Waller County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Waller County. It sounds like a place that knew what it wanted to be from the very start, and maybe it did.

Created from Austin and Grimes counties on April 28, 1873, and organized just a few months later on August 16 of that same year. Fast work, for a county. Named for Edwin Waller, a man who lived from 1800 to 1861 and packed several lifetimes worth of Texas history into those years.

He signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836. He served as Postmaster General of the Texas Republic. He became the first mayor of Austin.

When they were handing out legacies, Edwin Waller apparently got in line more than once. So when they needed a name for this new county, his was right there, and it fit. Now, before the county had a name, before it had much of anything official at all, this land was already telling a story.

The Groce plantations operated here from 1831 all the way to 1874. Rich is the word the marker uses, and that word carries weight. After that long era closed, the land found a different kind of tenant.

Elisabet Ney, a sculptress, made her home here. A signer of a declaration, a postmaster general, a plantation era stretching across decades, a sculptress. Waller County collects characters.

The county seat is Hempstead, founded in 1857, right there during the building of the Houston and Texas Railroad. That railroad made Hempstead an important transportation center, and the town has held that identity ever since. Then 1876 brought something that would define the county for generations to come.

Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College found its site here, and it has been here ever since. Today the county's economy stands on three legs: industry, diversified agriculture, and oil production. That is Waller County.

Named for a man who signed a declaration, built on land that remembers a great deal, and still very much open for business.

What the marker says

Created from Austin and Grimes counties, April 28, and organized Aug. 16, 1873. Named for Edwin Waller (1800-1861), a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836; Postmaster General, Texas Republic; First mayor of Austin. Site of rich 1831-1874 Groce plantations, later home of sculptress Elisabet Ney. Hempstead, founded 1857 during building of Houston & Texas Railroad, an important transportation center, is the county seat. Since 1876, county has been site of Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College. Economy is based on industry, diversified agriculture and oil production.