8107
?, Waller, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08108
St. Francis Episcopal Church. ---- #8108
300 Dooley St., Prairie View, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08109
Former Waller County Post Offices. Before the age of modern communication, the postal system was a vital link between isolated rural settlements. Early Waller County post offices were often located in a residence or general store near the local church, gristmill, cotton gin, or blacksmith shop. They provided a center of community activity where families could socialize and purchase supplies as well as pick up mail. They were sometimes used as polling places during elections. The area covered by each post office was small since travel by wagon and horseback over dirt roads was difficult and slow. Although most facilities served farm villages, others were situated at railroad stops of sawmill towns. A storekeeper, miller, or other community leader filled the position of postmaster. The need for numerous small post stations decreased with the advent of motor transportation and improved roads. Larger towns absorbed some of the facilities; Rural free delivery, instituted in 1896, replaced others. In some cases, the rural community disappeared along with its post office -- victim of urbanization. The map on the reverse of this marker shows discontinued post offices that served the area of present-day Waller County from the 1840s to 1969. #8109
12th Street and Hwy 6, Hempstead, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08110
Prairie View A&M University. Authorized by the Texas legislature in 1876, the "Agricultural and Mechanical College for Colored Youth" was Texas' second state-supported institution of higher learning. As a land grant college, it occupied a 1434-acre former slave plantation. Organized by the Texas A&M Board of Directors, Prairie View has remained a part of the Texas A&M system. The first eight students enrolled on March 11, 1878, but low enrollment caused the school to close. The following year the "Prairie View Normal Institute" was organized with emphasis on preparing teachers in trade and agricultural subjects. A coeducational college, Prairie View's enrollment of 16 soon reached 60. In ten years, industrial training was added to the curriculum. Intercollegiate athletics began in 1904. By 1931 the campus boasted 31 main buildings and 50 cottages. In 1934 the Southern Association of Schools granted a class "A" rating. In 1947 the institution became "Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College". Integrated during the 1960s, the name changed to "Prairie View A&M University" in 1973. The University's motto is "Prairie View produces productive people". #8110
FM 1098, Prairie View, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08111
Site of St. Mary's Catholic Church and Cemetery. The first of many Czech immigrants to settle this area purchased from Galveston developer E.H. Fordtran in 1891. Four Czech families founded St. Mary's Catholic Church in 1892. The first recorded burial here, on land donated by Frank Divin, Sr., was that of Antone Blinka in 1893. The Rev. A. Laska established the site as a Catholic cemetery and in 1895 the church built a sanctuary on four adjoining acres. The community faltered after the devastating storm of 1900. The church closed in 1947. St. Martin de Parres Church in Prairie View took over the cemetery's care in 1977. #8111
?, Waller, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08112
Shiloh Cemetery. In 1881 Thomas Armer deeded land in the Shiloh Community for a Baptist church. He sold an adjacent acre to the church for this cemetery in 1883, and in later years Armer sold more land to the church and to Pond Creek School. The community continued to grow, and by 1908 a larger sanctuary was erected and the cemetery was enlarged to include the Armer family burial ground. The earliest marked grave in the family plot is that of Daniel Armer (d. 1882). A tornado damaged the cemetery and destroyed the sanctuary in 1957, but the structure was rebuilt. #8112
?, Prairie View, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08113
Captain Alfred H. Wyly. Captain Alfred H. Wyly who commanded a volunteer company at the Battle of San Jacinto April 21, 1836. Died at Hempsted May 11, 1867. #8113
?, Hempstead, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08114
Shiloh Baptist Church. On Sept. 21, 1871, at nearby Kirby Chapel Methodist Church, thirteen people with letters of transfer from other congregations banded together as the Shiloh Baptist Church. The Rev. Jesse Tubb and Deacon John M, McGinty assisted with the organization. Ten years later the congregation erected a building of its own at this site, then adjacent to the Pond Creek School, which later was closed. By the early 1900s Shiloh Church had about 100 members. A second building, constructed 1908, served until destroyed by storm in 1957. The third sanctuary, built in 1958, had a wing added in 1961. #8114
?, Prairie View, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08115
Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery. This cemetery is located on land that was originally part of Jared E. Kirby's Alta Vista Plantation. According to oral tradition, the Kirby family set aside this land as a burial site for their slaves, as well as slaves from nearby Liendo Plantation, owned by Kirby's cousin, Leonard Waller Croce. The numerous unmarked graves here are believed to date to the Antebellum period, when most slaves would not have had the resources to erect lasting grave markers. The cemetery continued to be used by African Americans after the Civil War ands after Kirby's widow, Helen Marr Swearingen Kirby, deeded the plantation to the state in 1876 for the Alta Vista College for Colored Youth (now Prairie View A&M University). Later, the cemetery became associated with and named for Wyatt Chapel, a nearby African American church. The oldest marked grave is that of MAttie (Wyatt) Wells (d. 1882), the daughter of a former slave. Area religious leaders, veterans of World Wars I and II, and former slaves and their descendants are also buried here. Used until the 1950s, the cemetery remains a tangible reminder of African Americans' historic presence in this area. #8115
?, Prairie View, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08116
Plantation Home of Edwin Waller 1800--1883. Plantation Home of Edwin Waller (1800-1883). Member of the consultation in 1835. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. First mayor of the City of Austin. Member of the Secession Convention in 1861. On this property, acquired during the Republic, he resided from 1846 for many years. #8116
?, Hempstead, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08117
Judge Edwin Waller. (March 16, 1800 -- January 3, 1881) Virginia native Edwin Waller migrated to Texas from Missouri in 1831 as part of Stephen F. Austin's third colony. An active participant in the earliest stages of Texas' struggle for independence, Waller participated in the 1832 Battle of Velasco, served as Alcalde of Brazoria, and represented the town of Columbia in the consultation of 1835 at San Felipe. A framer of Texas' Declaration of Independence and Constitution, Waller also served in the army during the 1836 Texas revolution. After the war he became postmaster general and later a land commissioner for the new Republic. In 1839, as a government agent, he platted the townsite of Austin, the new capital of Texas. The next year he became the first mayor of the city. Resigning during his first term, he moved to his plantation home, just north of this site. The Waller plantation was the center of a large rural area. Here Waller opened a post office and store and provided for a school and church. For many years he also served as Austin County judge. In 1873 a new county, which included this area, was formed form Austin and Grimes Counties and named in his honor. Buried on his plantation, his body was later reinterred in the state cemetery at Austin. #8117
?, Pattison, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08118
Waller County. Created from Austin and Grimes counties, April 28, and organized Aug. 16, 1873. Named for Edwin Waller (1800-1861), a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836; Postmaster General, Texas Republic; First mayor of Austin. Site of rich 1831-1874 Groce plantations, later home of sculptress Elisabet Ney. Hempstead, founded 1857 during building of Houston & Texas Railroad, an important transportation center, is the county seat. Since 1876, county has been site of Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College. Economy is based on industry, diversified agriculture and oil production. #8118
SH 6, Hempstead, TX, United States