Established in 1879 by Albert Gallatin Van Pradelles, the cemetery originated with sixteen family plots. It remained a family cemetery for over a century later, until 1986 when it was donated by the family to the Wallisville Cemetery Association. Among the stately monuments and shade trees can be found the tombstones of numerous elected county officials and pioneer settlers. Located on Wallisville Road, west of FM 563.
In 1824, the first Cove settler, Joseph Lawrence, a reputed member of Jean Lafitte's privateering band, settled on a nearby marshland ridge that became known as Lawrence's Island. This became the nucleus of later settlement. To avoid annexation to Barbers Hill in 1973, Cove was incorporated as a municipality. Located on the south side of FM 565, south of I-10, this community has been an important agricultural center for Chambers County and the upper Texas coastal region.
In 1955, the idea for a youth show, a noncommercial endeavor to involve area young people and to promote their talents and skills, was put into planning and preparation. The first show in 1956 was held in Fort Anahuac Park, and since 1968 has been held at White's Park. The Chambers County Youth Project Show has become a major annual event, involving a variety of county youth groups. Located at White's Memorial Park on Highway 61 near Interstate 10
In 1902, Berriman Richard Garland and A. L. Williams began acquiring land and constructing an irrigation canal for the East Chambers County rice crops. The canal started at the mouth of Turtle Bay, now known as Lake Anahuac. The "Lone Star Canal Company" was incorporated in 1904. To prevent any further salt water damage caused during the dry seasons, The Trinity River Irrigation District formed and built a dam and locks at the mouth of the bay. The company has changed names and owners several times and came to rest, in 1947, with The Chambers-Liberty Counties Navigation District. Located at Chambers-Liberty Counties Navigation District Office at the intersection of Washington Ave. and Miller St. in Anahuac.
Solomon Barrow (1801 - 1858) was the eldest of three sons of Reuben and Mary Jane Barrow. About 1824, Solomon and his siblings migrated from Louisiana to the Mexican-ruled lands between the Trinity River and San Jacinto Creek, and later received a land grant in what was known as the Atascosito District. By 1850, he had a wife, Elizabeth, and ten children. He set up one of the first drainage systems in the area. In 1858, the year Chambers County was created from Liberty County, Solomon Barrow died of poisoning. Located in McCullom Park in Cove.
James Taylor White (1789 - 1852) migrated here from Louisiana in 1828. He developed one of the largest herds of longhorn cattle in Southeast Texas. On White's Ranch in June 1832, area colonists signed the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, written to protest the actions of Captain Juan Davis Bradburn, commander of the Mexican Troops at Anahuac. Four years later, White provided shelter and aid for settlers fleeing the advancing Mexican forces under Santa Anna, and supplying cattle for the Texas army. Following the revolution, White began driving his cattle overland to markets in New Orleans. His cattle brand, the "crossed W," inherited from his father in 1806, is still used by members of the White family. Located east of State Highway 61 on the southside of I-10.
After Amos and Ann Barber settled in the area in 1849, the village became known as Barbers Hill. Early preaching services were held in the Barbers' home. In 1877, "Barbers Chapel" was officially organized as a Methodist Episcopal Church. The Barbers gave four acres of land for a church house and school building, and in 1878 the structure, which also served as the schoolhouse and community building, was erected. In 1897, a new church house was built and named after the donor of the largest amount of money as Fisher's Chapel. The present sanctuary was built by adding on to the existing building in 1932. Located east of Eagle Dr., south of FM 565 in Mont Belvieu.
This area was called Round Point as early as 1828 when Anson Taylor (1791 - 1831) emigrated here from South Carolina with his wife, Elizabeth, and their five children. Around 1840, Thomas Jefferson Chambers, for whom the County of Chambers is named, assumed ownership of this property on the Anson Taylor Survey. Anson, an early Texas attorney, and Chambers, a Statesman, were involved in several disputes over possession of the land and fatally wounded area resident John O'Brien in one such argument. By 1866, clear title to Round Point had been restored to Anson Taylor's heirs, though Elizabeth Taylor Moss later sold the land to Philip and Caroline Huffman. Round Point remains an important site in the early history of the Anahuac area and is significant for its association with the Taylor family and with Thomas J. Chambers. Located three miles south of the town of Anahuac.
Formed as a channel of the meandering Trinity River, Old River rises in southwestern Liberty County and flows to the Southeast, joining the Trinity in northwestern Chambers County. During the 1820's and 1830's the tributary was the center of early area settlement. Among the first pioneers to settle here were Robert and Eleanor Wiseman, who settled on nearby land grants in 1827. Fertile soil for farming and abundant grassland for raising cattle made the Old River area an important early agricultural center of Southeast Texas. Shipping, river ferry operations, and the brick kiln were significant businesses of the time. Descendants of the pioneer Southeast Texas settlers still live in the area. Located east side of FM 565, north of I-10.
Winnie and Stowell are two communities in Northeastern Chambers County that were founded in the mid-1890's on the Gulf & Interstate Railway. The town of Winnie was organized by the Winnie Loan and Improvement Co., a corporation based in Galveston that promoted settlement in the townsite. Early settlers in Stowell included the W.W. Gregory and Spencer families and F. W. Schwettman, who helped build the farmers irrigation canal in 1899. The irrigation that progressed in the twentieth century allowed the successful development of orange, fig, and rice production in the area. The towns share a school system and a park, which was dedicated in 1957, which has brought the two communities together over the years with shared interests. Located on LeBlanc Road in the Winnie-Stowell Park.
Drafted and signed at Turtle Bayou on June 13, 1832, this first formal protest of Texas colonists against Mexican tyranny formed an early step in events that eventually led to the Texas Revolution of 1836. The settlers were protesting recent restrictive laws of Mexico designed to limit immigration and trade between the U.S. and Texas. The citizens of Anahuac were enraged by unreasonable acts by Col. Juan Davis Bradburn, a local agent of the Mexican government who unjustly imprisoned several Texans, one of whom was William B. Travis, who later became a hero at the Battle of the Alamo. Fighting broke out on June 9 and 12, 1832, between citizens and Bradburn's militia, which was followed by the creation and the signing of the resolutions, censuring violations of Mexico's constitution by President Bustamante and encouraging resistance to his regime. Located in White Memorial Park, just south of the intersection of Highway 61 and I-10.
Known as Perry's Point until 1825, Anahuac was a port of entry for early Texas colonists. In 1830, the Mexican government established a military post here on a high bluff at the mouth of the Trinity River to collect customs duties and to enforce the law of April 6, 1830, which curtailed further Anglo-American colonization. Two 18-pound guns topped the 7-foot thick brick walls of the bastion, 4-foot thick walls protected the adjacent barracks, and an underground tunnel led to a nearby powder magazine. Col. Juan Davis Bradburn angered Texas colonists by conscripting labor and supplies to construct the fort, by failing to control his disorderly troops, and by unjustly imprisoning settlers there. Armed conflict erupted between Texas and Mexican forces, which sparked fighting at Velasco and the adoption of the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, and resulted in the dismissal of Col. Bradburn and the removal of Mexican troops from the post. Located at Fort Anahuac Park off South Main Street.
Ross S. Sterling (1875 - 1949) grew up farming the area fields, where he learned to stay ahead by taking "3 or 4 licks" while others took 2. He married in 1898, to Maud Abbie Gage and had 5 children. He developed the Humble Oil & Refining Co. in 1917, entered real estate in Houston in 1925, bought the Houston "Dispatch" and "Post" (forerunners of the present Houston Post), and was head of Texas Highway Commission (1927-1930). As governor (1931-1933), he saw forceful handling of the crises of the times by calling special legislative sessions to deal with over-production in agriculture and controlling oil production. Upon his return to private life, he launched the Sterling Oil & Refining Co. and gave generous donations to numerous charities. Located east side of FM 563, south of Anahuac.
The farming community of Graydon flourished along the west fork of Double Bayou at the turn of the century. Benjamin F. Sterling, father of Ross Sterling (1931 governor of Texas) and one of the earliest settlers in the area, brought his family here in 1869 and opened the first one-room schoolhouse in 1893 and the first post office in his general store in 1895. In the late 1890's, real estate developers divided the land into small farms to sell to families in the North and the East. Graydon's population declined because of reverses in farm economy, destructive hurricanes, and the rise of motor travel which isolated the community; so, in 1919, the post office shut down, and the school followed shortly thereafter in 1935. Located on east side of FM 563, south of Anahuac.
Robert M.Williamson (1804 - 1859), who was crippled by disease at age 15, settled in Texas in 1827 to practice law. In 1832, he made a heroic stand against the Commandant Juan Davis Bradburn to free Patrick C. Jack and William Barrett Travis, which led to a confrontation between the settlers and the Mexican troops at Fort Anahuac. Williamson took up the cause of Texas independence, fighting with words and then with arms at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was a district judge and a justice of the First Supreme Court of the Republic (1836 - 39) and served as a lawmaker, 5th through 9th Congresses (1840 - 45). Located in Fort Anahuac Park.
Nicholas T. Schilling (1845 - 1919), born in Bavaria, came as a small child with his parents to the U.S. He served in the Civil War (1861 - 65) as a volunteer in the Maryland Cavalry. He received his M.D. Degree in 1872 and came to Cedar Bayou in 1874 to work in a brick factory to earn funds to set up a practice. He married Linna E. Gaillard in 1883 and practiced from the family home until 1890 when he built his office nearby for general practice, optometry, and dentistry. His daughter, Annie, kept the office intact until she died in 1966, when the structure and contents, donated to Chambers County, were shipped by barge to be preserved as a museum. Located at Schilling Office Building on Bolivar Ave. near intersection of Cummings Street.
The site is on the 1835 James Hoggatt grant from Mexico, and is named for Fox Winnie, a contractor and investor from Kansas, who with L.P. Featherstone in 1895 built Gulf & Interstate Railway through the area, though an 1896 storm ruined the railbed leaving the train in Galveston for 3 years awaiting a return run to Winnie. The late 1800's economy was based on the raising of rice, cattle, fruit, and cotton. Winnie is the site of the Chambers County sub-courthouse and benefits from payrolls of petroleum and chemical industries, and rice, beef, and catfish farming. The Texas Rice Festival is a great fall annual celebration. Located in front of county building on Broadway in Winnie.
William Travis (1809 - 1836), born in South Carolina, moved with his family in 1818 to Alabama, where at 19 he was admitted to the bar, which inspired him to move to Texas in 1831. In Anahuac, he joined the group of Texans resisting tyranny of customs collector Juan Davis Bradburn and, later, became Lieutenant of Volunteers sent to Key City San Antonio in the war against Mexican dictator Santa Anna. In 1836, he drew men and food into the Alamo and defied Santa Anna's call to surrender. He was left in charge of the 182 men remaining, after James Bowie fell ill, against Santa Anna's army of 2,500. Travis' last message, telling of his resolution to achieve victory or death in the face of the foe's overwhelming numbers, has been called one of the world's noblest documents. Located in Fort Anahuac Park.
Bradburn, an adventurer from Kentucky who first came to Texas in 1817 with an expedition to expel Spain from North America, served in the army of the Republic of Mexico in the 1820's, and in 1830 was sent to establish a military post at the mouth of the Trinity. He refused to pay colonists for supplies and labor used in building Fort Anahuac, and in 1831 he arrested a Mexican Commissioner sent to issue land titles, alarming settlers. When civilians began to curb Bradburn's unruly soldiers' outrages, he arrested several men, thus enraging colonists. He broke a promise to return the men after receiving soldiers that had been held by civilians ensuing fighting and the loss of several lives. Bradburn escaped from Anahuac and deposing fellow officers on July 13, 1832, and had to swim the Sabine River to survive the pursuit, only to serve at the Alamo in the rear guard of Santa Anna's army. Located in Fort Anahuac Park.
Wallisville was settled in 1825 by Elisha H.R. Wallis, a pioneer from Georgia, on land in the Joseph Vehlein grant, a contractor working to place colonists in Texas. Chambers County was organized in 1858 and Wallisville was made the county seat, which in turn was making the town a thriving retail market. A courthouse fire in 1875 destroyed the wooden structure along with all of the records inside. This resulted in the building of a brick and stone courthouse with a jail and an execution tower in 1886. This structure was also destroyed by fire. By 1900, the town had 728 people, a shipyard, a lumber yard, a cotton gin, a skating rink, several stores, an export house and Chambers County's first newspaper "The Wallisville Age". In 1908, though, the courthouse was moved to Anahuac after the famous "County Seat Hog War," over the issue of letting animals roam at large. Located at the Post Office in Wallisville.
Although oil production of major value began in Chambers County in 1916, this field was discovered in 1935 with the completion of Humble Oil & Refining Co.'s "A.D. Middleton No. 1." The field encompasses some 14,000 acres of prime rice and grazing land and produces from 21 zones in a highly faulted domal structure, producing depths ranging from 6,600 ft. to 8,600 ft. Peak production was reached in World War II, when in 1944, the annual total was 11,916,137 barrels. Over 177 million barrels of oil and 268 billion cubic ft. of gas have been produced from the field since the 1935 discovery. Located on south side of S. H. 65, east of Jenkins road.
While digging a 65-ft. water well near his home in 1889, Elmer W. Barber, son of Amos Barber (first settler of the area), encountered inflammable gas near the top of the salt dome known as Barbers Hill. In the early 1900's, the early shallow wells yielded very little oil and low prices of crude oil discouraged large investment. But the daily yield of Corporations' derricks ranged from 70 barrels a day to 500 barrels a day. Rows of oil derricks and tent dwellings were a common sight during the boom. By 1977, the local economy had shifted from production to the storage of petroleum. Located on the west side of Highway 146 at the South edge of Mont Belvieu.
Originally known as "Big Hill" and later as "Barbers Hill", Mont Belvieu was first settled by Amos Barber (1814 - 1885) a Louisiana native who came to Texas as a youth, and in 1848, married Susan Ann Hodges Fitzgerald. In 1849, he erected a two-story dog trot cabin near an orchard of peach and fig trees, and the plantation land was stocked with horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and an assortment of poultry. The cabin was frequented by travelers and friends, including Sam Houston and Ashbel Smith. Barber enlarged the dwelling over the years to accommodate his family of ten children; he and his wife are buried south of their original homestead in the family cemetery, still used by their descendants. The home was dismantled about 1923 leaving only a well as evidence of its existence, and the land is occupied today by Mont Belvieu Church of Christ. Located on the south side of FM 565, north of I-10, and just east of Mont Belvieu.
©Chambers County, 1997