Washington on the Brazos State Historic Site

03/25/2025

Any Round Top Antiques Week Experts?
We plan to go shopping there later this week for items for our upcoming Washington Townsite exhibit. We are looking for vintage reproductions or usable antiques to furnish several buildings of the 1836-1845 era.

Help us find what we are looking for. Message us or comment below with suggested areas of the shows or specific vendors to visit.

We seek vintage reproduction Windsor and Hide-bottom chairs, antique tapered leg tables, reproduction Early American Pattern Glass, cast iron dutch ovens and pots, stoneware bowls and pitchers, transferware ceramic dishes, antique woodworking tools, tin/brass/pewter reproductions, and blacksmith-made fireplace tools.

03/16/2025

Day 6 of Replicating the Ark of the Covenant of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Well, we came up short on finishing the box, but we got everything done but the veneer and the "till" box inside. We struggled with our glue for veneering today, and had to call it quits for now. We will practice some more and hopefully be able to veneer the box soon. The lock and hinges work well, and we even left a gap in the top of the box just like the original!

Thank you to everyone who came and visited us while we worked on this project. We saw 660 of you this week, and we are so grateful we got to share this story with you. Thank you to our colleagues at Texas State Library and Archives Commission for allowing us to come and see this amazing artifact! Thank you also to San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site for the use of their workbench, and to Sam Houston Memorial Museum & Republic of Texas Presidential Library for their information on their Independence Hall box.

Stay tuned for future updates on the finished box!

03/15/2025

Day 5 of Recreating the Ark of the Covenant of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Why is this box called the Ark of the Covenant? Our most asked question of the week. The name comes from a letter written by Dr. R.R. Peebles daughter, Rachel Peebles White, when she donated the box to the people of Texas. Here is the excerpt:

It is our purpose to deliver this treasure to the people of Texas, that they may keep it as did the people of Israel the “Ark of the Covenant” delivered by Moses.”

Lofty words for a small box, but the message she is trying to convey is extremely important. This is a call to action for the people of Texas to preserve and keep these parts of our history that are at risk of being forgotten and lost with the same zeal that the Israelites protected the Ark of the Covenant. That is a powerful statement, and one that has stuck with the box.

The replica has a top and bottom now, and the hinges are almost done. We are in the process of cutting the walnut veneers to begin gluing tomorrow. Everything is shaping up well but it will be a busy day for us tomorrow if we are going to finish it. Wish us luck!

03/14/2025

Day 4 of Replicating the Ark of the Covenant of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Did anything else take place in Independence Hall besides the Convention of 1836? Yes, the building was the house chambers for the 7th Congress of the Republic of Texas in 1842. It was also a district courtroom for Judge John T. Mills, the Flora and Ackerman dry goods store, and was used as a public hall, dance hall, and held a revival led by Judge R.E.B. Baylor. A Washington resident Isabella Buffington Herbert also claimed to have grown up in Independence Hall! The Ark is possibly one of the few surviving pieces of all of these stories.

We have a box! We assembled all 4 sides and the box is actually square, much to the shock of our two carpenters! We will be putting the top and bottom on tomorrow before adding the hinges and lock. Then it will be time to veneer!

03/13/2025

Day 3 of Replicating the Ark of the Covenant of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Are there other surviving pieces of Independence Hall? There are a number of things said to be created from pieces of Independence Hall. A judges gavel, and stylized object reside at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission with the Ark. There is also a box on display at Sam Houston Memorial Museum & Republic of Texas Presidential Library. It was given to GW Crawford who was a newspaper man in Washington and a supporter of the Railroad coming to town. It didn't and the town declined rapidly. Go check the box out in Huntsville if you are in the area!

We spent our day cutting dovetails and will be fitting the box together tomorrow. Our walnut veneer also arrived yesterday, so we will begin applying it soon!

03/12/2025

Day 2 of Replicating the Ark of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

How do we know if the ark could be authentic? The ark is made out of white oak, and veneered in Walnut. Accounts of Independence Hall state that it was made of riven (split) 4 foot, white oak boards. Dr. Peebles, who owned the box, was also owner of part of the town lots where Independence Hall was located in the 1850s. It would make sense that he would get a memento of the building when it was torn down, or fell down. One of the last accounts that the building was still standing comes from an 1852 advertisement for the Alhambra Saloon. It stated that the saloon was adjoining the time honored council hall.

Today we spent a lot of time with various saws. Coping saws, rip cut saws, and cross cut saws. We took one big oak board and turned it into 4 smaller boards. These will be the sides of our replica box. We also finished our dovetail template, so tomorrow we will begin cutting the real dovetails.

03/11/2025

Day 1 of Replicating the Ark of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Why is this box important? This question was asked a lot today by visitors. With a name like Ark of the Covenant, it better be important. It is.
The box we are recreating may be made from remnants of the original Independence Hall. We don't know exactly when the building ceased to exist, but we do know this box was built by John Gould, a local carpenter and presented to Dr. R.R. Peebles. Peebles' daughter, Rachel, donated the box to the people of Texas in 1926, and today it resides in the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Staff members Tynan Shadle and Adam Arnold went to TSLAC in January and took detailed pictures and measurements of the box. Today after sharpening up our saws and tools, we cut a template out of pine for the dovetailed joints. Tomorrow, we will finish the template and use it to begin cutting the dovetails into the oak boards for the recreated box. Come see us in Independence Hall if you are in the area!

03/08/2025

03/07/2025

Last week you all came out and helped us celebrate the 189th anniversary of Texas Independence. A BIG thank you to all the staff from other Historic sites and all the volunteers that came out to help us. And a special thanks to Madalynn Kainer for taking so many wonderful pictures of our event.

03/06/2025

March 6, 1836 is forever remembered as the day the Alamo fell. The battle has been remembered in song, poem, painting, movie, academia, and cartoon. In 1903, Charles Rumpel put pen to paper and added his own poetic tribute to the Alamo, comparing the moment to the "Battle of Thermopylae"; equaling the Texas forces' effort to that of the famed 300 Spartans (480BC). The tenacious Texas effort, the proud valor of those 13 days, given equal footing among the greatest battles of myth and history. This is a small excerpt from Charles Rumple's "The Siege of the Alamo" 1903
#1836

03/02/2025

HAPPY 189th TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY!

02/17/2025

02/16/2025

Here are the results from yesterday's "1836 Delegate Election". Thank you to every that came out and helped us recreate the election of delegates to the 1836 Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos

02/14/2025

Happy Valentines Day! Whether you give or receive valentines, you owe the American Valentine industry to Edith Howland.

02/12/2025

Don't forget to come out and VOTE for a Washington Municipality delegates for the Convention of 1836!
This Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 10am - 4pm

02/09/2025

Texas has a rich and unique history, some bits better known than others. Here's a bit of Texas history you may not have heard about: the Pig War!

In the last year of the Lamar Presidency, Texas witnessed an event now know as the PIG WAR. Shortly after the resolution of this event, the Texas government under Sam Houston would return to Washington-on-the-Brazos. What is even more surprising is that there are at least 4 other events around the world known as the "pig war" (or a close variant) going all the way back to the 1550s.

note: this does not included any battles over the last bit of bacon at the breakfast table

02/07/2025

Today, the first Friday in February is National Bubble Gum Day. Did you know that there was a connection between General Santa Anna and the creation of chewing gum?