DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, you might be drivin' through West Columbia today thinkin' it's just another quiet little Brazoria County town — and that's fair. But pull over a minute, because this ground you're passin' has got a story that reaches all the way back to the birth of a republic.
This place was once the capital of Texas. The whole operation. The whole shebang.
Let that settle. The town of Columbia — that's West Columbia now — served as the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1836 and 1837. And how it got there is a story worth tellin' from the beginning.
Josiah Hughes Bell, a colonist riding with Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred, surveyed and platted Columbia back in 1824, laying it out to serve as a center for shipping activities. So from the start, this was a place built with purpose.
Then the mid-1830s rolled around, and Columbia found itself right in the thick of the Texas War for Independence. Residents here were adopting resolutions for sovereignty — regular folks drawing a line in the dirt and saying, this far and no further. Then comes July of 1836.
The republic is brand new, barely breathing, and ad interim President David G. Burnet has got to make a decision — where does a newborn country plant its flag and get to work? He looked around, and he chose Columbia.
Why? Because the marker tells us exactly why: it had adequate housing for legislators, and it possessed a newspaper — the Telegraph and Texas Register. In other words, it had beds and it had a press.
That right there tells you something about what a government needs on day one. The first Congress of the Republic convened here in Columbia, and on October 22, 1836, Sam Houston — the first elected President of the Republic — was inaugurated right here on this ground. Think about that moment.
A new nation, a new president, a new everything. And then Congress got to work, because there was no shortage of things to do. They reorganized the Republic's army and navy.
They organized a post office department and a general land office. They established a court system. They approved a national seal and national flags.
All of it, right here in Columbia. The first Congress adjourned in December 1836 with plans to meet for a second session in the newly built city of Houston. Congress moved.
But here's the part people don't always reckon with — the executive branch stayed put. President Houston's office kept conductin' official duties right here in Columbia until April of 1837, when he finally moved the executive office to his namesake city. So Congress left first, and the president followed.
The legislation passed here in 1836 continued to play a vital role throughout the years of the Republic, long after the capital moved on. Columbia held something that can't be relocated — it held the first chapter. Today it's revered as a historic community and the first capital of the Republic of Texas.
West Columbia may look quiet rollin' by at highway speed, but now you know — this place was once the center of an entire nation findin' its footing.
What the marker says
In 1836 and 1837, the town of Columbia (now West Columbia) served as the capital of the Republic of Texas. Josiah Hughes Bell, a colonist with Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred, surveyed and platted Columbia in 1824 to serve as a center for shipping activities. In the mid-1830s, Columbia played an important part in the Texas War for Independence, as residents adopted resolutions for sovereignty. In July 1836, ad interim President of the Republic of Texas, David G. Burnet, named Columbia as the location for the country’s first capital. He selected the town because it had adequate housing for legislators and possessed a newspaper, the Telegraph and Texas Register. The first Congress of the Republic convened in Columbia, and Sam Houston, the first elected President, was inaugurated here on October 22, 1836. The new government addressed a number of important issues while in Columbia, including the reorganization of the Republic’s army and navy; the organization of a post office department and general land office; the establishment of a court system; and the approval of a national seal and national flags. The first Congress adjourned in December 1836, with plans to meet for a second session in the newly built city of Houston. Although Congress began to meet in Houston, the executive branch remained here, conducting official duties until April 1837, when President Houston moved his executive office to his namesake city. Although Columbia no longer served as capital, the legislation passed here in 1836 continued to play a vital role throughout the years of the Republic. Today, Columbia is revered as a historic community and first capital of the Republic of Texas. (2008)