Independence is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 140 in 2000. It is located about an hour northwest of the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

History

Its population was reported as 140 in 2010.

Milam Lodge No. 11, of the Grand Lodge of Texas, was located in the community. Seward Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A tornado hit Independence in December 1983. On May 26, 2016, an EF0 tornado struck Independence, in which numerous trees were downed in a convergent pattern.

Geography

Independence is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 390 and 50, northeast of Brenham and west of Houston in northeastern Washington County.

  • Andrew Jackson Houston, son of Sam and Margaret Lea Houston and politician.
  • George W. Littlefield, Confederate Army soldier, attended Baylor University.
  • Thomas Chilton, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, co-founded Baylor University.
  • Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor is buried in the community's cemetery.
  • Martin Varner, Old Three Hundred member
  • William Carey Crane, Baptist minister who preached at Independence Baptist Church from 1864 to 1867 and 1869 to 1884.
  • Hosea Garrett, clergyman and philanthropist, who served as President Pro tempore at Baylor.
  • Henry Arthur McArdle, painter
  • Hugh Wilson, Presbyterian minister, who served as an administrator at Independence Female College.
  • Royall T. Wheeler, judge who became Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
  • Edward Taylor, brother of Horace D. Taylor, built a store in Independence in 1838.
  • Nancy Moffette Lea, mother of Margaret Lea Houston, moved here in 1852.
  • Antoinette Power Houston Bringhurst, the fifth child of Houston and Lea, got her education at Baylor Female College.
  • George Wythe Baylor, Confederate soldier.
  • Henry Weidner Baylor, physician and Texas Ranger.

American western TV series Walker: Independence takes place in Independence.

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File:Independence-tx2015-11.jpg|Site of Home of General Sam Houston and Family

File:Original Site of Baylor University in Independence, TX.jpg|Original Site of Baylor University

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References

Further reading

  • B. D. Augustin, "Independence: The Athens of Early Texas," Texas Highways, March 1984.
  • T. Lindsay Baker, Ghost Towns of Texas, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986.
  • Lois Smith Murray, Baylor at Independence, Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 1972.
  • Gracey Booker Toland, Austin Knew His Athens, San Antonio, TX: Naylor, 1958.

See also

  • Texas State Highway 211
  • The Texas Collection