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.Directory of Constituent Lodges in Texas. (2005–2006) Waco, Tx: The Grand Lodge of Texas. 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.
Education Today, the community is served by the Brenham Independent School District, located in Brenham, Texas. The 2 towns are 12 miles away from each other, making transit to the school very easy.
Notable people
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. Andrew Jackson Houston, son of Sam and Margaret Lea Houston and politician.Texas Heritage Foundation, Texas Heritage, Volume 1, 1959, page 100 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.Louise Kelly, "WILSON, HUGH," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi52), accessed June 15, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. 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.Daniell 1887, p. 105. Henry Weidner Baylor, physician and Texas Ranger.
In popular culture American western TV series Walker: Independence takes place in Independence.
Gallery
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