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OSAGE,
TEXASColorado
County, Central
Texas S
Not on state map
Unnumbered roads on the TxDoT Colorado
County Map
4 miles NE of Weimar
8 miles NW of Columbus
Population: Unknown |
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History
in a Pecan ShellNamed
after abundant Bois d'Arc
trees (aka Osage Orange), this land had originally been granted to Henry Austin,
a cousin of Stephen F. Austin. First settlers were reportedly a family named Hubbard
from Mississippi who arrived in the early 1850s. The Hubbards wrote home to Laurel,
Mississippi and in 1855 a train of 36 wagons arrived. It hadn't occurred to anyone
to name the place until the first crops were harvested and people had settled
in. Dr. Samuel D. McLeary is credited with naming the town.
When the Civil
War broke out, Osage and other communities mustered men and horses to form Company
A, Fifth Texas Cavalry, CSA. A Confederate post office was opened in 1862. A school
was opened by one E. B. Carruth in 1874 and although it was somewhat isolated,
the curriculum included higher mathematics and Latin as well as history, geography,
and rhetoric. It is said that families from a 100-mile radius sent their children
to Osage to board with local families while they attended classes.
The
Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad arrived in 1873, but missed Osage
by some four miles. As result, Weimar
came into being and residents and businesses of Osage moved to have the connection
with the outside world. All of Osage's businesses were gone by 1900 and today
there is no trace of a distinct town center - only scattered homes of retirees
and small ranching operations. |
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Confederate soldier's grave in Osage Cemetery
TE Photo, 2002 |
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