Garwood

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Garwood, Colorado County. Now settle in, because this one starts long before there was a town, or even a name to put on a map. Way back in 1827, a man named Preston Gilbert acquired a league of land out here on the Texas coastal plain.

Gilbert was one of Stephen F. Austin's famous "Old 300" colonists, the founding stock of Anglo Texas, and his acreage would sit quiet for decades, changing hands and waiting for its moment. That moment came in 1896, when three men rode in with money and ambition.

Marcus Hervy Townsend, Thomas A. Hill, and William Thomas Burford bought part of Gilbert's original league as a farming and ranching investment. Now those are three very different kinds of men.

Townsend was a lawyer and a Texas legislator. Hill was a prominent merchant and banker. Burford was a druggist and planter who, right around that same stretch of years, served as Colorado County sheriff from 1898 to 1902.

A lawyer, a banker, and a sheriff-druggist walk onto a league of land. That is not the setup to a joke. That is the setup to a town.

By 1901 they had started producing rice, built out a canal and irrigation system, and platted a townsite right there on their land. And when the time came to give that town a name, they didn't name it for any of themselves, though the streets and avenues, those they handed out generously to early area settlers, friends of the founders, and yes, the founders themselves. No, for the town's name they reached toward a man who never lived there, never lived anywhere in Colorado County.

His name was Judge Hiram Morgan Garwood, a friend of Townsend's, and that was honor enough to put his name on the map in 1901. From the very beginning, Garwood's economy has been built on rice, and it still is. The gravel industry has made its mark here too, along with oil and gas production, and if you know duck and goose hunters, well, they know about Garwood.

A small community, the marker says, but an important part of Colorado County's heritage throughout its history. Named for a man who never set foot in it, built by three men who had no obvious reason to be partners, and still standing. That is a Texas town doing exactly what it was meant to do.

What the marker says

Founded in 1901, the town of Garwood is located on land once occupied by Preston Gilbert, one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300" colonists, who acquired the acreage in 1827. In 1896, Marcus Hervy Townsend, Thomas A. Hill, and William Thomas Burford bought part of Gilbert's original league of land as a farming and ranching investment. By 1901, they had begun rice production, developed a canal and irrigation system, and platted a townsite on their land. Towsend was a lawyer and Texas legislator. Hill was a prominent merchant and banker, while Burford was a druggist and planter who served as Colorado County sheriff from 1898-1902. They named their town for Judge Hiram Morgan Garwood, a friend of Townsend who never lived in Garwood or in Colorado County. Streets and avenues were named for early area settlers, other friends of the founders, and for the founders themselves. From the town's inception, its economy has been based on rice production. The gravel industry, oil and gas production, and duck and goose hunting are also important businesses here. Throughout its history, the small community has been an important part of Colorado County's heritage.