Texas Historical Marker #09083
Joseph Blancpain's French Trading Post. French trader Joseph Blancpain established a trading post in this vicinity in August 1754. He had been living in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he was the owner of a mercantile store. With a small group of men, Blancpain arrived in August and soon opened trade with the Atakapan and related Indian tribes of this region. He had entered Spanish territory, and the Spanish soon received word of his presence. The Spanish governor ordered a detachment of soldiers to arrest the French. Aided by the Bidai Indians, the Spaniards located the settlement and attacked on October 10. The Frenchmen were imprisoned in Mexico City, where authorities concluded that Blancpain was an agent of the French government. He died in prison in Mexico on March 14, 1756, and the other members of his party were imprisoned in Spain for life. The Spanish established Presidio San Augustin de Ahumada and Mission Nuestra Senora de la Luz on the site of Blancpain's trading post. The complex was destroyed in a 1766 hurricane. One hundred years later the archeological remains of both the French and Spanish settlements were uncovered and were late entered in the National Register of Historic Places. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986 #9083
?, Wallisville, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #09127
Site of Mission Nuestra Senora de la Luz. Established in 1757 by Franciscan missionaries with the purpose of civilizing and Christianizing the Orcoquiza and Bidai Indians. Abandoned in 1772. #9127
?, Wallisville, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #09138
Site of Old Wallisville. Settled in 1825 by Elisha H. R. Wallis, a pioneer from Georgia, on land in grant of Joseph Vehlein, a contractor working to place colonists in Texas. Chambers County was organized in 1858; wallisville was made county seat. A post office was granted in 1859, and town became a thriving retail market. Many county records were burned in a courthouse fire in 1875. A brick and stone courthouse, with a jail and an unique hanging tower (for executions) was completed in 1886. By 1900 the town had 728 people, a shipyard, a lumber yard, a cotton gin, a skating rink, several stores and an export house. By land, there was daily hack service to Liberty; and sloops made regular runs from here to Galveston. Chambers County's first newspaper, "Wallisville Age," was published here. the town remained county seat until 1908 when the courthouse was moved to Anahuac after the famous "County Seat Hog War" over issue of letting animals roam at large. In that year Wallisville lost few people, but in 1915 a storm almost destroyed the town. Part of the historic townsite is now included in Wallisville Reservoir, constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. #9138
?, Wallisville, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #09139
Wallisville Cemetery. Early settler Albert Gallatin Van Pradelles (1808-1884) set aside land at this site for the burial of his grandson, William M. "Willie" Chambers, who died on his third birthday on December 10, 1878. the land surrounding the grave was established as a legal cemetery in county deed records the following month. Field notes by county surveyor Daniel B. Wallis along with other deed work set up a total of sixteen family lots in January 1879. Several locally prominent families were among those who purchased the original sixteen plots, including the van Pradelles, Chambers, Gordon, Wooten, Sisson, Mayes, and LaFour families. In 1884 a. G. van Pradelles became the fourth known burial in the cemetery he established. Among the stately monuments and shade trees can be found the tombstones of numerous elected county officials and pioneer settlers. The Wallisville Cemetery has been expanded several times since Van Pradelles laid out the site in 1879. The cemetery land remained in the van Pradelles family for over 100 years until 1986, when a descendant entrusted it to the Wallisville Cemetery Association for care and administration. #9139
?, Wallisville, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #09128
Mission Nuestra Senora de la Luz del Orcoquisac and Presidio San Agustin de Ahumada. Two of the most misfortune-ridden outposts of Spain in texas, "Our Lady of the Light" mission and its auxiliary fort, were founded near here in 1756 to guard against French encroachment from the east. The two friars who were to minister to members of the Orcoquisac tribe arrived shortly after the 30 soldiers who were to man the fort. Soon, however, the elder friar died. The younger, asking to be relieved of his duties, complained vividly of biting insects, extremes of heat and cold, and the thick and stinking water in the lake near the lonely mission. The 50 families who were to establish a town at the site never arrived, and although valiant efforts were made at improvement, conditions instead became worse. A woeful lack of training among the soldiers sparked unrest among the Indians. Meager supplies of food, clothing, and ammunition were the rule, and some commanders treated their men with great cruelty. In 1767, an official inspector reported that due to the terrain, discord among the staff, and failure to convert the Indians, the presidio and mission should be closed. In 1771, fearing an invasion of Apaches, the authorities withdrew the personnel, and these two remote outposts of Spain were totally abandoned. #9128
?, Wallisville, TX, United States