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BROOKSHIRE,
TEXAS
Waller County,
Central Texas S
Highway 90 and Interstate 10
30 miles W of Houston
44 miles E of Brenham
Population: 3,450 (2000)
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A
corner store in Brookshire
Photo by John Troesser, May 2004 |
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"Captain
Nathen Brookshire" Marker
Photo by John Troesser, May 2004 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Captain Nathen Brookshire, a member of Stephen F. Austin's fifth colony
(1835) is the town's namesake. The town became an agricultural community
thanks to the rich Brazos riverbottom land and the Katy railroad.
The population of Houston absorbed all the melons, pecans and corn
that Brookshire farms could produce. A post office was granted by
1893. Cotton was the leading inedible crop and
by 1897 the town was shipping 10,000 bales of the stuff.
After 1900, as other crops declined, rice took up the slack. The population
for 1920 was 1,250 and by 1980 it had nearly doubled.
Although it is not the county seat of Waller County (see Hempstead),
the Waller County Museum is in Brookshire in the former home of Dr.
Paul Donigan. |
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Waller County
Museum
Photo by John Troesser, May 2004 |
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A
building in downtown Brookshire
Photo by John Troesser, May 2004 |
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