DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. At the junction of Buffalo Bayou and San Jacinto Bay, there's a spot with a story longer than most folks realize — a story of fire, ambition, and a dream that got finished by someone else. The townsite of New Washington was settled by Colonel James Morgan, born in 1786, a native of Philadelphia who came to Texas in 1830.
By 1835 he'd bought sixteen hundred acres of land right there at that junction — sixteen hundred acres of what he clearly believed was the future. Morgan wasn't a man who did just one thing. At various times and in various places, he worked as a merchant, a civic leader, and a land agent.
A man wearing a lot of hats, as they say. Then the Texas Revolution arrived, and Morgan went off to serve as a colonel. While he was away from his home, doing his duty, Mexican troops burned the town of New Washington right down to nothing.
Now that is the kind of thing a man comes home to and has to decide: do you walk away, or do you rebuild? Morgan and others rebuilt. And for a time, New Washington began to flourish.
But Morgan was a clear-eyed man, and clear-eyed men have a way of seeing trouble on the horizon before it arrives. He recognized that New Washington could never compete with the growth of nearby Houston. So in the 1850s, rather than give up entirely, he pivoted — began promoting plans for a channel along Buffalo Bayou that would increase the whole region's trade potential.
A channel. A dream cut through mud and water. Morgan didn't live to see it finished — he died in 1866.
But in 1876, that dream was completed when steamship tycoon Charles Morgan dredged the Houston Ship Channel. Houston kept growing, New Washington faded, and eventually the old townsite became known mostly as a major bend for ship traffic along the bayou. It was incorporated in 1949 under a new name — Morgan's Point — carrying forward the colonel's name even as Houston carried forward his vision.
Now it stands as a reminder of the early commercial history of Harris County. The town burned, the dream survived, and somebody else got to dig the channel. Texas has a way of doing that to a man.
What the marker says
Located at the junction of Buffalo Bayou and San Jacinto Bay, the townsite of New Washington was settled by Col. James Morgan (1786-1866), who bought 1600 acres of land in the area in 1835. A native of Philadelphia, Morgan had come to Texas in 1830 and served at various times and places as merchant, civic leader, and land agent. While away from his home, serving as a colonel during the Texas Revolution, Mexican troops burned the town of New Washington. After the war, Morgan and others rebuilt New Washington, and the townsite began to flourish. Morgan realized, however, that it could never compete with the growth of nearby Houston, and during the 1850s he began to promote plans for a channel along Buffalo Bayou that would increase the region's trade potential. That dream was completed in 1876 with the dredging of the Houston Ship Channel by steamship tycoon Charles Morgan. As Houston continued to grow, New Washington was recognized only as a major bend for the ship traffic along the bayou. Now known as Morgan's Point, the townsite was incorporated in 1949 and stands as a reminder of the early commercial history of Harris County.