History

It‘s amazing how much history can be in one county. Burleson County is still mostly a rural county in most areas, and while we may not boast the biggest towns, we do boast some great history and bragging rights to one of the best places to live in the state!

Burleson County was truly born on El Camino Real. What is now State Highway 21 across the county was the main route of the Camino Real beginning over 300 years ago. It is highly likely that every well-known character from Texas history traveled through Burleson County. But the real significance of our County began in the 1700s with a small Spanish guard post on the Brazos River. That guard post soon became Mexican territory. It was not lost to travelers throughout history that Burleson County was the midway point on the Camino, halfway between Natchitoches, Louisiana, and Laredo on the Rio Grande. Burleson County was a well-known rest stop in those early days. In fact, the Davidson Creek crossing shows up on historic maps as a common spot for travelers to stop and camp. The route served missionaries, soldiers, government officials, Native Americans, explorers and settlers alike. Burleson County has been inhabited for some 13,000+ years with prehistoric and historic Native Indian tribes. The Tonkawa, Apache, Comanche and other tribes were part of the migrating Rancheria Grande area as the various tribes drifted back and forth during hunting seasons. A series of springs along the north side of Highway 21 provided the right conditions for Indian encampments. By the 1830s there were already a few settlers in the County around the Cooks Point area and along the Brazos River. During the early 1830s a Mexican Fort was established on the Brazos River, Fort Tenoxtitlán, and it was destined to be the capital of Texas. It was commanded by Colonel Jose Francisco Ruiz who was later one of two native Texans to sign the Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos in 1836. Unfortunately, the Fort was a failure for numerous reasons and the Mexican government was never able to proceed with plans for a completed fort, or presidio, or town, much less a capital city. A land office was established for a time on the river for new settlers seeking property in the Sterling Robertson Colony. And once again, it was the route of the Camino Real through Burleson County that played a major part for travelers and as a growing trade route from Louisiana to San Antonio. By the time Texas won its independence in 1836, Burleson County was becoming more and more settled. Alexander Thomson had arrived at Fort Tenoxtitlán in 1831 with a wagon train from Tennessee. Along with Horatio Chriesman, they settled Yellow Prairie, which is around the Chriesman area, even though they weren’t supposed to be allowed into Mexico. Early settlers obtained land grants along the Camino and the cluster of settlers around Davidson Creek soon became the town of Caldwell and platted out by surveyor George Erath. While Burleson County was named for Edward Burleson, a prominent figure of the Texas revolution and later a vice president of Texas, Caldwell was named for Mathew Caldwell, another prominent figure during the Texas revolution. Officially designated as a town in 1846 and as the county seat, a Burleson County Courthouse was erected shortly afterwards. The county has had several courthouse buildings on the downtown square, with our present courthouse being built in 1928. Downtown soon boasted stores for hardware, dry goods and groceries, along with hotels, blacksmiths and livery stables. And a post office! The town of Caldwell grew as settlers came across the Brazos River looking for a rich farm land and gently rolling hills that was good for all means of agriculture. Settlement around the old Fort area, now the Rita area, became one of the first settlements as well as Caldwell. During the Civil War, Burleson County supplied several regiments of Confederate States Army soldiers. During the reconstruction period after the war, more small communities in rural areas started popping up. Many of these communities were settled by locally freed slaves, or people newly arriving from other states, and they established churches, schools, stores and cemeteries. By the 1870s Burleson County had a huge surge in population resulting from Eastern European immigration. Immigrants from the eastern Slavic countries of Czechoslovakia and “Prussia” regions of Europe, along with German and Italian immigrants, came into this area seeking farmland and the eventual opportunity to own property of their own. Many of the Italian settlers obtained land along the Brazos River. The German community sprang up more in the Snook area, while Frenstat and New Tabor were predominantly comprised of Czech immigrants and many of their descendant still live in those areas. Burleson County became a true melting pot of immigrants from everywhere, but the Czech influence ingrained itself deeply in the coun