Capt. William G. Hunt House
Columbus, Colorado County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On land originally owned by Bluford DeWeese, founder of Columbus, Capt. William G. Hunt (1813-1898) purchased this house in August 1859, and lived here until his death. He was a Virginian who came to Columbus around 1831, and fought in the 1835 Battle of Gonzales and the subsequent capture of San Antonio. A farmer and trader by occupation, Capt. Hunt also served in the 13th Texas Infantry during the Civil War. He was on the vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church and donated land for the original church on Milam Street. This house, built around 1858, is considered to be the oldest in Columbus. Multiple renovations occurred over the years, but it retains the basic structure, pine floors and ceilings. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK – 1973
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Virginia-born William G. Hunt came to Columbus around 1831 and threw himself into the making of Texas, fighting at the 1835 Battle of Gonzales — the "come and take it" opening of the Texas Revolution — and in the capture of San Antonio that followed. A farmer and trader who later served in the 13th Texas Infantry during the Civil War, he bought this house in 1859 and lived here until 1898. Built around 1858, it is regarded as the oldest house in Columbus, still holding its original pine floors and ceilings.
Why it matters
The home of a man who fought at Gonzales and later for the Confederacy ties one modest Columbus house to both the birth of the Texas Republic and the Civil War that tested it.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Columbus, on the Colorado River, is one of the oldest Anglo-American communities in Texas. It grew up in the 1820s and 1830s within the settlements that followed Stephen F. Austin's colony, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Families from the American South came for the fertile river land and built farms along the river bottoms.
By the mid-1830s, tensions between these settlers and Mexico's central government broke into open conflict. The Texas Revolution of 1835–36 swept right through this region. In the spring of 1836, during the flight of settlers known as the Runaway Scrape, the Texian army passed near Columbus, and the town was burned as the armies moved east.
A generation later, Texas had become first a republic and then a state. By the late 1850s, when this house was built, the region had become a settled farming community whose wealth depended heavily on enslaved labor. Within a few years, Texas would leave the Union and join the Confederacy, drawing men from towns like Columbus into another war.
People & events
William G. Hunt was born in Virginia in 1813 and came to Columbus as a young man around 1831. He arrived just in time to be swept into the fight for Texas independence. In 1835 he was at the Battle of Gonzales, the skirmish where Texian settlers refused to give up a small cannon to Mexican troops and flew a flag daring them to "Come and Take It." That clash is often called the first battle of the Texas Revolution.
Hunt then took part in the capture of San Antonio later that year, when Texian volunteers besieged the town and forced the Mexican garrison to surrender. These were young, mostly untrained men, and their early victories gave the revolution its momentum.
After the revolution, Hunt settled into life as a farmer and trader. In August 1859 he bought this house, which stood on land first owned by Bluford DeWeese, the founder of Columbus. During the Civil War, Hunt, by then in his late forties, served in the 13th Texas Infantry. He also served on the vestry, the lay governing board, of St. John's Episcopal Church, and gave land for the congregation's first church on Milam Street. He lived in this house until his death in 1898.
Its place in the American story
Few lives connect as many chapters of Texas history as William Hunt's. He fought in the revolution that created the Republic of Texas, lived through annexation to the United States, served the Confederacy, and lived on into the 1890s, when the frontier was closing. One house holds that whole arc.
His story also reminds us that the Texas Revolution was fought largely by migrants from the United States, many of them from the upper South like Hunt. Their arrival in Mexican Texas, and their later conflict with Mexico, became part of the larger story of American expansion that led to the Mexican-American War and redrew the map of North America.
Finally, the house shows how frontier communities built their institutions. Men like Hunt were not only soldiers. They also served on church boards and gave land so that towns could have churches, schools, and civic life. That kind of local work turned scattered settlements into lasting communities.
If you visit
Columbus is a pleasant, walkable town with a strong sense of its own history, and it is easy to reach from the main highway between Houston and San Antonio. The Hunt House is considered the oldest house in town. It may be privately owned, so please view it respectfully from the street.
The house has been renovated several times, so don't expect a museum piece. Its value is in what has lasted: the basic structure and its pine floors and ceilings date back to around 1858. Try to imagine the town as it looked then, just a generation after the revolution, with the Colorado River nearby.
To get more out of your visit, pair it with a look at Columbus's other historic sites, including its churches and courthouse square. If you're tracing the Texas Revolution, Gonzales, where Hunt fought in 1835, is within reach to the west, and the two towns together make a good day of Texas history.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · William G. Hunt
- · Bluford DeWeese
Related events
- · Battle of Gonzales
- · capture of San Antonio
Themes & tags
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