DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Deming's Bridge Community, out in Matagorda County. Now, every good community needs a reason to exist — and this one started with a plank of wood across some moving water. In 1857, a wooden bridge was built over the Tres Palacios River, right at this site, for a man named Edward A.
Deming. He owned land along the west side of that stream, and once that crossing went in, something remarkable happened. People started showing up.
Settlers from across western Matagorda County found that Deming's Bridge was just about the most natural gathering place around. A bridge has a way of doing that — it turns a barrier into a destination. The community that grew up around it didn't waste any time putting down roots.
Tres Palacios Baptist Church was established on the east side of the river, and it became the beating heart of community life, the kind of place where folks came together for more than just sermons. Then, in 1858 — just one year after that bridge went up — the Deming's Bridge Post Office opened for business, with one Edwin A. Deming serving as postmaster.
Now, you'll notice the name there: not Edward, who the bridge was built for, but Edwin. Two Demings in the same story. West Texas has a way of keeping you on your toes.
That post office ran until 1866, when it was discontinued. But these things have a way of coming back. And sure enough, it was reinstated in 1872.
Then, in 1899, the name was changed — from Deming's Bridge to Hawley. It closed again in 1903, and when it did, it moved two miles west to a new settlement called Blessing. A Masonic hall that had been established in 1874 made the same journey to Blessing, pulled there by something irresistible to a growing community: a railroad.
But here's the thing about a community — even when the living move on, the ones who've passed tend to stay. Hawley Cemetery began as a two-acre plot simply called Deming's Bridge Cemetery. And among those buried there are two brothers who cast a long shadow over Texas ranching history.
Abel Head Pierce — better known, and I mean widely better known, as "Shanghai" Pierce, born 1834, died 1900 — and his brother Jonathan Edwards Pierce, born 1839, died 1915. Both of them noted cattle ranchers, both of them laid to rest in this corner of Matagorda County. It was Jonathan Pierce who donated land to enlarge the cemetery.
And it was Jonathan Pierce who was instrumental in changing its name, in 1898, to honor Texas Senator Robert B. Hawley, born 1849, died 1921. So what began as a wooden bridge over a river became a post office, a church, a Masonic hall, a cattle ranching legacy, and finally a cemetery carrying a senator's name.
The railroad took the living. The land kept everyone else. That's the Deming's Bridge Community — and that's how a crossing becomes a place that endures.
What the marker says
Deming's Bridge CommunityThe Deming's Bridge community grew up around a wooden bridge built over the Tres Palacios River at this site in 1857 for Edward A. Deming, owner of land along the west side of the stream. The crossing provided by Deming's Bridge became a natural gathering place for settlers of western Matagorda County. Tres Palacios Baptist Church, site of many community activities, was established on the east side of the river. The Deming's Bridge Post Office opened in 1858, with Edwin A. Deming serving as postmaster until it was discontinued in 1866. Reinstated in 1872, the post office name was changed to Hawley in 1899. It closed again in 1903 when it was moved to the new settlement of Blessing (2 miles west). A Masonic hall, established in 1874, was also moved to Blessing after location of the railroad there caused a population shift. Hawley Cemetery originated as a two-acre plot of land called Deming's Bridge Cemetery. Among the burials are the graves of brothers and noted cattle ranchers Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce (1834-1900) and Jonathan Edwards Pierce (1839-1915). Jonathan Pierce donated land to enlarge the cemetery and was instrumental in changing its name in 1898 in honor of Texas Senator Robert B. Hawley (1849-1921). Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986