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Museum Open House Honors Memory of KNG
A special open house at the Columbia Historical Museum Wednesday night presented invited guests with the first look at...
WC Museum Highlights Famous Female Rancher
New Display on Philanthropist Kittie Nash Groce to Be Featured, Remain on Display Throughout Month of May By Tracy...
Cinco de Mayo Focus of CHM’s “First Saturday” Program
All children of the West Columbia area are invited to attend the May 2nd "First Saturday of the Month" program at the...
Early area publisher invented condensed milk
By Tracy Gupton Columbia Historical Museum Newspaper publisher, inventor, surveyor, businessman, cattleman, schoolteacher and early Texas historical figure. Gail Borden Jr. checks all the boxes for accurate descriptions of his memorable life. Though his 72 years...
Watery deaths claimed many local residents’ lives
By Tracy Gupton Columbia Historical Museum Fear preceded panic when I suddenly found the soles of my feet no longer touching the sandy bottom of the Gulf. I was just a little kid in the early 1960s, splashing around in the surf at either Bryan or Surfside beaches near...
Karankawa roamed Texas coastal area before Anglos
By Tracy Gupton Columbia Historical Museum Discussions of the “early days” of the history of the West Columbia and East Columbia area of Brazoria County far too often begin with the introduction of Anglo settlers first stepping foot on the fertile grounds between the...
Stephen F. Austin died near West Columbia in 1836
https://youtu.be/NDhLb635EMc By Tracy Gupton Columbia Historical Museum Secretary As children growing up in West Columbia, my cousin Steve Weems and I would often ride horses and mini-bikes in the big pasture of Phil Gupton’s that included cattle-grazing land...
Bowl games featured many former Roughnecks
The Daily Evergreen Photo by Cole QuinnWSU's Cameron Ward of West Columbia (#1) completed 22 of 32 pass attempts in the December 17th Los Angeles Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The Jerry Rice Award winner transferred from Incarnate Word. By Tracy...
Black bean survivors topic of recent Texas columns
Columbia Historical Museum Photo by Tracy Gupton Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley, left, spoke at Saturday's meeting of the Texas Sons of the American Revolution Cradle of Texas Chapter in El Campo. Chapter President Carl Wiggins presented Holley with a...
President Johnson’s brother buried in WC cemetery
William was 61 when he drew his last breath on October 24, 1865. While stepping out of a boat on the banks of the Brazos River at Velasco (present day Freeport) on October 9, 1865, the shotgun Johnson was using caught on a gunnel of the boat and discharged its full load of pellets into his arm.
Meet Judge Thurman Gupton at Ancestor Event
Among the former judges being portrayed at the Saturday, Nov. 5 event “Meet Your Ancestors” at historic Columbia Cemetery will be longtime district judge Thurman Gupton. West Columbia attorney Wes Griggs, the son of Judge Gupton’s former law partner, the late Hall...
Longtime county attorney buried in WC
By Tracy Gupton Columbia Historical Museum Board Member Among the former judges being portrayed at Meet Your Ancestors at Old Columbia Cemetery will be longtime Brazoria County Attorney Reuben Burch Loggins Jr. He will be portrayed by Michael Bailey, curator of the...
Longtime district judge buried in West Columbia
At the time of his death 122 years ago, William Henry Burkhart served as a Texas district judge longer than anyone else in the Lone Star State, according to The Houston Post. Judge Burkhart, who was buried at Columbia Cemetery in an unmarked grave following his...
The Mills Brothers in Brazoria County
By Benjamin Tumlinson Columbia Historical Museum Board Member As you come into West Columbia from the east, you’ll pass the Brazos River Brisket House and travel over the bridge spanning the Brazos River. I often glance down as I pass over to check the river levels,...
Dead Men Tell No Tales
The quiet little community of Columbia was thrust into newspaper headlines in early June 1874 and again in April 1906. On both occasions, the killing of local men was the cause; and both shootings were the result of long simmering feuds on the level of the famed Hatfield and McCoy family wars.