Near Site of the First Capitol of the Republic of Texas
West Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
About 1833 Leman Kelsey built a story-and-a-half clapboard structure near this location. When Columbia became capital of the Republic of Texas in 1836, the building was one of two which housed the newly formed government. The first Republic of Texas Congress convened in Columbia. Here Sam Houston took office as president and Stephen F. Austin as secretary of state. In 1837 the government moved to Houston. The 1900 storm destroyed the original capitol. The replica at this site was built in 1976-77. (1979)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the young Republic of Texas needed a seat of government in 1836, it turned to Columbia, and a modest story-and-a-half clapboard building near here — raised about 1833 by Leman Kelsey — became one of two structures housing the new nation. The first Republic of Texas Congress met in Columbia, Sam Houston took the oath as president, and Stephen F. Austin served as secretary of state before the government moved to Houston in 1837. The 1900 storm destroyed the original; the replica here dates to 1976–77.
Why it matters
For a few formative months this spot was the capital of an independent nation, the place where Texas first organized itself as a republic before its eventual path into the United States.
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Related people
- · Leman Kelsey
- · Sam Houston
- · Stephen F. Austin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Columbia (First Capital of Texas)
West Columbia, TX
Surveyed in 1824 by Old Three Hundred colonist Josiah Hughes Bell as a shipping center, Columbia became a stage for revolution as its residents adopted resolutions for independence. In July 1836 interim president David G. Burnet named it the first capital of the Republic of Texas, chosen for its housing and its newspaper, and here the first Congress convened while Sam Houston was inaugurated president that October. In its brief tenure the young government organized its army and navy, land and post offices, courts, and national symbols before Congress moved to the new city of Houston.
Columbia United Methodist Church
West Columbia, TX
This congregation reaches back to the missionary energy of Texas's years as an independent republic, when in 1839 the Rev. Isaac L. G. Strickland was assigned to the Brazoria circuit and organized a Methodist church in Columbia, an early capital. As the town's fortunes shifted toward neighboring Marion, the congregation moved with them, and later fellowships in East and West Columbia merged by 1928. It has met in West Columbia ever since.
Columbia
West Columbia, TX
For a few pivotal months in the autumn of 1836, this quiet Brazoria County town was the beating heart of a new nation. Columbia became the capital of the Republic of Texas, where the first elected Congress convened, the first Constitution was ratified, and Sam Houston and Mirabeau B. Lamar took office as president and vice-president. It was here, too, that Stephen F. Austin—the exhausted Father of Texas—served briefly as secretary of state before his death that December.
Old Columbia Cemetery
West Columbia, TX
This burial ground was given from the grant of Josiah H. Bell, among the first land deeded to one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists. It holds the graves of many who fought in the Texas Revolution of 1836. Deeded to a Presbyterian congregation in 1852, it has been tended since 1933 by a cemetery association.