STATE OF TEXAS HISTORICAL
MARKERS IN WALLER COUNTY
A B C D F G H K
L M P R S T U V W
STATE OF TEXAS HISTORICAL
MARKERS IN WALLER COUNTY
A B C D F G H K
L M P R S T U V W
This two-story galleried Greek Revival residence was built about 1872 by German native William Ahrenbeck (1828-1888). A prominent area civic leader and builder, he also served as postmaster and mayor of Hempstead. His daughter Ella Justine Ahrenbeck (1866-1949) lived here following his death. In 1917 she sold the property to businessman R. R. Urban (1873-1930). Additions to the home, which remained in his family until 1965, were built during his ownership. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980
Best, Isaac
One of the "Old 300" settlers of Stephen F. Austin's colony, Isaac Best spent his early life in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, where he built a mill and Best's Fort, a pioneer refuge during the War of 1812. He brought his wife Mary Margaret (Wilkins) (1776-1852) and some of their nine children to Texas about 1824. He received a land grant east of the Brazos River about 30 miles north of San Felipe. He later sold that tract of land and purchased additional land, eventually increasing his holdings to about 8,000 acres. Best Creek (one-half mile west) is named for him. (1973, 1995)
Brookshire, Captain Nathen
Participated in the storming and capture of Bexar, December 5th to 10th,1835. A captain in the Texas Army, 1836. Born in Tennessee, 1793. Died Jan. 10, 1853
Clear Creek Confederate War Camps
Although no physical evidence has been found of the Confederate camp sites in this area, historical accounts have established that this part of Waller County was the location of several Civil War encampments. The close proximity of Clear Creek, the railroad, and the city of Hempstead made this area a logical site for training soldiers and for holding federal prisoners. Although Camp Groce and Camp Herbert were the most widely known, other camps were known to have been established as the need existed and were abandoned when no longer necessary.
Cooke, Francis Jarvis
A San Jacinto veteran born in North Carolina July 13, 1816, died November 11, 1903. His wife Emily Stockton Cooke, born in Tennessee, January 28, 1828, died September 4, 1908.
Cuney, Norris Wright (May 12, 1846 - March 3, 1898) Born in the slave quarters of Sunnyside Plantation (3.2 mi.SE), Cuney displayed such intelligence as a boy that in 1859 he was sent to Wiley Street School for Negroes in Pittsburgh, PA. On returning to Texas after the Civil War, he studied law and began operating a wharf contracting company in Galveston. Cuney soon became an active member of the Texas Union League, which urged black political activity and Republican Party loyalty. In 1870 he organized the Negro Longshoremen's Association. In later years he served Galveston as a city alderman, school board member, and U.S. Customs collector, and ran twice without success for the state legislature. On July 5, 1871, he married Adelina Dowdie; they had two children. After 1872 he emerged as leader of the Republican Party in Texas, attending national party conventions as chairman of the Texas delegation. He served on the Republican National Executive Committee in 1891-92. The party broke his power in Texas in 1896 by refusing to seat his delegation--an action which deprived blacks of a voice in Texas politics until the 1960s. Cuney, one of the most prominent blacks in Texas history, died in San Antonio, where he had moved for his health. He was buried in Galveston. (1973)
Custer, Gen. George and Libbie, Campsite Soon after the Civil War General George Armstrong Custer and his cavalry unit arrived in Texas as part of a large U.S. force sent to establish order and counter the threat posed by French-controlled Mexico. From August to October, 1865, Custer, his wife Elizabeth (Libbie), and several U.S. Cavalry units camped here on the Liendo plantation of Leonard W. Groce, heir of "Old 300" settler and cotton baron Jared Groce. The Custers enjoyed warm relations with the Groces and area Texans in part because of his insistence that federal troops treat Texans and their property with respect. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995
Donigan House A native of Turkey, Paul M. Donigan (1862-1930) came to the United States about 1890 to attend medical school. The presence of relatives in this area brought him to Brookshire upon graduation. In 1910, Dr. Donigan built this home for his wife, Rebecca (1863-1954). The main floor was on the second level, while the lower floor served as a cellar and Donigan's medical office. The pyramidal roof house features a wraparound porch with Neoclassical influences. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985
Field's Store Community Settlers began arriving in this vicinity prior to the Civil War. In the early 1870s Druey Holland Field (1809-72) and his wife Caroline (Perry) (1837-76) opened a general store in the area, and the small agricultural settlement that soon developed became known as Field's Store community. A center of business for the surrounding rural area, the settlement was the site of a school, post office, brick kiln, blacksmith shop, cotton gin and other businesses. Also known as New Hope community, it retains a sense of identity that reflects its early role as the nucleus of pioneer settlement.
Fields Store Cemetery Established during Reconstruction period on land given by D. H. Fields, local merchant for whom community and cemetery were named, and by J. W. Day, Confederate veteran. Burial place of early settlers of area and their descendants, including veterans of 5 wars. Under management of Fields Store Cemetery Association.
First Methodist Church of Brookshire
This church traces its origin to the establishment of the Union Chapel Methodist church by the Rev. Churchill Fulshear in the former community of Pittsville (6 mi.S) in 1844. Union Chapel served settlers in this area and moved to a new location about 2 miles south of here in 1880. The church later changed its name to Asbury Chapel. The Asbury sanctuary was sold in 1893, the year Brookshire was founded, and the proceeds used to construct a new church building at this site. At that time the name of the church was changed to Brookshire Methodist Church. The Rev. J. W. Holt served as the congregation's first pastor. New sanctuaries were built after damage caused by the storms of 1900 and 1915. Due to the country's involvement in World War I, the rebuilding of the sanctuary in 1915 was difficult and required that the church provide its own labor. Four classrooms were added to the church building in 1928. The church became a full station of the Methodist church in 1946. In 1953 a new sanctuary was built at this site and in 1968 the name of the church was changed to First United Methodist Church of Bookshire. First Methodist has throughout its history served the community with various programs and activities.
First United Methodist Church of Waller
The Waller Methodist Episcopal Church, South, traces its history to 1888, the year it was first mentioned in regional Methodist conference records. Early members included Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Brown, Lawton M. and Sallie Bouknight and Simeon P. and Sarah J. White with their daughters, Grace and Carrie. Church trustees John Whitaker and Cary Mason purchased land in anticipation of the construction of a Methodist church building, but none was ever erected on that site. The congregation met in Waller School at Pine and Cherry streets and a Methodist Sunday School was led by Grace and Carrie White in the Baptist church facility. The Methodist church's first building was completed in 1906 at the corner of Farr and Bois d'Arc streets, but it was destroyed by a tornado two years later. It was rebuilt at the same location in 1909. Ella King and three other church women organized a women's society in 1911. The church building was devastated by another tornado in 1917, and a new building was erected at the corner of Smith and Cherry streets in 1920. From 1920 to 1940 the Methodists alternated church services with Waller Baptists. Each congregation was served twice a month by circuit riding ministers. In 1940 each church began to hold services every Sunday. The 1920 church building was sold and moved in 1961. A modern facility was erected that year, and its debt was paid by 1975. First United Methodist Church of Waller continues in the traditions of its founders with programs of worship and service such as the Ministerial Alliance, an ecumenical group dedicated to aiding community members in need. (2000)
Frey Cemetery
John Frey, born Johannes Frei in 1857 in Switzerland, came to America in 1877. He settled in Austin County, Texas, where he married German immigrant Mary Baethe in 1879. They eventually were the parents of fifteen children. They moved to Waller County in 1889 and settled near this site. In 1902 the Freys' infant daughter, Annie, died and was buried on the family farm. Hers was the first grave in what became the family cemetery. John and Mary Frey were also buried here. Their descendants still maintain the historic graveyard.
Frey-Benignus House
Swiss immigrant John Frey (1857-1925) and his German-born wife Mary (1862-1933) moved to Waller County in late 1889. They built a small two-room house, a barn, and smokehouse, and began a family farm. The couple eventually had fifteen children and added rooms to their home as their family grew. Now standing as an excellent example of a late 19th-century farmhouse, the house features fine milled wood details. Following the deaths of John and Mary Frey, the house became the property of their daughter, Margarete, and her husband Louis Benignus. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990
Groce Family Plantations
Pioneers in this Texas area. Had early cotton gin and ferry. Founder of family was Jared E. Groce (1782-1836), who came to Texas in 1822. His large wagon train brought elaborate plantation equipment. Groce built "Bernardo" and "Groce's Retreat." Heirs built "Pleasant Hill," "Eagle Island" and "Liendo" (the only surviving Groce mansion, 2 mi. NW of here). A contribution of the family to the cause of Texas freedom was providing rations and ferry service to army of Gen. Houston on eve of San Jacinto victory. Descendants have contributed leadership to the state.
Groce's Ferry
Established across the Brazos in 1822 (the river has since changed its course) by Jared E. Groce (1782-1836). Near here the Texas Army camped from March 30 to April 12, 1836.
Hempstead High School
When the town of Hempstead was founded in 1856, a centrally located school site was platted; however, no school building was erected until after the Civil War (1861-65) and ensuing era of economic stress. There were several private schools conducted, and early public school sessions were held in rented quarters, the old Waller County Jail being used at $250 a year rental from 1881 to 1887. In 1885 the town passed a bond issue for a school building to be erected here. To the cheers of townsmen lining the streets, the principal, his faculty, and the students paraded in 1887 from the jail to the new school building, which had cost $10,000 and was fenced to keep out stock allowed to run at large in the town. The Hempstead "graded" school became "Hempstead High School" that year. First graduation exercises (for six students) were held in 1888. Accreditation has been maintained since affiliation with the University of Texas in 1893, except for a 1907-14 lapse. From ten grades in 1887-88, the course of study increased to eleven in 1913-14, and twelve in 1941-42. The school plant was enlarged in 1914, 1923, 1936, 1955, and 1963. Original 11.5-square-mile district has expanded through consolidations to about 200 square miles.
Hempstead, C.S.A.
Major Civil War center in Texas with railroad, troop training, manufacturing, and supply activity. Training camps Groce and Hebert kept troops in readiness to move by rail to Houston and thence to the coast of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas to prevent invasion of state. Camp Groce became second largest prisoner of War camp in state receiving first Union prisoners in 1863. Textile mill, foundry, grist mill products supplied to Confederate Army. Field transportation bureau shop made and repaired wagons, saddles, harness. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963 (back of Hempstead, C.S.S.) Breakup at War's End In the spring of 1865 Texas troops returning from Louisiana and coastal defenses gathered at Camp Groce. Rumor reached them of General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Some doubted, but soon the news was confirmed. Confederate generals Kirby Smith, John B. Magruder, and John H. Forney were there and bade their troops farewell. Comrades-in-arms of the recent conflict left to walk their weary way home in one of the last sad scenes of the southern Confederacy.
Highland Home School
A small white frame schoolhouse, erected here in the 1890s, served families in this rural area until 1929. Initially called Boyd School for D. R. Boyd, on whose land it was built, it later became known as Highland Home School. Children in grades one through seven were taught by one teacher, and the schoolhouse also served as a community gathering place. As was the case with many early rural Texas schools, Highland Home School closed in 1929 after it was consolidated with the Waller Independent School District.
Kellner Townsite
(in NE part, Stephen F. Austin grant to Wm. Cooper) First town in area. Platted 1893 by John G. Kellner (1846-1933), donor, Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad right of way and station site. Kellner's rich Brazos River watershed farm and ranch lands produced rice, cattle, peanuts, pecans, and (later) natural gas. His old home is nearby. Town was renamed Brookshire.
Kilpatrick, Madison
(1892 - Dec. 1, 1910) Came to Waller County as a runaway slave from Alabama before Civil War. Married Betty Bradford, of Woodard Plantation, Hempstead; had 8 children. A talented blacksmith, he specialized in improving farm implements; became a landowner, freedmen's leader; served as first treasurer, Waller County, 1873-76.
Leverkuhn, Heinrich Konrad Karl
(July 22, 1842 -- November 11, 1915) German-born Heinrich Leverkuhn cane to Texas in 1857 and was a foragemaster for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He ran a store in Hockley after the war. In 1878 he became a farmer-rancher in "Foresouth Prairie", now Macedonia Community. He had a cotton gin, syrup mill, and blacksmith shop. Leverkuhn helped found Macedonia Methodist Church and McPherson School. He married Selma Kuhn (d. 1876) and Martha Rebecca Davis (1855-1906) and had fourteen children.
Liendo
Named for Spanish grantee Justo Leindo, first to own this land. Mansion built by Leonard W. Groce, who surrounded it with model plantation industries. In Civil War, site of Camp Groce, a camp of instruction and then P.O.W. center. Occupied in 1865 by Gen. Geo. W. Custer, later to be a central figure in the Little Big Horn tragedy. Owned, 1873-1911, by family of sculptress Elisabet Ney, commemorated with a marker on grounds. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964
Liendo
A plantation home built in 1853 by Leonard W. Groce. The scene for many years of lavish Southern hospitality. Purchased March 4, 1873, by Dr. Edmund Duncan Montgomery 1835-1911), world-famed philosopher, and his wife, Elisabet Ney (1833-1907), pioneer sculptress of Texas. Retained as their homestead throughout their lives. Both are buried in the grounds.
Macedonia Methodist Church
Organized in 1892 by the Rev. W. C. Bracewell, circuit rider. Early services were held in McPherson School. In 1893 first church was built, by men of community. Bill Page donated land. The present structure was erected in 1946, using same plan as 1893 church.
Monaville Independent School District
Monaville, Aurora, and Bracy Island schools opened in this area during the last quarter of the 19th century when many rural schools were established throughout Waller County. Bracy Island School, established nearby sometime prior to 1890, and Monaville School, located at this site, constituted School District No. 13 in 1893-94. Aurora School, located about 5 miles south of here, opened in 1898. In 1903-04 the three schools had a combined enrollment of 146 students. In 1904 William and Ella M. Wright deeded one acre of land here to the Monaville Community School District. Monaville, Aurora and Bracy Island Schools continued to serve the Monaville rural community until about the mid-1920s when both Aurora and Bracy Island Schools were closed. In 1930 efforts by the state to create geographic high school units resulted in the consolidation of a number of districts in the area, including the Sunnyside School (about 5 miles SW), into the Monaville Independent School district. Monaville High School became a 3-year institution in 1931. The area's rural population began to decline after the Depression. By 1953 Monaville's rural schools had closed and area students were enrolled in the Pattison and Hempstead Independent School Districts.
Morgan, Stacye Ann Marlin
Feb. 14, 1819 -- March 23, 1894) Survivor of the famous Morgan Massacre; daughter of settler James Marlin, In Falls County, Jan., 1, 1839, Indians killed and scalped several members of the Morgan and Marlin families. Isaac Marlin, 10, ran 7 miles for help. His sister, Stacye Ann, was severely wounded and left by the Indians for dead. However, she recovered, married William J. Morgan, and brought up a large family. Died in Waller County.
Pattison, James Tarrant
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.
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.
Railway Depot, Texas' First Narrow Gauge
Reid's Prairie Baptist Church
Organized Aug 24, 1890 with 17 members. Sanctuary built, 1895 on Navasota Stage Road.
Salem Cemetery
This burial ground originally served the family of T.B. White. His wife Elizabeth (d. 1857) and her father Henry Kirby (d. 1854) are interred here. White sold ten adjoining acres to the Salem Association in 1853 as a site for construction of a masonic lodge hall and academy. The site became a public cemetery after that date. The earliest marked grave is that of Jane McCullen (1788-1851). Also buried here is Francis J. Cooke, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. A cemetery association was established in 1949 to provide maintenance for the burial ground.
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.
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.
South Texas Baptist College
An ambitious institution chartered by Baptists who formed South Texas Educational Conference about 1895 and in 1898 secured campus site from a local landowner, C.C. Waller. Trustees serving when college opened in fall of 1898 were J.C. McGaughy, Hempstead; James F. Duncan, Houston; C.W. Matthews, Montgomery; W.J. Durham, Richmond; S.A. McCall, Willis; J.E. Boulet, E.J. Matthews, J.L. Miles, and J.T. Sanders of Waller. W.E. Clark, A.M. Georgetown College of Kentucky, was president; Matilda Shannon (Mrs. W.E.) Clark, the college matron; misses Annie Black and Bellie James, Teachers; Thomas Shannon, secretary. The first session opened with three students, closed with 33; Second opened with 15, closed with 102. Courses of study covered primary through college subjects; Tuition ranged form $10 to $20 a term. The third session opened on Monday, Sept. 3, 1900. On the night of Sept. 8-9, the great 1900 storm blew in from Galveston. It severely damaged the college building, wrecked several churches, and demolished the public school. Although no lives were lost in this town, damage throughout the section was so great that the college never reopened. Its campus has served since 1916 as a public school site.
Springer-Macedonia Cemetery
The pioneer Springer family donated the original two acres of this graveyard and gave their name to the community in this area and to a school, also known as McPherson School. Later the cemetery was called Macedonia, for the nearby church founded in the 1890s. Burials probably predate the earliest marked grave, that of Oliver McPherson (d. 1871). Enlarged by additional gifts of land, the community burial ground contains about 300 known graves. The Macedonia Cemetery Association, incorporated in 1976, maintains the site.
St. Francis Episcopal Church
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.
Texas A&M University at Prairie View; 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".
Texas Army, Camp Site Of the
Five miles to the southeast to the camp site of the Texas Army March 31 to April 13, 1836 when it crossed the Brazos on the steamboat Yellow Stone and began its march toward Harrisburg.
Union Army P.O.W. Cemetery
Several Confederate military facilities were positioned near Hempstead (2.5 mi. w), an important railroad junction, during the Civil War. Camp Groce (then about 6 mi. e) was a prisoner-of-war stockade established on the plantation of Leonard Waller Groce (1806-1873). Union Army prisoners who died at various camps were buried hear this site on the McDade Plantation, adjacent to the McDade family cemetery (about 25 yds. ne). The cemeteries were near a narrow gauge spur off the "Austin Branch" of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, built from Houston in 1858. A yellow fever epidemic in 1864 resulted in many deaths at Camp Groce and other camps, chronicled by Aaron T. Sutton (1841-1927). a Union prisoner in Company B, 83rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Sutton noted in his journal the presence of more than 100 fresh graves here soon after his arrival at Camp Groce in 1864. Sutton later escaped from the stockade and made his way to Beaumont (115 mi. e) on foot. Crude crosses made of cedar limbs marked the prisoners' graves through the early 1900s, according to local residents. But the stream-fed woodland was cleared in the 1940s for pasture land, and all surface evidence of the cemetery was lost.
Waller
Extension of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad here about 1857 provided the means for a growing number of settlers in this area to market their farm and ranch products. The town was platted by K.H. Faulkner in 1884 and named Waller for the signer of Texas' Declaration of Independence and Waller County judge Edwin Waller. The village soon boasted a post office , general store, and school, Telephone service arrived in 1912, gas and electric utilities in 1928, and in 1947 the town was incorporated. Waller's steady growth has been sustained by its farm and ranch industry.
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.
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.
Waller, Edwin
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.
Waller, Edwin
(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.
Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery
Marker Text: 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.
Wyly, Alfred H.
Captain Alfred H. Wyly who commanded a volunteer company at the Battle of San Jacinto April 21, 1836. Died at Hempstead May 11, 1867.
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Ahrenbeck-Urban Home
13th St. & Lafayette St. Hempstead
On FM 1458, 0.7 mi. west of Pattison
corner of 5th & Velasco in Brookshire
US Business 290, 3.5 mi. East of Hempstead
Salem Cemetery, FM 1736, 1 mi.west of SH 6, 5 mi. north of Hempstead
FM 529, 4 mi. west of FM 529/FM 359 inter., 14.8 mi. south of Hempstead
2 mi.east of Hempstead on FM 1488, then .25 mi. S on Wyatt Chapel Rd.
Northeast corner of 5th and Cooper streets in Brookshire
Intersection of FM 1488 and FM 362, 15 mi. east of Hempstead
one block west of Fields Store on Fields Store Cemetery Rd. off of FM 1488, 15 mi. east of Hempstead
707 Cooper St., Brookshire
1218 Smith St. in Waller
From Brookshire, take FM 362 north to Richard Frey Rd., then east to Blinka Rd, go north 1.5 mi. to Frey Cemetery Rd., near Monaville
From Brookshire take FM 362 north to Richard Frey, then west to Blinka Rd, then north 1 mile, near Monaville
Approx. 3.5 miles east of Hempstead on US Business 290, near Liendo Plantation, Hempstead vicinity
On FM 1887, 3 miles south of Hempstead
Corner of Groce and 13th (Highway 159) in Hempstead
Waller County Courthouse grounds, SH 6 and 12th St. in Hempstead
12.2 miles north of Brookshire on FM 362, then west for 2 miles on Monaville Rd. (Richard Frey), then north for two miles on Cochran Rd. to Purvis Rd.in the Monaville vicinity
Just west of US 90 and FM 1489 intersection, Brookshire
25th St. and Austin Branch Rd. in Hempstead
Leverkuhn Family Cemetery, .5 mile west of Macedonia School Road, 8 miles north of Hockley
5 mi. north of Hempstead on FM 1488 to Wycliff Chapel Rd.
5 mi. north of Hempstead on FM 1488 to Wycliff Chapel Rd.
12 mi. NE of Waller on Macedonia Rd.
FM 1887 .5 mile west of intersection with FM 359 in Monaville
Pattison Cemetery; 1 mile north of Pattison on FM 359
FM 359, in Pattison across from Royal Early Childhood Center
4 miles east of Hempstead on 290, then south on Pine Island to junction with Brumlow
On the corner of Avenue G and Second Street in Pattison
On FM 362 15 miles north of Waller
On FM 1736, one mile west of SH 5, 5 miles north of Hempstead
2.5 miles north of Prairie View on FM 1098
2.5 miles north of Prairie View on FM 1098
Waller High School, Waller and Smith Streets in Waller
10 miles north of Hockley on Springer Cemetery Road
5 miles southeast of Hempstead about 1 mile off Hwy 290
2 miles south of Waller on FM 362
University campus, 1 mile north of US 290 on FM 1098
1.5 miles south of Hempstead on SH 159
Austin Branch Road 2.5 miles west of its intersection with 25th Street in Hempstead
1118 Farr Street in Waller
1 mile north of Hempstead on Hwy 6 between SH 290 overpasses.
On the Courthouse Square in Hempstead
Business 290 on property of the Waller County Courthouse Annex.
2 miles west of Pattison on FM 1458
2 miles north of Prairie View on FM 1098, between Pond Creek and Cameron Rd.
Cemetery at Hempstead
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