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:
"5 EARLY BRENHAM
AFTERMATH OF THE BURNING OF BRENHAM
On Saturday morning, September 8, Jabez Demming (JD) Giddings awakened in Austin to the devastating news that his hometown had burned during the night.
A prominent Brenham attorney, JD was serving in the Texas legislature. He and Governor James W Throckmorton both received messages by telegraph that morning.
Reports place responsibility on brevet Major George W Smith, commander of the Union army post in Brenham, and Captain Samuel A. Craig, head of Washington counties freedmen’s Bureau office. Both men had been seen giving orders that led to burglaries, looting and arson by federal soldiers.
Throckmorton immediately wrote US President Andrew Johnson, demanding that the two Union officers face civil courts. He appointed JD to lead a Texas congressional committee that would investigate the events in Brenham.
“I doubt much justice could be done in a community which compels our officers and soldiers to remain inside the defenses thrown around their camp.” – Union Major General P. H. Sheridan to Texas Governor James W. Throckmorton, September 20, 1866.
Meanwhile in Brenham, word quickly spread and the hated army commander was dubbed “House Burning Smith.” Doctor J. T. Norris made his normal Saturday medical visit to Camptown, the nearby army post. Smith told him, “I have little doubt that my men set fire to the town.”
But Smith changed his story by Monday. The morning train from Galveston brought his superior officer, Colonel E. C. Mason, to investigate. Smith told Mason that Brenham residents had looted and set fire to the town, disguised in US Army uniforms to place blame on him and his soldiers.
Masons report to his commanding officer, Major General Philip H Sheridan, declared Smith and Craig innocent along with their men. Mason told Sheridan that a Sheriff’s posse of fifty armed men was patrolling Brenham streets, forcing Smith to enclose his camp.
On Sheridan’s command, Smith issued an official US order to disarm local citizens and disband all civil law enforcement in Washington County. His letter to Throckmorton and local officials threatened the arrest of any armed persons.
In the meantime, JD Giddings and his Texas congressional committee began their investigation. They interviewed dozens of eyewitnesses to the events on September 7th. Their 54-page page report was widely distributed on September 28th, revealing the horrible details.
The next day, Sheridan and Throckmorton negotiated a truce, agreeing to no further charges or arrests on either side.
But no one was satisfied with the outcome. The people of Washington County wanted only to be rid of house burning Smith and his union troops. Residents continue to live with rowdy, intoxicated soldiers roaming their streets at all hours. Hostilities continued into the spring of 1867."