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History
in a Pecan Shell
Liberty once stood at the head of navigation on
the Trinity River. Founded near a 1756 Spanish settlement called Atascosito American
squatters began arriving around 1818. The new arrivals petitioned to be included
in Stephen F. Austin's colony, but were refused. Under Mexican law, land commissioner
José Francisco Madero established a new municipality, Villa de la Santísima Trinidad
de la Libertad which the Americans shortened to Liberty, some say after Liberty,
Mississippi, the former residence of some settlers. The town was granted a post
office in 1836.
Sam Houston practiced law in Liberty and maintained
two plantation homes in Liberty County until his death. During the Texas Revolution,
Andrew Briscoe's Liberty Volunteers fought at the siege of Bexar and the battle
of Concepción. After San Jacinto, officers of the Mexican army were held for a
time in Liberty at a location now known as Mexican Hill.
Liberty was
incorporated in 1837 and became the county seat. The town became an important
port, having steamship connections to Galveston and providing access to stage
routes across the Trinity. |
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school was founded in 1838. The town cemetery was marked off in 1848. In the 1850s,
as the community expanded, additional industry developed around its gristmills,
cattle shipping docks, and two sawmills. The Texas and New Orleans Railroad reached
Liberty in 858. The railroad suspended operations during the Civil War, but resumed
operations by 1875. Liberty was hit by smallpox and yellow fever epidemics in
1866 and 1867.
By 1900 the town was a sleepy river community where livestock
roamed the streets legally. The towns proximity to the Batson-Old oilfield made
it a boomtown for awhile after 1903 and a second boost came in 1925 when the the
South Liberty oilfield was discovered. The Trinity Valley and Northern Railway
Company arrived in 1907.
Attempts were made to make the Trinity navigable
- and some 236 miles of waterway had been completed, linking barge traffic to
the Houston Ship Channel.
Liberty's population for various years:
200 in 1845, 497 by 1880, 865 in 1900, 3,087 in 1940, 4,161 in 1950, 5,591 in
1970, and 7,733 in 1990.
During World
War II, a camp for German POWs was constructed at the Liberty fairgrounds.
Highway 146 was completed in 1950 and the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research
Center opened in 1977.
Liberty
Hotels |
Liberty,
Texas Points of Interest |
Liberty
Opry on the Square in the former Park Theater
TE Photo, 9-04-04
More Texas
Theatres |
Former
theater in Liberty, east side of the square
TE Photo, 9-04-04
More Texas
Theatres |
Liberty
Bell plaque
TE photo, 9-04-04 |
Liberty
Attractions Geraldine
D. Humphreys Cultural Center - 936-336-8901
1710 Sam Houston St., downtown
Liberty
Museum, library and performing arts theater.Historical
Sites - Historical monument and markers identifying historic sites, old homes
and structures. Visit Liberty-Dayton Chamber of Commerce for information. 1801
Trinity St. 936-336-5736
Liberty Bell Tower
- adjacent to Cultural Center aboveLiberty
Opry on the Square
- Live shows. 936-336-1079Sam
Houston Regional Library & Research Center -
936-336-8821. Free admission.
FM1011 off Hwy 146. Three miles north of LibertyLiberty
Hotels
Liberty-Dayton Chamber of Commerce - 936-336-5736
1801 Trinity
Street
P.O. Box 1270, Liberty, Texas 77575
http://www.libertydaytonchamber.com/
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Liberty Chronicles
A
Moving History by Bob Bowman ("All
Things Historical")
The recent death of Bill Daniel of Liberty
removed from East Texas one of its most colorful personalities, a bigger-than-life
rancher and politician who, according to one of his eulogists, "squeezed a lot
out of life."
...Bill Daniel is best remembered by some admirers for one of
the strangest events in East Texas--the move of an entire town from Liberty to
Waco, a distance of more than 200 miles, in October of 1986 during the Texas sesquicentennial
celebration..." more
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