Baytown in Harris County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Ashbel Smith, M.D.
1805 - 1886
Photographed by James Hulse, August 20, 2025
1. Ashbel Smith, M.D. Marker - Front
life has duties to perform to its last moments; this world is not a resting place.
Ashbel Smith was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1805. Recieved his M.D. degree from Yale in 1828, and came to Texas from South Carolina in 1837. He established a plantation called Headquarters on Goose Creek in 1840 and in 1847 purchased property adjoining his and a plantation home named Evergreen on Tabbs Bay, part of the San Jacinto Estuary. Dr. Smith kept the name Evergreen for the combined estates. This 1600 acre estate remained his home until his death in 1886. Dr. Smith's active life as physician, statesman, soldier and educator often took him away, but he always returned to Evergreen and his life as a farmer, rancher, scientist and writer.
Dr. Ashbel Smith served the Republic of Texas as Surgeon General 183739, Minister to England and France 184244, and Secretary of State 1845: worked to establish the Texas Medical Association 1853 and the Texas State Agricultural Society 1853: represented Harris County in the sixth, eleventh, and sixteenth Legislatures of Texas: formed the Bayland Guards 1861; was Colonel 2nd Texas Infantry Confederate Army; led the way in founding Prairie View State Normal School 1879, the University of Texas in Austin 1881, and the medical branch in Galveston. Served as first president of the University
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Erected 1986 by City of Baytown.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Education • Science & Medicine • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1805.
Location. 29° 46.924′ N, 94° 57.879′ W. Marker is in Baytown, Texas, in Harris County. It can be reached from North Main Street 0.3 miles north of West Cedar Bayou Lynchburg Road, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5117 N Main St, Baytown TX 77521, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Houston Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South and on the Gulf Coast. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Republic of Texas, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Wooster Common School No. 38 (within shouting distance of this marker); Near Home Site of John Peter Sjolander (approx. 2.2 miles away); Humble Oil & Refining Company (approx. 2.7 miles away); The Baytown Sun (approx. 2.7 miles away); Cedar Bayou Masonic Lodge (approx. 2.9 miles away); Hall of Cedar Bayou Masonic Lodge (approx. 2.9 miles away); Joseph William Ellender (approx. 2.9 miles away); Cedar Bayou United Methodist Church (approx. 2.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Baytown.
Photographed by James Hulse, August 20, 2025
2. Ashbel Smith, M.D. Marker - Left Side
