DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Cypress, out there in Harris County. Now before the first Anglo settler ever set foot in the Cypress area, this land belonged to others. The Attakapas and Akokisa Indians had made their lives in what is now Harris County — and by the mid-1800s, with the arrival of Anglo settlers, they began to disappear.
That's where our story picks up. The first documented settlers in the Cypress area were the Burnett and Simmons families, and they were there beginning by 1831. Matthew Burnett — remember that name — planted himself right at the Cypress Creek crossing on the road to Washington-on-the-Brazos, and he set up a tavern and inn.
A man of some standing, too, because by 1840 he'd been designated the first postmaster at Big Cypress. A tavern, an inn, and a post office. Matthew Burnett was not a man who sat still.
Then in the late 1840s, a new wave came rolling in — German immigrants, folks chasing land ownership, people seeking religious freedom. They poured into the Cypress area, and what had been rough frontier ground started filling in as a rural community of farmers, dairymen, and ranchers. Small schools rose up to see to the children's education.
The thing grew. And here's what's worth appreciating about Cypress: it was never really just one town. It was more a region than a single community — more than a hundred square miles straddling the Cypress Creek and Little Cypress Creek watersheds.
Inside that territory you had Big Cypress, Hamblin, Eden, Cypress Grove, Cypress Top, Cypress City, and the town of Cypress itself. Names stacked on names, each one its own little world. Now, even before the settlers finished unpacking, somebody was already thinking about railroads.
Railroads through this area were chartered in 1839 and 1848, meant to follow a route that had already been graded for a plank road. The Cypress Top Post Office opened along that same route in 1851. The groundwork was being laid, literally and figuratively.
Then came July of 1856. The tracks for the Galveston and Red River Railway — soon to be renamed the Houston and Texas Central Railway — reached Cypress Top Depot, sitting twenty-six miles northwest of Houston. When those rails arrived, Cypress Top woke up.
Businesses followed the railroad like they always do. A whole district of stores, hotels, and saloons took shape around that depot, and the place hummed. In the early 1900s, somebody struck something unexpected: a hot artesian well.
That discovery didn't stay a curiosity for long — it developed into the Houston Hot Well Sanitarium and Hotel. People came from who knows where to take the waters. And when the week's work was done, folks danced.
Tin Hall and Juergen's Hall were popular — the kind of places where the fiddle kept going till your feet gave out. Today, Cypress Top Historic Park preserves a remnant of that old railroad community, holding onto a piece of what all those settlers, immigrants, postmasters, and dancers built out of creek-bottom country. More than a hundred square miles of story — and it all ran right through here.
What the marker says
CYPRESS ATTAKAPAS AND AKOKISA INDIANS BEGAN TO DISAPPEAR FROM HARRIS COUNTY IN THE MID-1800s WITH THE ARRIVAL OF ANGLO SETTLERS. THE FIRST DOCUMENTED SETTLERS IN THE CYPRESS AREA WERE THE BURNETT AND SIMMONS FAMILIES, BEGINNING BY 1831. MATTHEW BURNETT ESTABLISHED A TAVERN AND INN NEAR THE CYPRESS CREEK CROSSING ON THE ROAD TO WASHINGTON-ON-THE-BRAZOS, AND WAS DESIGNATED AS THE FIRST POSTMASTER AT BIG CYPRESS BY 1840. IN THE LATE 1840s, GERMAN IMMIGRANTS AND SETTLERS SEEKING LAND OWNERSHIP AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CAME TO THE CYPRESS AREA, WHICH SOON GREW INTO A RURAL COMMUNITY OF FARMERS, DAIRYMEN AND RANCHERS. SMALL SCHOOLS SERVED THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF THE CHILDREN. MORE A REGION THAN A SINGLE COMMUNITY, CYPRESS ENCOMPASSES MORE THAN A HUNDRED SQUARE MILES WITHIN THE CYPRESS CREEK AND LITTLE CYPRESS CREEK WATERSHEDS, INCLUDING THE EARLY SETTLEMENTS OF BIG CYPRESS, HAMBLIN, EDEN, CYPRESS GROVE, CYPRESS TOP, CYPRESS CITY, AND THE TOWN OF CYPRESS. RAILROADS THROUGH THIS AREA WERE CHARTERED IN 1839 AND 1848 TO FOLLOW A ROUTE THAT WAS GRADED FOR A PLANK ROAD. THE CYPRESS TOP POST OFFICE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1851 ALONG THIS ROUTE. IN JULY 1856, TRACKS FOR THE GALVESTON AND RED RIVER RAILWAY (SOON RENAMED THE HOUSTON AND TEXAS CENTRAL RAILWAY) REACHED CYPRESS TOP DEPOT, 26 MILES NORTHWEST OF HOUSTON. THE RAILROAD ATTRACTED BUSINESSES AND CREATED A DISTRICT OF STORES, HOTELS AND SALOONS. IN THE EARLY 1900s, THE DISCOVERY OF A HOT ARTESIAN WELL DEVELOPED INTO THE HOUSTON HOT WELL SANITARIUM AND HOTEL. DANCE HALLS, SUCH AS TIN HALL AND JUERGEN'S HALL, WERE POPULAR. CYPRESS TOP HISTORIC PARK PRESERVES A REMNANT OF THE RAILROAD COMMUNITY. (2012)