Kemah

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. This is the story of Kemah. It starts, like so many Texas stories do, with land.

Michael Gouldrich, one of Stephen F. Austin's original three hundred colonists, received a Mexican land grant right here in 1824. That's the seed of everything that follows.

Then in 1853, a woman named Elizabeth S. Justice acquired a part of that same property. Time kept moving, and by the early 1890s, a family named Kipp had woven themselves into this story.

Abraham and Elizabeth Kipp, and Elizabeth's maiden name was Justice, along with their daughter Jane and her husband James Bradford, had acquired the balance of that original Gouldrich Mexican land grant. The whole thing, gathered back together under two families. Now you'd think that'd be the quiet part of the story.

It wasn't. In 1898, the Texas and New Orleans Railroad extended a track through the area. And when a railroad comes through, people pay attention.

The Kipp and Bradford families did exactly that. They established a townsite right here and called it Evergreen. A hopeful name.

Maybe too hopeful. Because in 1900, a storm destroyed it. Just wiped it out.

But here's the thing about people who've already put down roots. You don't scare them off that easy. The Kipps and the Bradfords erected large family homes here in 1901, and the village was rebuilt.

Then in 1907, something happened that made it official. A post office was granted, and with it came a new name. The town became Kemah.

Gulf-related businesses started taking hold. Boat building, commercial fishing, tourism. By 1922, Kemah had grown into a town of 1,300 people.

In 1929, a bridge connected Kemah with Seabrook. And in the 1950s, when the Clear Creek Channel opened, a large shrimp fleet located here. The Gulf kept giving.

It also kept taking. In 1961, Kemah sustained major storm damage. But recovered again, because apparently that's just what Kemah does.

In 1965, the town was formally incorporated. Through the 1970s and 1980s, marine storage facilities built in the area continued to boost the local economy. From a single land grant in 1824 to a shrimp fleet, a bridge, and a town with a name all its own.

Kemah earned every bit of what it became.

What the marker says

Michael Gouldrich, one of Stephen F. Austin's original three hundred colonists, received a Mexican land grant here in 1824. Elizabeth S. Justice acquired a part of the property in 1853. By the early 1890s Abraham and Elizabeth (Justice) Kipp, their daughter Jane, and her husband, James Bradford, had acquired the balance of the original Gouldrich Mexican land grant. In 1898 the Texas & New Orleans Railroad extended a track through the area which prompted the Kipp and Bradford families to establish a townsite here named Evergreen. Despite its destruction by a storm in 1900, the village was rebuilt after the Kipps and Bradfords erected large family homes here in 1901. The name of the town was changed to Kemah with the granting of a post office in 1907. Gulf-related businesses such as boat building, commercial fishing, and tourism helped Kemah grow into a town of 1,300 people by 1922. Kemah was connected with Seabrook by bridge in 1929. A large shrimp fleet located here after the Clear Creek Channel opened in the 1950s. Kemah sustained major storm damage in 1961 but recovered and was formally incorporated in 1965. Marine storage facilities built in this area in the 1970s and 1980s continued to boost the local economy.