Site of Santa Anna
Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Santa Anna townsite was platted in 1835 by surveyor and land speculator David Brown of San Augustine County. It became the center of political and military activities for the area west of the Neches River to the present western boundary of Jefferson County, including southern Hardin County. Thomas Huling of Jasper and Henry Millard, later an officer in the Republic of Texas Army, owned a store in Santa Anna which they hired Joseph Pulsifer to manage. Pulsifer arrived on July 21, 1835, and in letters to his sister in Connecticut he recounted activities in this area before and after the Texas Revolution. His letters, a valuable written record of early Jefferson County history, referred to families living in the vicinity and the existence of two stores and a school building in Santa Anna. Following the Texas Revolution the boundary of Jefferson County was extended westward. The town of Beaumont, founded by Henry Millard, Nancy Tevis, and Joseph Grigsby, and consisting of only three houses in April 1836, was organized and became county seat. The growth of Beaumont, absentee land ownership, and the death of town founder David Brown in 1847 led to the demise of Santa Anna.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Platted in 1835 by land speculator David Brown, the townsite of Santa Anna briefly served as the political and military hub for the region west of the Neches River. Storekeeper Joseph Pulsifer, who arrived in July 1835, left letters to his sister that remain a rare firsthand record of daily life here before and after the Texas Revolution. But the rise of nearby Beaumont, absentee landowners, and Brown's death in 1847 doomed the town, which faded away.
Why it matters
Santa Anna is a Texas ghost town whose surviving letters preserve an intimate eyewitness account of frontier life during the Republic's founding years.
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Related people
- · David Brown
- · Joseph Pulsifer
- · Henry Millard
Themes & tags
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