Brenham's Earliest Cisterns -- Toubin Park, Brenham TX - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

A cute pocket park in downtown Brenham preserves the early history of Brenham at a location of the town's cistern and water supply, a marvel of 19th century engineering and infrastructure and a State Archaeological landmark in this small Texas town. A total of 8 signs here detail the early development of Brenham, its growth as a railroad town, its troubled occupation by the Union Army and Freedmen's Bureau troops after the Civil War, and the founding of the city's Hook and Ladder firefighting company.

From the city's website: (visit link)

"Toubin Park - 208 S. Park Street

Beneath Brenham streets is a State Archaeological Landmark, a large system of historic cisterns. The cisterns were built in the late 1800's to store rainwater for public fire fighting. Private cisterns were also abundant throughout early Washington County, used for bathing, drinking and cooking.

The large system of public cisterns in early Brenham was a rarity. The city was considered very progressive for using the new-fangled contraptions to fight fires. No other Texas cities were known to install public cisterns, or to provide public services so early.

Enjoy the Wild West story of why these cisterns were built. It's a tale of an early railroad, a rough Boom Town, and colorful characters who shaped Washington County's history.

Follow the intriguing details of the 1866 Burning of Brenham and the large gunfight that led to the fire.

Learn how Brenham citizens banded together to protect themselves and their properties from oppressive Union troops during Reconstruction.

See a large private cistern circa 1880 and learn how it was used.

Discover how public cisterns were built and supplied with water by innovative private businesses.

Find out about present-day cisterns and how to harvest rainwater for your landscape, water features, livestock, and even for indoor use."

The waymarked sign of history reads as follows:

Group that erected the marker: Brenham Heritage Museum URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 208 S Park St Brenham, TX

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.

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