Egypt

Egypt. . , A crossroads for trade and travel in the earliest years of Anglo settlement in Texas, Egypt is considered the oldest remaining community in Wharton County. In 1826, Eli Mercer established a home and ferry crossing on the east bank of the Colorado River; other families joined him, and the settlement became known as Mercer's Crossing. About 1827, the community became known as Egypt for providing corn to the surrounding drought-stricken area., The fertile farmland made Egypt a rich agricultural center. William Jones Elliott Heard began cultivating and ginning cotton when he established Egypt Plantation in 1832, and Eli Mercer planted some of the first sugar cane in Texas. Other early residents of Egypt were Texas Declaration of Independence signatory William Menefee, and publisher and inventor Gail Borden., In February 1836, colonist Thomas Rabb recruited a company of men from the Egypt area who joined Sam Houston in Gonzales to fight for independence from Mexico. The provisional government established a postal station in December 1835, with Eli Mercer as first postmaster. The general store served as a community gathering place., After 1836, a Methodist Church, a stagecoach line and a railroad were established in Egypt. A part of Colorado County until Wharton County was created in 1846, the community never incorporated but continues as a reminder of the area's early history.