Henry Thorp became prominent Matagorda legislator and attorney

   Henry Thorp, lawyer and state representative, was born in Greensville County, Virginia, in 1830.   Thorp came to Texas with his older brothers about 1848 and settled in Matagorda County.   Here, he studied law and went into practice with an older brother.

Robert Williams interests went from politics to farming

    Robert Harris Williams, alcalde of the District of Mina and one of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred colonists, son of Marmaduke “Duke” and Ede (Harris) Williams, was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, on October 10, 1796.   His siblings included Charles F. Augustus and John Williams.

Museum shows off upstairs gallery

"Portland was a town proposed to bypass the Colorada log jam" By Mary B. Ingram

   The proposed city of Portland (at the head of the raft on the Colorado River approximately 12 miles above the town of Matagorda) is an interesting account of one of the early promoters who came to Texas during Stephen F. Austin‘s era.    Born in Philadelphia in 1766, Nicholas Clopper, Sr.

Polish settlers founded St. Francisville

   Southwest of Wadsworth on FM 521 stands a little picturesque church and graveyard- so dear to many, but unknown to most of the residents of Matagorda County.

Bay City VFD battling blazes for 118 years

   The Bay City Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1906 - 118 years of service to Bay City and the surrounding areas.  William Walker Sr. was the first fire chief when the only equipment in the city was a two-wheeled, hand-drawn chemical cart.

Charles Leroy Smith: A vision for new community

   Charles Leroy Smith, son of Jesse and Sallie Smith, was born in Mississippi on Feb. 26, 1863.     The only information available about his childhood is that his parents died of some disease.

Ashwood named for its lumber mills

   Ashwood is at the junction of Farm roads 1728 and 3156, 13 miles north of Bay City in northeastern Matagorda County.    The railroad reached this town on Caney Creek when a branch of the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway was built from Wharton to Van Vleck in 1899–1900.

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.

Early Matagorda MD later became father of UTMB

   Thomas C. Thompson, physician and pharmacist, was born on September 28, 1839, in Matagorda County, Texas, the son of Johann and Ellen (Emily) Thompson.   He attended Baylor University at Independence and the University of North Carolina.