DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Washington-on-the-Brazos, and friend, this one's got layers. Picture a ferry crossing on the Brazos River in 1822. That's all it was — a way to get from one muddy bank to the other.
La Bahia Road came through, crossed the river right there at what's now Ferry Street, and travelers kept on movin'. Nothing to write home about. Not yet.
By 1834, somebody had bigger ideas. A townsite got laid out, got a name — Washington — probably after Washington, Georgia, home of a leading settler. Probably.
The marker's honest enough to hedge on that, and so am I. Then 1835 rolls in, and the air starts changin'. Political differences with Mexico were pushin' hard toward war, and the General Council — the insurgent Texas government — came and met right here in this town.
Washington was already in the middle of something bigger than a ferry crossing. Now here's where the story gets good. Enterprising citizens — and I love that word, enterprising — they wanted the Convention of 1836 held in their town.
So they sweetened the deal. A free meeting hall. A bonus, the marker calls it.
Can't argue with free. Delegates showed up, and on that day in 1836, the Texas Declaration of Independence got signed in an unfinished building owned by a gunsmith. Let that settle over you for a second.
The birth document of the Republic of Texas — signed in an unfinished building. Owned by a gunsmith. Texas was Texas before Texas even had a roof.
The Provisional Government of the Republic got organized here too. Washington was the capital. The center of it all.
And then — March 17 — news came that the Mexican Army was advancing. General panic swept the region. The government packed up and left.
And if you think the townspeople had more nerve than their government, well, they held out until March 20, 1836. Then they ran too. That's what history calls the Runaway Scrape, and Washington-on-the-Brazos emptied out like a tent in a storm.
But San Jacinto changed everything. After the Texan victory there, the town came back, and it thrived for a period. It was capital of Texas again — 1842 to 1845.
Not a footnote. A second chapter. By 1916 it had become the center of Washington State Park.
And today it holds historic buildings and a place called Barrington — the home of Anson Jones, the last President of Texas. A ferry crossing that became the birthplace of a republic. Signed in an unfinished building.
By people who'd be runnin' for their lives inside of two months. That's not just Texas history — that's Texas character, right there on the Brazos.
What the marker says
This village -- site of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first capital of the Republic of Texas -- began in 1822 as a ferry crossing. Here the historic La Bahia Road (now Ferry Street) spanned the Brazos River. In 1834 a townsite was laid out and named, probably for Washington, Georgia, home of a leading settler. In 1835, as political differences with Mexico led toward war, the General Council (the insurgent Texas government) met in the town. Enterprising citizens then promoted the place as a site for the Convention of 1836 and, as a "bonus," provided a free meeting hall. Thus, Texas' Declaration of Independence came to be signed in an unfinished building owned by a gunsmith. The Provisional Government of the Republic was also organized in Washington, but was removed, March 17, as news of the advancing Mexican Army caused a general panic throughout the region. The townspeople fled too on March 20, 1836, in the "Runaway Scrape." After the Texan victory at San Jacinto, the town thrived for a period. It was again capital of Texas, 1842-1845; and became center of Washington State Park, 1916. It now contains historic buildings and "Barrington," home of Anson Jones, the last President of Texas. (1969)