Independence, Texas

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title: "Independence, Texas" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["unincorporated-communities-in-washington-county,-texas", "unincorporated-communities-in-texas", "populated-places-established-in-1835"] topic_path: "general/unincorporated-communities-in-washington-county-texas" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence,_Texas" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
official_name	Independence
settlement_type	Unincorporated community
pushpin_map	Texas#USA
pushpin_map_caption	Location within the state of Texas
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	United States
subdivision_type1	State
subdivision_name1	Texas
subdivision_type2	County
subdivision_name2	Washington
timezone
utc_offset
timezone_DST
utc_offset_DST
elevation_footnotes
elevation_ft	358
coordinates
postal_code_type	ZIP code
blank1_name	GNIS feature ID
blank1_info	1338384
::

|official_name = Independence |settlement_type = Unincorporated community |pushpin_map = Texas#USA |pushpin_label_position = |pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Texas |pushpin_mapsize = |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = United States | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = Texas | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Washington | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = |timezone = |utc_offset = |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_ft = 358 |coordinates = |postal_code_type = ZIP code |postal_code = |area_code = |blank1_name = GNIS feature ID |blank1_info = 1338384 |website = |footnotes =

Independence is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 140 in 2000. It is located about an hour northwest of the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

History

Its population was reported as 140 in 2010.

Milam Lodge No. 11, of the Grand Lodge of Texas, was located in the community. Seward Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A tornado hit Independence in December 1983. On May 26, 2016, an EF0 tornado struck Independence, in which numerous trees were downed in a convergent pattern.

Geography

Independence is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 390 and 50, 12 mi northeast of Brenham and 82 mi west of Houston in northeastern Washington County.

Education

Today, the community is served by the Brenham Independent School District.

Notable people

• George Washington Baines, a co-founder and president of Baylor; great-grandfather of Lyndon B. Johnson
• Jerome B. Robertson
• William Bizzell
• Sam Houston Jr.
• Lawrence Sullivan Ross, 19th Governor of Texas, attended Baylor University.
• Andrew Jackson Houston, son of Sam and Margaret Lea Houston and politician.
• George W. Littlefield, Confederate Army soldier, attended Baylor University.
• Thomas Chilton, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, co-founded Baylor University.
• Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor is buried in the community's cemetery.
• Martin Varner, Old Three Hundred member
• William Carey Crane, Baptist minister who preached at Independence Baptist Church from 1864 to 1867 and 1869 to 1884.
• Hosea Garrett, clergyman and philanthropist, who served as President Pro tempore at Baylor.
• Henry Arthur McArdle, painter
• Hugh Wilson, Presbyterian minister, who served as an administrator at Independence Female College.
• Royall T. Wheeler, judge who became Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
• Edward Taylor, brother of Horace D. Taylor, built a store in Independence in 1838.
• Nancy Moffette Lea, mother of Margaret Lea Houston, moved here in 1852.
• Antoinette Power Houston Bringhurst, the fifth child of Houston and Lea, got her education at Baylor Female College.
• George Wythe Baylor, Confederate soldier.
• Henry Weidner Baylor, physician and Texas Ranger.

In popular culture

American western TV series Walker: Independence takes place in Independence.

Gallery

File:Independence-tx2015-11.jpg|Site of Home of General Sam Houston and Family File:Original Site of Baylor University in Independence, TX.jpg|Original Site of Baylor University

References

References

1. {{GNIS. 1338384
2. Gilmartin, John A.. "Independence, Texas". Texas Escapes Online Magazine.
3. ''Directory of Constituent Lodges in Texas''. (2005–2006) Waco, Tx: The Grand Lodge of Texas.
4. (2016). "Texas Event Report: EF0 Tornado". National Centers for Environmental Information.
5. "Ross, Lawrence Sullivan". Texas State Historical Association.
6. (December 22, 2014). "Ross Family Papers, Inclusive: 1846-1931, undated, Bulk: 1861-1864, 1870-1894, undated". Baylor University.
7. Texas Heritage Foundation, ''Texas Heritage'', Volume 1, 1959, page 100
8. "Varner, Martin". The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).
9. (June 12, 2010). "Handbook of Texas Online".
10. "Collection: Hosea Garrett, Jr. Civil war letters | Kenan Research Center Finding Aids".
11. Hazelwood, Claudia. "Henry Arthur McArdle". Texas State Historical Association.
12. Louise Kelly, "WILSON, HUGH," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi52), accessed June 15, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the [[Texas State Historical Association]].
13. "History". [[Baylor Law School]].
14. Red, Ellen Robbins. (1986). "Early Days on the Bayou 1838–1890: The Life and Letters of Horace Dickinson Taylor". Texian Press.
15. Hesler, Samuel B.. "Lea, Nancy Moffette".
16. "Bringhurst, Antoinette Power Houston". Texas State Historical Association.
17. Daniell 1887, p. 105.
18. "Walker: Independence {{!}} Legacy {{!}} Season Trailer {{!}} The CW".

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