East Columbia Historic District

The East Columbia Historic District is a small district comprised mostly of 19thcentury domestic buildings erected when the community of East Columbia was one of the most important inland ports in Texas. The district includes the oldest surviving neighborhood in East Columbia, a community dating to the earliest years of exploration and settlement by Anglo- and African-American colonists in Texas. East Columbia's subsequent rise to prominence stemmed from its strategic location on the Brazos River, which served as a major conduit for the shipping of goods to and from surrounding settlers. The riverport became a vital component in the plantation-based economy that developed along the Brazos River during the 19th century. As it includes houses of merchants, plantation owners, and those involved in steamboat operations, the district is being submitted in conjunction with the Historic Context "Transportation and Settlement along the Brazos River." The district is nominated to the National Register under Criteria A and C as one of the few tangible links to the commercial development of the steamboat trade in the region because the houses are noteworthy illustrations of 19th-century domestic architecture. It includes one property previously listed in the National Register.

East Columbia's beginnings can be traced to the founding of Stephen F. Austin's original colonization effort, commonly referred to as the "Old 300" because he agreed to introduce 300 families within a 200,000-acre land grant in Texas. Initial settlement patterns tended to fan out from major waterways such as the Brazos River. These pioneers realized the importance of rivers for transportation purposes as well as their potential role in the economic development of the colony.

With that purpose in mind, Josiah H. Bell established a site for the loading and unloading of passengers and cargo on the Brazos River in 1824. Called Bell's Landing by the early colonists, it served as a nucleus for a town that Bell named Marion and is now known as East Columbia. The inland port played a significant role in the development of the frontier interior of Austin's colony in a number of crucial ways: as a transportation and debarkation center for new settlers arriving in the colony; as a distribution center for their much-needed supplies; and as a loading station for the shipments of sugar, corn and cotton crops cultivated after plantations were established throughout the county.

Initially, only crude structures were built. As settlement and trade increased in response to the rich agricultural potential of fertile lands along the Brazos River, however, more substantial buildings were erected. As an example, in 1838 Ammon Underwood and his future mother-in-law, Catherine Carson, purchased a small log dwelling built three years earlier by Thomas Nibbs. They transformed it into a 2-story boarding house with Greek Revival stylistic features. Whether it was the first such structure in the community is not known; however, it certainly is representative of the type of houses built afterward, and it reflects an increased level of craftsmanship and sophistication in the residential architecture of the region.

The plantation-based economy that developed in the hinterlands contributed, indeed vital, to East Columbia's prosperity. Merchants established businesses in response to the trade that literally flowed into the community, much of it dependent on river transportation. The commercial section of town developed near the site of Bell's original landing, upriver from the area included in the district. The land where the commercial center once was located has since been washed away by the Brazos River.

By the 1840s and 1850s regular steamboat service on the Brazos River further boosted East Columbia's status as a regional trade center. Capitalizing on the opportunities afforded by this access to markets, local businessmen erected new stores and houses as symbols of their success. Most of the houses utilized milled lumber which the steamboats made more accessible and less costly. The economy also began to diversify with the founding of enterprises such as a machine shop established to manufacture agriculturally related equipment. In return, increased mechanization further contributed to the profitable operation of surrounding plantations.
Although East Columbia played an important role in the regional plantation economy at the advent of the Civil War, many changes occurred in the region during the Reconstruction Era. Emancipation of slaves irrevocably eliminated the cheap source of labor so vital to the operation of the plantations, however. In response, trade diminished dramatically and several years passed before the local economy recovered.

Much of this recovery remained firmly based on agriculture, involving the cultivation of cotton and sugar through the tenant farming system, regarded by some as an indirect system of slavery. Renewed demand for facilities to ship raw goods to market during this period led Travis Logan Smith Sr. and his partners to establish the Columbia Transportation Company in East Columbia. The firm owned a fleet of seven steamboats that plied the Brazos River between East Columbia and Velasco at the mouth of the river. Profits from the operation enabled Smith to construct a 2-story frame house in East Columbia.

Although a brief period of prosperity followed, the advent of rail service to the region in 1859 laid the groundwork for the demise of steamboat transportation on the Brazos River. This in turn brought about the rapid decline of East Columbia as a regional shipping center. The Columbia Transportation Company's cease of operations in 1895 marked the end of an important component of the local economy.

While East Columbia scraped by without the benefit of river trade for some years, several natural disasters hastened its decline in the 20th century. Storms in 1900, 1909, and 1913 were especially destructive, with the last flooding the entire town. With the discovery of oil near the town of West Columbia in 1918, many merchants abandoned East Columbia in favor of the oil boomtown. The desertion of the town by its merchants proved the final blow to East Columbia. The population decline following 1918 culminated in the abandonment of the post office in about 1966. The Brazos River continued to eat away at its banks, undermining many stores, saloons, and warehouses that once crowded Front Street. Most of Front Street, west of the point where Josiah Bell established the original landing, has been washed away in the intervening years.

Today, parts of East Columbia resemble a ghost town. The railroads and oil boom that brought prosperity to other parts of Brazoria County drew life from the once-bustling river port. No businesses operate in the town, which claims only 95 residents. What survives are the historic homes of those who reaped the rewards of the golden age of the plantation and steamboat era of Brazoria County's history.

Many houses within the district are significant for their historical associations with the events that shaped local history, as well as for their architectural merits. Despite ages in excess of 100 years, these dwellings retain their integrity to a remarkable degree. Residences built before 1880 display Greek Revival detailing and are indicative of early architectural trends in the region and state. They are distinguished by center passage plans, inset porches, and classically inspired ornamentation. They are the oldest extant structures in the old river port and are the sole remaining vestiges of East Columbia's prominent role as a steamboat shipping center on the Brazos River.

While buildings that have been moved from their original site are not usually eligible for listing in the National Register, an exception is proposed for the relocated resources in this district because of mitigating circumstances surrounding the reasons for the moves. Two of the houses were moved and/or reoriented on their original lots to avoid erosion wrought by the Brazos River. Relocation efforts took place over 50 years ago and the buildings, therefore, have attained a limited degree of historical significance at their new locations. The Sweeny-Waddy Log Cabin is an exception to this situation. Originally built on a plantation about nine miles from East Columbia, it was moved and rehabilitated in the 1970s for use as a museum facility. Built as slave quarters, the Sweeny-Waddy House is believed to be the only surviving example of its type in Brazoria County. Despite its significant associative qualities, however, its compromised integrity of location, setting, feeling, and materials render it ineligible for classification as a Contributing element of the district.

Nominated on the basis of the significance of the extant houses, the district also has many potential archeological sites. Virtually every house in the district could yield important information about the 19th-century history of the area. The site of the Dance Gun and Machine Shop is included in the district as an archeological site with strong ties to the historical development of the town's economy. Although no testing has been undertaken in the district, future archeological investigations should produce supplemental information to be appended to this nomination.

Brief descriptions of each Contributing property follow, including its relationship to the historic context. The histories are presented by site number order. Please note that properties are referred to by their historic names as determined by procedures stipulated by the National Park Service.