Black rice farmers in Matagorda County history

   Rice farming in Matagorda County, had its beginning around 1899 or 1900. Teams of mules, horses or oxen were used to ready the land into rice acreage.    The more modern equipment had not been established.  Canal companies came into existence and irrigation pumps were utilized.

A. G. Hilliard: Son of slaves becomes educator of his people

   EDITOR’S NOTE: The following profile of A.G. Hilliard was written by Rockette Woolridge, Junior Historian, McAllister Junior High and published first July 2, 1976.  The halls are deserted and an ominous silence hangs over the area. there are rusted hinges and hanging cobwebs in some of the rooms.

Palacios Colored School served students from 1920s to 1963

I. CONTEXT:  Education was a priority to the earliest residents of Matagorda County. School was held early in the settlement of most of the communities—usually under less than acceptable circumstances and with few materials.

"Hilliard High School construction culminated years of work" By Blanche M. Franklin Johnson

   In this narrative history of Booker T. Washington-Hilliard High School, students and citizens are referred to as Colored, Negroes, Blacks and African-Americans, all denoting one race of people.  The early 20th century is sometimes phrased as the second great era of reform in America.

"Confederate Defenses at the Mouth of Caney Creek" By John G. Forister and Hershel R. Horton

   The event to be described by this historical marker is the Confederate defense of the Texas coast which occurred at the mouth of Caney Creek.  The specific actions at the mouth of Caney Creek occurred in January and February of 1864.

Caney Creek once widely traveled waterway

   Caney Creek, originally named Canebrake Creek after the dense cane growth that banked its sides until white settlement of the area, rises one mile south of Matthews in Colorado County, within the maze of irrigation canals, dead-water sloughs, and old stream channels of the flat prairie near the...

Haller once represented county in legislature

    Nathan H. Haller, who represented Brazoria and Matagorda counties in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth legislatures, was born in slavery in Charleston, South Carolina, on July 8, 1845. His owner took him to Walker County, Texas, probably before 1860.

Cook early colonist, postmaster on Cook’s Island

   James Cook, a partner with William B. DeWees as one of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred families, was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1797 and was probably in Texas by 1820.   On August 3, 1824, he and DeWees received title to a sitio of land now in Colorado County.

Step Into History: Luther Hotel restoration and Smithsonian exhibit highlight Palacios

   Significant restoration efforts are just beginning at our historic Luther Hotel, located in the heart of Palacios, Texas.

CJ Wildman worked to develop early Palacios

   EDITOR’S NOTE: C.J. Wildman arrived in Palacios in 1904 as the then-townsite’s resident manager. He was revered in his time and in his passing at the age of 38.   The following is the obituary that ran in the Palacios Beacon in 1917. The obituary tells much about Wildman’s contributions.