West Columbia, Texas West Columbia, Texas
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West Columbia, TX West Columbia, Texas 2 4 1 2 3,1,9 7,5,8 6 3 1.Republic of Texas . Veterans Dr., First Capitol of the Republic of Texas, replica of where the first congress of the republic met and created a new government. 2. Varner Hogg Plantation . FM 2852. Historic home open for tours, Candlelight Christmas celebration and Fall Festival. A great place for photography or rent the grounds for a special touch for your wedding or party. 3. Capitol of Texas Park . 100 E. Brazos Ave. Original 4 site of the capitol that housed the first lawmakers of the Republic of Texas. Interpretive trail highlights important people and events in Texas. 4. First Capitol Park . FM 2852. Public swimming pool, stocked fishing pond, sports fields, rentable pavilion and gazebo, walking trails, and RV sites. 5. Columbia Historical Museum . 247 E. Brazos. 5 6 Hours Thu – Sat, 10 am-2 pm. A wonderful place to visit the days of yesteryear brimming with treasures. It is an amazing place to just meander through. 6. East Columbia . Historic town site where every road leads to another interesting story. A place where time seems to have stood still. Brazos Belle paddle boat now open. 7. Columbia Cemetery . E. Jackson St. Site given by 7 Josiah H. Bell family out of their grant, the first deeded to one of "Old 300" in colony of Stephen F. Austin. Has graves of many heroes of Texas Revolution of 1836. 8. Rosenwald School . 247 E. Brazos. Built between 1913-1932 by Sears, Roebuck & Co President, Julius Rosenwald and black educator Booker T. Washington. 8 9 9.Veteran’s Memorial . N. 14 th St. Statuesque memorial dedicated to the men and women that have served their country from all branches of the military. For more information, visit www.westcolumbiatx.org Welcome to Varner-Hogg Plantation who lived and worked on this property, VARNER-HOGG VISITORS GUIDE State Historic Site, founded in 1824 by from the prosperous landowners to PLANTATION one of Texas’ first colonizers, Martin the enslaved people and oil field state historic site Varner and later owned by Texas workers whose labor was essential 1702 N. 13th St. • West Columbia, TX 77486 VARNER-HOGG Gov. James S. Hogg. Visitors can to the economic viability of the site. 979-345-4656 explore the real stories of the people visitvhp.com PLANTATION Preserve the Future state historic site VARNER-HOGG PLANTATION of them former slaves, leased through state prisons. In Help the Texas Historical Commission preserve The Karankawa tribe inhabited the land along Varner 1875, however, state investigators found “particular the past while touring this historic site. Please be Creek long before European contact, but the first cruelty” toward convicts at Patton Place. This unfavorable mindful of fragile historic artifacts and respectful recorded settlement of Varner-Hogg Plantation State attention, combined with the rising cost of convict labor, of historic structures. We want to ensure their Historic Site began in 1824 with the Varner family. ended the use of prisoners, and the plantation turned to a preservation for the enjoyment of future generations. Martin Varner, a Virginia native, purchased a 4,428- sharecropping system. acre Mexican land grant as a part of Stephen F. Austin’s In 1876, the Texas Land Company purchased See the Sites colony in present-day Brazoria County. The Varners the plantation and gradually shifted the site’s focus to From western forts and adobe structures to Victorian and at least two enslaved men farmed and raised livestock ranching. The majority of laborers living and working on mansions and pivotal battlegrounds, the Texas on a small scale. They also established a rum distillery the property were still African American. The plantation Historical Commission’s state historic sites exemplify in 1829, possibly the first in the state of Texas. sustained major damage in several 1900s hurricanes. a breadth of Texas history. Come explore the real Many of the original buildings, including the sugar mill, stories at the real places. were destroyed. History of the Plantation In 1901, former Texas Gov. James Stephen Hogg In 1834, Varner sold the property to Columbus R. purchased the property, convinced that large amounts of Plan your next trip at Patton of Kentucky. The extended Patton family moved texashistoricsites.com oil lay beneath the surface. Large quantities of oil were to Brazoria County with 40–60 enslaved people, and never found during his lifetime. When Gov. Hogg died with their labor, Columbus Patton built a successful in 1906, his will recommended his children not sell the sugarcane enterprise complete with a two-story mill. The mineral rights for at least 15 years. Within that time slaves constructed the plantation house, smokehouse, period, the Hogg heirs struck oil and became very wealthy. sugar mill, and their own quarters with handmade bricks While none of the Hogg children lived in the made from Brazos River mud. The lives of some of the plantation home, they each spent time at the site. Long enslaved people on the plantation are relatively well weekends with visitors, dinner parties, and outings to the documented, partly in court records of Patton’s contested country brought them to the house. In 1919, the Hoggs will in which he made special provisions for four of the made several modifications to the house, including the slaves: Rachael, Marie, Jacob Steel, and Solomon. relocation of the main entrance, which resulted in its Patton and two of his brothers became active in poli- current appearance. thc.texas.gov tics prior to the Texas Revolution and served in the Texian Ima Hogg, the governor’s only daughter and last sur- army. Patton successfully managed the plantation until viving child, was a great collector and lover of decorative November 1854, when his family had him declared in- arts, and she furnished the home to reflect her father’s love sane, possibly as a result of a brain tumor. He was placed of history and her own admiration for George Washing- in an asylum in South Carolina, where he died of typhoid ton and other early Americans. The house now contains fever in 1856. The Patton family sold the estate in 1869. her extensive collection of 19th-century furnishings and Between 1869 and 1901, the site changed ownership ornamental arts, which she began amassing in 1925. She TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION several times. At one point, owners used convicts, many donated the plantation to the State of Texas in 1958. 25K 06/17 Walking Guide 1 THE PLANTATION HOUSE 10 GOVERNOR HOGG’S BATH The plantation house, built for Columbus Patton in the When Gov. Hogg purchased the site, there was no indoor 1830s, originally faced the Varner Creek. A free-standing plumbing in the house. The governor, who was 6’3” and weighed kitchen structure was located just to the northwest. The more than 300 pounds, did not current appearance and orientation of the house is the comfortably fit in the galvanized result of remodeling done by the Hogg Family in the 1920s. metal bathtubs of the time, so he had this outdoor tub constructed. 2 SUGAR MILL RUINS The brick foundation and 11 THE BARN chimney are the only remains The Pattons built this barn of the large two-story sugar in the 1840s, and it was later mill that once was the heart Gov. Hogg’s outdoor bathtub. moved to its current location. of the plantation. The mill was Today it is used to display farming equipment, wagons, built by the Pattons in the carriages, and items used in sugar cane processing. 1840s and was destroyed, like many of the buildings on site, Visitors view sugar mill ruins. 12 BUNKHOUSE by the 1900 hurricane. The Built in the 1920s, this building was used for the oil field raw sugar cane was cleaned and crushed on the second business and workers’ sleeping quarters and is now the floor of the mill and then boiled and refined into usable sugar museum and gift shop for the site. Sugarcane wagon in the 1840s barn. in the large metal kettles on the ground floor. Today, visitors can observe 19th-century kettles near the building ruins. 13 THE PECAN ORCHARD 14 COLLECTIONS RESOURCE CENTER** Antique furnishings and portraits in the plantation house. Pecans were a favorite of Gov. Hogg, and the orchard has been The Collections Resource Center is home to Miss Ima 3 OIL WELL maintained since his time. In the fall, visitors are allowed to pick Hogg’s historic decorative arts collection, as well as a Gov. Hogg originally purchased the property in 1901 for the 7 HAL’S HOUSE up fallen nuts with the permission of site staff. conservation lab and the plantation’s archives. oil he speculated the ground held. In 1918, 12 years after This tin-roofed building was the last residence constructed on his death, profitable wells and oil derricks were finally the plantation in 1921. For many years it was home to Mary and established and covered the area. The Hogg children’s Hal Fields. Hal worked as the ranch foreman before the Hoggs fortune came from this oil. purchased the site and lived here as property manager for the Hogg family until his death in 1968. 4 SLAVE QUARTERS The slave quarters were constructed around the same time 8 THE PATTON CEMETERY as the main plantation house out of slave-made bricks and This is the final resting place of at least four members of local materials. After slavery was abolished these small the Patton family. The 1900 hurricane destroyed most of cabins were used to house convict laborers and later by the cemetery’s decorative brick work.