Washington was founded in 1833 by John W. Hall, one of the
Old Three Hundred settlers, on land he had been given two years before by his father-in-law Andrew Robinson. It was located at a ferry crossing over the Brazos River on La Bahia Road that dated from 1821. As the town grew, most settlers were immigrants from the
Southern United States, in what was then
Mexican Texas. Because of its location on the
Brazos River and near major roads, Washington became a commercial center, drawing in new inhabitants from nearby areas. After the outbreak of the
Texas Revolution, General
Sam Houston made his headquarters at Washington in December 1835. The delegates adopted the
Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836, signing it on the following day. They adopted their constitution on March 16. The delegates worked until March 17, when they had to flee with the residents of Washington, to escape the advancing
Mexican Army. The townspeople returned after the Mexican Army was defeated at
San Jacinto on April 21. Town leaders lobbied for Washington's designation as the permanent capital of the Republic of Texas, but leaders of the Republic favored Waterloo, later renamed
Austin.
Washington County was established by the legislature of the Republic of Texas in 1836 and organized in 1837, when Washington-on-the-Brazos was designated as the county seat. Although the county seat moved to
Brenham in 1844, the town continued to thrive as a center for the
cotton trade until the mid-1850s, as it was located on the Brazos River to use for shipping out the crop. The construction of
railroads bypassed the town and pulled off its businesses. The strife of the
Civil War took another toll on the town, and by the turn of the 20th century, it was virtually abandoned. The Washington American, an organ of the
American (Know Nothing) party, was published there in 1855 and 1856. ==Culture==