|
 Rice
N 32° 14.623 W 096° 29.875
14S E 735740 N 3570198
Texas Historical Marker commemorating the origins and colorful history of the city of Rice, TX, named for the same William Marsh Rice who brought us Rice University in Houston.
Waymark Code: WMKV88
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/30/2014
Views: 2
Marker Number: 11627
Marker Text:
Settlers began arriving at this site in the late 1860s, mostly from the nearby settlement of Porter's Bluff, which had been devastated by a flood in 1866. By 1872, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, which bypassed Porter's Bluff, was routed through this site. One of the railroad's principal investors, Houston businessman William Marsh Rice (1816-1900), donated five hundred acres of land for a station and a townsite, which was named in his honor. The Rice Post Office was established in 1872.
Cotton was the main crop of the area, and accounted for much of the community's business interests. One of the first businesses in Rice was a cotton gin, and the Rice railroad station was a major cotton shipping point. A train carrying Spanish-American War recruits came through the station in 1898, and the Liberty Bell passed through on a World War I Liberty Bond campaign.
Early settlers of Rice included Isaac Sessions, who arrived in 1846; Texas Revolutionary War veteran Joseph Calloway Bartlett, who was Rice's first postmaster; and many Civil War veterans. The community's first school opened in 1875. Citizens voted to incorporate the city in a December 1912 election.
Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
|
Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
Recent Visits/Logs:
| There are no logs for this waymark yet. |
|
|
|
|