Graydon

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, friends — and I'll do my best to do it justice. Deep in Chambers County, where the west fork of Double Bayou winds through land that was once some of the most promising farming country in Texas, there was a community called Graydon. And at the turn of the century, it flourished.

Now to understand Graydon, you have to start with Benjamin F. Sterling. Born in 1831, Sterling was one of the earliest settlers in this stretch of country, and in 1869 he brought his family here.

The man clearly believed in putting down roots — because by 1877, he is credited with starting a school. Think about that. The community was barely getting its legs under it, and this man was already making sure children had somewhere to learn.

In 1893, a proper one-room schoolhouse was erected, on land provided by a neighbor named Jacob Carl Johnson. A few years later, in 1895, Benjamin Sterling opened a post office right inside his general store. And when it came time to give that post office a name?

He named it Graydon — for his grandson. Just like that, a place had a name. Now here is where the story takes a turn that even a seasoned storyteller might pause over.

Benjamin Sterling had a son — Ross Sterling, born right there in Graydon in 1874. That boy grew up along Double Bayou, and eventually he served as governor of Texas from 1931 to 1933. Governor.

Of Texas. From a one-room-schoolhouse town on a bayou in Chambers County. You can't make that up, and I wouldn't dare try.

But back in Graydon itself, things were moving. In the late 1890s, real estate developers saw opportunity in all that fertile land and divided much of it into small farms, selling them to families coming down from the north and east. The community grew.

Rice, vegetables, and other crops were loaded onto boats and sent down Double Bayou — the community's principal transportation artery — across the bay all the way to Galveston. That bayou wasn't just scenery. It was the lifeblood of everything.

In 1912, a man named Marion Stines — born in 1850 — became postmaster and moved the post office over to his own store. And in 1915, a second schoolhouse was built, on land given by George Banks. That building became more than a school.

It was where worship services were held, where social events brought people together. It was the heart of the community in its later years. But Graydon was about to face a reckoning that came from more than one direction at once.

Reverses in the farm economy hit hard. Destructive hurricanes tore through. And then came motor travel — which, rather than connecting Graydon to the wider world, actually isolated it.

When the roads took people elsewhere, the bayou route that had made Graydon possible suddenly mattered a whole lot less. The post office closed in 1919. The school closed in 1935.

A community that had given Texas a governor, that had shipped its harvest by boat to Galveston, that had built not one but two schoolhouses — gone quiet. Graydon flourished, and then it faded, and the west fork of Double Bayou kept right on flowing, like it always had, and like it does still.

What the marker says

The farming community of Graydon flourished along the west fork of Double Bayou at the turn of the century. Benjamin F. Sterling (1831-1917), one of the earliest settlers in the area, brought his family here in 1869. He is credited with starting a school as early as 1877. A one-room schoolhouse was erected in 1893 on land provided by Jacob Carl Johnson. In 1895 Sterling opened a post office in his general store and named it "Graydon" for his grandson. His son Ross Sterling (1874-1949)a native of Graydon, served as governor of Texas, 1931-33. In the late 1890s, real estate developers divided much of this fertile area into small farms to sell to families in the north and east. Rice, vegetables, and other crops were sent by boat down Double Bayou, the community's principal transportation artery, and across the bay to Galveston. Marion Stines (1850-1916) became postmaster in 1912 and moved the post office to his store. The second Graydon schoolhouse, built in 1915 on land given by George Banks was the site of worship services and social events. Graydon's population declined because of reverses in the farm economy, destructive hurricanes, and the rise of motor travel which isolated the community. the post office closed in 1919 and the school in 1935.