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RICHMOND,
TEXASFort Bend
County Seat, Gulf
Coast
Highway 59 and U.S. 90
15 miles SW of Houston
Population 16,920 (1990)
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Deaf Smith, Mirabeau B. Lamar and Jane Long were once Richmond residents.
Jane Long is buried in the cemetery and there is a statue of Lamar directly in
front of the courthouse.
A
timeline of Richmond history: 1822:
First settlers arrived, closely followed by members of Austin's "Old 300" The
settlement was named after a log fortification on a bend of the Brazos River -
the location was an important ford on the river.
1836: Evacuated during "The
Runaway Scrape"
1837: The town is platted, promoted and named after Richmond,
England. Incorporated in May of 1837 and becoming county seat when Fort Bend County
was organized later in the year.
1839: First newspaper - the Richmond Telescope
and Texas Literary Register, was published
1842: First courthouse built
1853: Yellow Fever epidemic hits Richmond
1855: The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos
and Colorado Railroad arrives
1866: Freedman's Bureau opens when enamcipated
slaves leave plantations and move to the city
1867: Union occupation troops
stationed at Richmond
1871: New Courthouse
1878: The Gulf, Colorado and
Santa Fe RR bypasses Richmond by 3 miles - giving birth to Rosenburg, Texas
1888: First bridge across the Brazos is built
1893: First steel bridge is
built
1899: Brazos floods
1908: Fourth
County Courthouse
1920s: Population is 1,273. Oil discoveries add to the
economy - rice, sugar and cotton are main crops
After WWII,
the more mobile population moved to Houston
for better jobs. The population was stagnant until people started commuting from
Houston in the 1970s.
Book
Hotel Here > Richmond/Rosenberg
Hotels |
Richmond, Texas Landmarks/Attractions |
|
John Moore Home,
c. 1883 Long-Smith
Cottage Confederate
Museum Fort
Bend Historical Museum: 500 Houston Street |
Former
Ft. Bend County Jail c. 1896
Just southwest of downtown Richmond - across the
tracks.
TE photo, 2001 |
Historic
Home - McNabb House
TE
photo |
McNabb
House Historical Marker
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
Four-spanned Railroad Thru Truss Bridge
over Brazos River |
Railroad
Thru Truss Bridge
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
The
Four-spanned Railroad Thru Truss Bridge
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
Railroad
bridge over the Brazos
TE
photo, 2001 |
Richmond Chronicles
Jaybird-Woodpecker
War by Archie P. McDonald
("All Things Historical" Column)
"In Fort Bend County, a silhouette of the jaybird symbolized the Redeemer
portion of the Democratic Party and the woodpecker represented those who had flourished
during Radical Republican reconstruction, who also had begun to call themselves
Democrats by the 1880s."
Book
Hotel Here >
Richmond/Rosenberg Hotels |
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. | |
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