Historical Commission

Speaking at the August quarterly meeting of the Fort Bend County Historical Commission were City of Rosenberg Main Street executive Daniel Kelleher (left) and Main Street board chair Renee Butler, who owns Another Time Soda Fountain. The pair explained how the recently-initiated program functions to revitalize core commercial and residential sections of cities, and what's in store for Rosenberg. At right is historical commission chair Chuck Kelly. Next full-membership meeting of the commission is scheduled for November 17, 2015.

Fort Bend County Historical Commission members are among those shown celebrating the October 4 unveiling of a historical marker honoring the Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of Faith, at 400 Travis St. in Richmond.

Pictured are, from left, CHC Archives Committee chair Chris Godbold, Secretary Don Brady, Richmond City Manager Terri Vela, church member Annie Sherman (seated), Chairman Chuck Kelly, Vice Chairman Tim Cumings, Markers Committee chair Bettye Anhaiser and CHC member and Rosenberg City Council member William Benton. Photo by Wayne Kelley.

 

John W. Walker, left, received the 2016 Bert E. Bleil Heritage Award for his contributions to Fort Bend County historical preservation. With Walker are (center) Fort Bend County Historical Commission chair Charles Kelly and commission member Bob Crosser, who nominated Walker for the award. The award program and reception, conducted annually by the county historical commission, took place at Safari Texas on March 1.

Photo is courtesy of Shereen Sampson.

Today, County Judge Bob Hebert recognized Fort Bend County volunteer historians and preservationists for their efforts in 2015.

The Texas Historical Commission issued the county's historical commission the THC Distinguished Service Award for accomplishments during the last calendar year. Fort Bend County Commissioners Court, which appoints the all-volunteer body, acknowledged the award at its July 5 court meeting.

County Judge Bob Hebert, himself an avid historian, said the award illustrates "continued great leadership and a superior work ethic demonstrated by the volunteers who make up the county historical commission."

Hebert cited a few functions of the historical commission, among them the identifying, inventorying and protecting of historic cemeteries and structures; the recording and transcribing of oral histories given by key figures in the county; and recognition of outstanding accomplishments in historical and cultural preservation through the presentation of the annual Bert E. Bleil Heritage Award.

County Historical Commission chair Charles Kelly of Sugar Land voiced his appreciation for the honor by the Texas Historical Commission and stressed that the volunteers could do little without the unflagging support from commissioners' court. Kelly said the work accomplished last year and every year by the county historical commission is a team effort.

In announcing the award, THC Executive Director Mark Wolfe emphasized that county historical commissions "are the backbone of historical preservation and education in communities across Texas. Wolfe added his agency "is proud to recognize the exceptional efforts" of the Fort Bend County commission and appreciates its high level of performance during 2015.

County historical commissions in Texas provided more than 480,000 volunteer hours in 2015, which the THC called an in-kind donation to the state valued at $11.3 million. This donation, according to an agency news release, helps preserve Texas' heritage "for the education, enjoyment and economic benefit of present and future generations."

Pictured L to R: Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert, and Fort Bend County Historical Commission Members/Volunteers Charles Kelly and Don Brady

Have you ever wondered who the first elected officials were to serve Fort Bend County? Maybe you are curious to see whether a family member held a county elected or appointed position. The Fort Bend County Historical Commission Archive now has a document with answers to those questions - The Roster of Elected Officials.

The roster covers the time from 1838 to Present. After each even-year November election, special elections, and appointments, the roster will be updated with the names of the newly elected officials. Be sure to check after each election cycle to view the updates.

1. Go to Archives and Select ‘Special Project – Elected Officials’ from the Category menu.
2. Click the ‘SEARCH' button.
3. Click ‘Select’
4. Download the document at the bottom of the next screen. 

If you find an error or omission, please contact us at HistoricalCommission@fortbendcountytx.gov. We want this site to offer the most complete and accurate list available and we need your help to accomplish that.

An annual ceremony honoring Mirabeau B. Lamar, Texas soldier and statesman whose final years were spent in Fort Bend County, will be conducted on Thursday, Jan. 26, at Lamar's grave in Richmond's historic Morton Cemetery.

This will mark the seventh consecutive year for the salute known as Lamar Day. It will be conducted jointly by the Sons of the Republic of Texas, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Fort Bend County Historical Commission.

Focus for the 2017 observance is on Lamar's legacy as a writer and poet, and students from Calvary Episcopal Preparatory will read selected poems penned by the man who served as the second president of the Republic of Texas.

The public is invited to the ceremony, which starts at 10:30 a.m. In addition to the poetry recitations, a group of re-enactors forming the Texas Army will present colors and later conduct a black-powder salute. Lamar commanded cavalry at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto that led to Texas independence from Mexico.

"On this very day, 178 years ago," said SRT Past State President Thomas Green about the date chosen for the ceremony, "President Lamar signed an act of the Texas Congress reserving three leagues of land in each county to be used to pay for a public school system in Texas.

"Even though it was years before public schools came into being in Texas, President Lamar is remembered as the 'Father of Texas Education.'

In addition, Green said, Lamar saw to the reservation of 50 leagues of land for two state-supported colleges in Texas, which continue to benefit both the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. Green added that one of Lamar's best-known phrases, “A cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy,” is the motto of the University of Texas.

Green noted that on Jan. 25, 1839, Lamar signed an act making what is now the state flag of Texas the final flag of the Republic of Texas, Four days later, he signed the first homestead act in the world. The homestead act, Green explained, "keeps the home place from being taken from the widow by the mortgage company when the husband dies.

"This was a monumental week in Texas history, with three important bills being signed in a five-day period, which continues to affect our lives today."

Born in Georgia in 1798, Lamar first earned fame in Texas as the cavalry commander of the Texas revolutionary army at the pivotal Battle of San Jacinto. Following a series of appointments within the new Republic of Texas government, he was elected its first vice president in 1836 and second president two years later.

Lamar died at his plantation home in Richmond on Dec. 19, 1859.

 

 

 

 

Franklin Schodek of Richmond, at right, a career land surveyor, received the 2017 Bert E. Bleil Heritage Award for his exemplary lifetime work in local history preservation and promotion. At left is Richmond Mayor Evalyn Moore, who delivered the presentation speech. Also pictured is Fort Bend County Historical Commission chairman Charles Kelly of Sugar Land, who emceed the Thursday, March 2 (Texas Independence Day) award event at Safari Texas. The award and its trophy, a bronze eagle in flight on a base shaped like Fort Bend County, were the brainchild of the late Bert Bleil of Richmond, past chair of the commission.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT WILLEY, FORT BEND HERALD

 

 

 

The August 3, 1824 grant of a league of land from Mexico to Stephen F. Austin's Old 300 colonists Isaac Pennington and David Randon is the subject of a Texas Historical Marker dedicated Wednesday, March 29, near the intersection of Winner-Foster and Bois d'Arc roads south of Fulshear. Marker sponsor and event host was Highland Resources Inc., developers of Laprada . From left are Susan Wolcott; Highland President and CEO Charles Wolcott; and Fort Bend County Historical Commission Treasurer Claire Rogers. The commission conducted the morning dedication despite rain showers.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KEN STUBBE

The story of Upper Buffalo Bayou and the San Felipe Trail as they existed west of Houston in the 19th Century will be the program topic for the Tuesday, Aug. 15 full membership meeting of the Fort Bend County Historical Commission.

The meeting, which is open to the public free of charge, is booked at the Gus George Law Enforcement Academy, 1521 Eugene Heimann Circle in Richmond, beginning at 3 p.m..

Presenter is historical preservationist Dr. Dan Worrall of Fulshear, an active member of the Harris County HC. Worrall, a retired exploration geologist, is currently searching out prospective historical marker sites in west Harris County. He was instrumental in rescuing the 19th-century Morse-Bragg Cemetery, near Post Oak Boulevard in Houston, from loss to development.

Worrall extensively researched what he called "nearly forgotten" rural areas where pioneers settled and lived a century and a half prior to the sprawling westward growth of Houston. In describing the content of his recently published book, "Pleasant Bend," Worrall wrote: " One such area is that of Upper Buffalo Bayou, extending from downtown Houston to Katy. In this area, European settlement began at Piney Point in 1824, over a decade before Houston was founded. Ox wagons full of cotton traveled across a seemingly endless tallgrass prairie from the Brazos River east to Harrisburg along the San Felipe Trail, built in 1830.

"Also here, Texan families fled eastward during the Runaway Scrape of 1836, immigrant German settlers trekked westward to new farms along the north bank of the bayou in the 1840s, and newly freed African-American families walked east toward Houston from Brazos plantations after Emancipation."

Fort Bend CHC Chairman Chuck Kelly, who helped secure Worrall as program presenter, noted that while Pleasant Bend lay beyond the Fort Bend County line, "its history and that of our county are contemporaneous in time and contiguous in location, and our ancestors were doubtless familiar with the story we will hear from Dr. Worrall in August." .