Richard C. Gusman was Mayor of Bay City from 1947 to 1979, thereby serving as mayor longer than any person in the history of the United States of America. The title of Mayor Emeritus was bestowed in 1981, again a first in the history of the United . . . — — Map (db m292809) HM
Hortense Ward was born in 1872 in Matagorda County and was the eldest child of Frederick and M. Louise (Labauve) Sparks. As a child, Hortense attended the Catholic Academy of Nazareth in Victoria and later taught school for a time in Edna. While in . . . — — Map (db m235747) HM
Projected site of a town in 1826 • Founded in 1829 with Stephen F. Austin, Elias R. Wightman, Hosea H. League and Ira Ingram as proprietors • Third largest town in Texas in 1834 • Incorporated January 28, 1839 • County Seat of Matagorda County, . . . — — Map (db m158766) HM
Virginia native William Demetris Lacey (1808-1848) grew up in Kentucky and in 1831 settled in what is now Columbus. He established a tanyard and saddle shop on this site and married Sarah Ann "Sally" Bright in 1832. Elected to several public offices . . . — — Map (db m244038) HM
One of Houston's most respected and influential religious, civic and business leaders, Jack Yates was born enslaved in Virginia. He was enslaved when he came to Matagorda County, Texas in 1860. After emancipation he moved his family to Houston. He . . . — — Map (db m171244) HM
One of the most important port cities of Texas’ early history, Matagorda served as an exit point for goods such as cotton shipped down the Colorado River. During the Civil War, it was also an important point for Confederate blockade runners to . . . — — Map (db m158607) HM
(Front Side)
Texas
Remembers the valor and devotion of its sons who served with distinction on Kentucky battlefields during the Civil War.
At Houston, Texas, during August and September 1861, Benjamin Franklin Terry and Thomas . . . — — Map (db m250166) HM WM
Early home of the Karankawa Indians. Landing place of LaSalle in 1685. Settled 1822-1836 by colonists of Stephen F. Austin. The municipality of Matagorda organized under the Mexican Government on March 6, 1834. Became on March 17, 1836, Matagorda . . . — — Map (db m120752) HM
The Deming's Bridge community grew up around a wooden bridge built over the Tres Palacios River at this site in 1857 for Edward A. Deming, owner of land along the west side of the stream. The crossing provided by Deming's Bridge became a natural . . . — — Map (db m168618) HM
Burditt's Prairie is one of Travis County's original Freedmen's communities. Its origins date back to 1844 when Jesse F. Burditt, an early Euro-American settler and supporter of the Texas Revolution, established a cotton plantation in the village . . . — — Map (db m213041) HM
Texas revolutionary veteran and local merchant Norman Austin made important contributions to his adopted state. Born in Skaneateles, New York, he was the fifth son of a large family and traveled widely throughout his life. He farmed in Michigan and . . . — — Map (db m152240) HM
Following the American Civil War and emancipation of slaves in 1865, it was not until 1871 that African Americans in Texas were able to uniformly register to vote, following the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. . . . — — Map (db m294675) HM
Joseph (c. 1787-1831) and Rachel Rabb (1790-1872) Newman were married in 1806 in Ohio. Following Joseph's service in the War of 1812 in Illinois, they lived in Arkansas Territory on the Red River before moving into Texas in 1820. In 1823, they left . . . — — Map (db m96300) HM
Tennessee native John Joseph Bowman came to Texas with his family in 1822 and settled in Stephen F. Austin's colony on the Colorado. He later resided in Matagorda County, where, in 1835, he enlisted in the Texian Army, and served in the Texas War . . . — — Map (db m289562) HM
Built 1909 for A.B. Pierce, who with father co-founded town of Blessing in 1902. Pierce was a veteran of the Spanish-American War. He and wife, Adelaide, had four sons. Home was gathering place for area civic leaders. The Rt. Rev. C.S. Quin, . . . — — Map (db m292978) HM
Zadock Woods (d. 1842), veteran of the War of 1812 and one of Stephen F. Austin's old three hundred colonists, brought his family to settle in this area in 1828. He built a fortified home on land deeded to his son, Montraville, and established a . . . — — Map (db m195933) HM
A member of the 1829 colony of Stephen F. Austin, and one of organizers of Tres Palacios Baptist Church. Homesite is land given him for service in army of the Republic of Texas. House was built, 1850's, by shipwright. Recorded Texas . . . — — Map (db m293291) HM
Facilities for the rendering of hides and tallow and for meat packing flourished along the Texas Coastal Bend during the last half of the nineteenth century, when hundreds of thousands of wild longhorns roamed South Texas; Packery Channel was named . . . — — Map (db m182899) HM
William Conrad “Billy” (W.C.) Williams was born in Matagorda County on February 20, 1854, to John Aaron Williams (1816 - 1865) and Catharine Elizabeth (Franz) Williams (1827 - 1914). John was a ship’s carpenter from Denmark. Catharine, . . . — — Map (db m169053) HM
The Chisholm Trail, which was developed following the Civil War, allowed Texas cattle to be driven to railheads in Kansas for shipment to eastern markets. An arm of the celebrated route, reaching from Matagorda County to the main trail near present . . . — — Map (db m135746) HM
The Rev. John Henry "Jack" Yates, an important leader in Houston's late 19th century African-American community, was born into slavery in Gloucester, Virginia where he learned to read and write. After attending slave religious meetings, Yates became . . . — — Map (db m235534) HM
Spanish-American War Veteran and Matagorda County Judge (1908-1914) William Shields Holman and his wife Louise (Kaulbach) built this house in 1908-09. Designed by A.W. Large and constructed by contractor H. Speckles, the house is an excellent . . . — — Map (db m292814) HM
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), founded in 1899, traces its roots to military veterans securing rights and benefits for their service. Following an initial Jul. 21, 1940 meeting at the old bandstand on the courthouse square, . . . — — Map (db m191943) HM
This congregation traces its roots to Christ Church, Matagorda, from which parish many of its early members had come following the relocation of the Matagorda County seat to Bay City in 1894. Formally organized in 1895 under the leadership of the . . . — — Map (db m191964) HM
The rice industry in Matagorda County began in Nov. 1899 when A. P. Borden of Pierce first broke ground three miles outside Bay City. The following month, the Matagorda County Rice & Irrigation Company began preparations to plant 600 acres of . . . — — Map (db m292838) HM
A native of South Carolina, Sinclair David Gervais was a soldier in the War of 1812. He and his wife Katharine were the parents of four children. Following her death, Gervais and two of his daughters came to Texas in 1835. He was appointed the . . . — — Map (db m158680) HM
Angleton's first permanent courthouse was built in 1897, a year after the city was chosen Brazoria County seat. Constructed from plans originally drawn for the Matagorda County courthouse, the structure was enlarged and extensively remodeled in . . . — — Map (db m120661) HM
Dolph Phenias (D.P.) Moore (1852-1928) moved to Matagorda County in 1869. He married Louise Wendel in 1879 and together they reared ten children. A successful merchant, rancher, and landowner, Moore sold the land on which the town of Bay City was . . . — — Map (db m292813) HM
The Texas Gulf Sulfur Company began mining operations in Wharton County in 1927. The town which developed around the mine came to be known as New Gulf (or Newgulf), distinguishing it from the company's mine already in operation at Gulf in . . . — — Map (db m259413) HM
In 1901 this land was a pastoral scene of trees and a strawberry field outside the city limits. That year the Bay City Independent School District purchased most of this block for $300. A two-story, eight-room frame school was erected here, and . . . — — Map (db m191956) HM
In 1920, near Clemville, Texas, J.S. Abercrombie Mineral Company put this pumping rig into operation on a new oil well at a location west of present El Dorado Road. In 1927 the well went dry, and the pumping rig was not used again.
In 1980 . . . — — Map (db m119460) HM
In 1915, builder Joseph Pybus erected this home, designed by C.F. Emmons. James L. and Ina Mae (Perryman) Koerber bought it from the Pybus family in 1924. Owner of the Palacios Garage and Auto Co., J.L. also served as mayor, 1948-52. Other . . . — — Map (db m293292) HM
The community of Collegeport was founded in 1908 across the Tres Palacios Bay from Palacios, which had been established in 1902. Three Collegeport families organized an Episcopal congregation. Grace Theodora Smith collected donations from local . . . — — Map (db m169016) HM
A signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic.
Born in Tennessee, 1795. Died on Caney Creek, Matagorda County October 12, 1836 — — Map (db m25688) HM
In May 1847, the Catholic Church established a new frontier diocese in Galveston. During the next several years, many Polish Catholic immigrants moved to Matagorda County, and priests from nearby towns visited their small community, known as St. . . . — — Map (db m191948) HM
The Pilkington Slough Ranch, of the Collegeport Community, has been an area landmark for more than 100 years. The original owners of the bulk of this land were Daniel, Elias and Erastus Yeamans, three brothers who fought in the Texas War for . . . — — Map (db m169081) HM
Intersection of Texas Highway 60 at Matagorda County Roads 259 & 260
Built in 1830
Listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
By the United States
Department of the Interior — — Map (db m158609) HM
Education was a priority for the residents of Matagorda County. During the 1880s, private schools were the primary source of education for Matagorda County students. By 1899, a small railroad came to the county and it started to grow. Previously . . . — — Map (db m292802) HM
By 1894, Matagorda County had 20 African American schools with more than 700 students. The first school for African American children in Bay City was a one-room frame building donated by one of the railroad companies. In 1905, the community built . . . — — Map (db m292828) HM
In the first years of the 20th century, Jonathan Pierce filed a deed with the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad (Southern Pacific) to lay out a town along the rail line at the junction of two major roads. He named the community . . . — — Map (db m118424) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.
