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.
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Independence |
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Location within the state of Texas Show map of TexasIndependence (the United States) Show map of the United States |
Coordinates: 30°19′10″N 96°20′48″W |
Country | United States |
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State | Texas |
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County | Washington |
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Elevation | 358 ft (109 m) |
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GNIS feature ID | 1338384[1] |
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Its population was reported as 140 in 2010.[2]
Milam Lodge No. 11, of the Grand Lodge of Texas, was located in the community.[3] 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.[4]
Independence is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 390 and 50, 12 mi (19 km) northeast of Brenham and 82 mi (132 km) west of Houston in northeastern Washington County.[2]
Today, the community is served by the Brenham Independent School District.
- George Washington Baines, a co-founder and president of Baylor; great-grandfather of Lyndon B. Johnson
- Jerome B. Robertson
- William Bizzell
- Sam Houston Jr.
- Lawrence Sullivan Ross, 19th Governor of Texas, attended Baylor University.[5][6]
- Andrew Jackson Houston, son of Sam and Margaret Lea Houston and politician.[7]
- 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[8]
- William Carey Crane, Baptist minister who preached at Independence Baptist Church from 1864 to 1867 and 1869 to 1884.[9]
- Hosea Garrett, clergyman and philanthropist, who served as President Pro tempore at Baylor.[10]
- Henry Arthur McArdle, painter[11]
- Hugh Wilson, Presbyterian minister, who served as an administrator at Independence Female College.[12]
- Royall T. Wheeler, judge who became Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.[13]
- Edward Taylor, brother of Horace D. Taylor, built a store in Independence in 1838.[14]
- Nancy Moffette Lea, mother of Margaret Lea Houston, moved here in 1852.[15]
- Antoinette Power Houston Bringhurst, the fifth child of Houston and Lea, got her education at Baylor Female College.[16]
- George Wythe Baylor, Confederate soldier.[17]
- Henry Weidner Baylor, physician and Texas Ranger.
American western TV series Walker: Independence takes place in Independence.[18]
Directory of Constituent Lodges in Texas. (2005–2006) Waco, Tx: The Grand Lodge of Texas.
"Texas Event Report: EF0 Tornado" (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Houston/Galveston, Texas. 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Benner, Judith, "Ross, Lawrence Sullivan", The Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association, retrieved March 3, 2015
Ross Family Papers, Inclusive: 1846-1931, undated, Bulk: 1861-1864, 1870-1894, undated, Baylor University, December 22, 2014, retrieved January 30, 2022
Texas Heritage Foundation, Texas Heritage, Volume 1, 1959, page 100
"Varner, Martin". The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Retrieved March 14, 2008.
Hazelwood, Claudia. "Henry Arthur McArdle". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
Red, Ellen Robbins (1986). Early Days on the Bayou 1838–1890: The Life and Letters of Horace Dickinson Taylor. Waco, Texas: Texian Press. p. 59.
- 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.