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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1989)
The Battalion LIFE Thursday, April 13,1989 ase pons obacco and Fire- lit imports only of to “sporting pur- ,e of the semiauto- ,v they are being two to three more ch weapons, FBI t murders by fire- people wielding ers committed na- : committed with tandguns, accord- chev »r calm rgia VP) — President lachev today ap- in Soviet Georgia id to nationalist that have claimed i the southern re news agency said, the Communist oviet Georgia of- ifter local leaders the violence, the ' said. From Gorbachev ion offer came as s continued in terals were read- ■ople who were e suppression of day. to the Georgian ass said was pub- epublic’s capital, i pro-indepen- ations “damaged >erestroika, dem- renewal in the d, “The interests eople have noth- with attempts to isting ties of d cooperation jples, dismantle m in the republic he slough of eth- d “actions by ir ons” had to the isi, the republic’s lied on all inhab- to show restraint se. INDEPENDENCE BAPTIST CHURCH: Sam Houston and his family were members of the church. Houston was baptized in nearby Little Rocky Creek. CARNEGIE LIBRARY: The city had to provide a site and maintenance funds for the library to supplement Andrew Carnegie’s grant of $10,000. The library was established in 1903. TEXAS A&M: The State Legislature authorized the Agriculture and Mechanical College of Texas on April 17, 1871 under terms of the federal Morrill Act. “Committted to “teach...branches of learning....related to agriculture and mechanic arts... to promote liberal and prac tical education,” Texas A&M opened Oct. 4, 1876 as the first state institution of higher learning operating in Texas. WILLIAM JOEL BRYAN — BRAZOS COUNTY COURTHOUSE: Bryan was a Missouri native who came to Texas in 1831 and was a nephew of Stephen F. Austin and grandson of Moses Austin. He fought in the Texas revolution and farmed land near Peach Point for 71 years. BOONVILLE: “Established in 1841 as the seat of Navasota County by John Millican, John N. Jones, J. Ferguson, E. Seale and Mordecai Boon, whose name it bears. The name of the county was changed to Brazos in 1842. Boonville flou rished until 1866 when Bryan was established on the rail road.” (from historical marker) BAYLOR PARK: The park includes the remains of four buildings that were for women students at Baylor. The men’s building was on a hill to the south across the “River Jordan.” WASHINGTON ON THE BRAZOS: Noah T. Byars’ house: Delegates used it for Texas’ In dependence Hall. <TCH dollars! 11 FOR rAINS X A journey through Texas history is only a short drive away By Chuck Lovejoy ENTERTAINMENT WRITER Texas history is told not only in textbooks but on the road — by the Texas Historical Commission’s historical mark ers, those black and silver plaques so often passed by on the highway. From the Bryan-College Station area, many historic sites are no more than a half-hour’s drive away. One of the first places to visit is Washington-on-the-Brazos State His torical Park, on FM 1155 just south of Hwy. 105. Washington-on-the-Brazos was the site of the conven tion at which 59 delegates from across the Mexican state of Texas met beginning on March 1, 1836 (while the famous conflict at the Alamo was underway) to decide if the state should be independent from Mexico. The park has a replica of Texas’ Independence Hall, an unfinished building without windows in which the represen tatives met during near-freezing temperatures and declared Texas an independent nation. Other structures in the park include the home of Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas. Tours of the home, during which the tour guide assumes the role of Jones, begin at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. on weekends. Another interesting area surrounds the Independence Baptist Church, a historic building at the intersection of FM 50 and 390. A historical marker standing outside the front of the church tells that the church’s members included Sam Hous ton, who was baptized by the church’s minister in nearby Little Rocky Creek. Adjacent to the church, which was one of the first to be established in Texas, is the Texas Baptist Historical Center Museum. A quarter-mile down the road from Independence Church is the See History/Page 15 MILLICAN, C.S.A. MflifrCAN WAS TEXAS' NORTHERNMOST RARROAD TEftttWUS WHEN THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES BEGAN IN T861 IT BECAME A VITAL CONFEDERATE SHIPPING POINT FOR TMf AREA EXTENDING TO THE RED RIVER ON THE NORTH AMD TO THE FRONTIER SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST THE PRODUCTS OF THAT REGION MOVED OVER ‘THE RAILS OF THE HOUSTON AND TEXAS CENTRAL RAILROAD FROM MilUCAN TO HOUSTON. BEAUMONT, GALVESTON AND Al l EY TON. CONFEDERATE TROOPS CAME BY RAIL TO. NEARBY CAMP SPEIGHT. A TRAINING AND RENDEZVOUS POINT. MANY MARCHED OVERLAND FROM . HERE FOR DUTY IN ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA OTHERS ENTRAINED HERE FOR HOUSTON AND BEAUMONT WHERE THEY BOARDED SHIPS FOR NEBLETTS LANDING ON THE SABINE AND OTHER DEBARKATION POINTS. DURING THE WAR COTTON FROM NORTH TEXAS AND THE BRAZOS VALLEY WENT TO MARKET THROUGH MSIUCAN TO ALLEYTON THE STATE'S SOUTHERNMOST RAILROAD TERMINUS. WHERE IT WAS TRANSPORTED OVER THE COTTON ROAD BY WAGONS AMD CARTS to Brownsville and matamoros. Mexico. RETURNING WAGONS AND CARTS BROUGHT MILITARY SURPLUS AND MERCHANDISE, WHICH EVENTUALLY REACHED MILLICAN BY RAIL FOR WIDE DISTRIBUTION. MILLICAN, WHICH HAD BEEN BORN WITH THE COMING/OF THE RAILROAD IN t859, FLOURISHED WITH THE RAILROAD. AND DECLINED WITH THE NORTHWARD EXTENSION Of THE RAILROAD THAT BEGAN -IN 1866. A *$*34U*t *?***$ '*»<■> «**'**> Txi . VV 'TjV 7 .