Celebration at the Cistern Park

See one of Brenham’s historic cisterns and learn about the Texas archeological landmarks under downtown streets.  Tuesday, November 8 at 5:30 pm, the opening celebration will take place for Brenham’s newest park.  Located near the corner of Park Street and  Commerce, the park will be the site for a troupe of entertainers to portray the events that led to the popularity of cisterns in downtown Brenham for fire prevention. The party will continue with music and refreshments across the street at the Ant Street Inn.  All are invited.

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Leon Toubin and others for their generous donations to the city of Brenham.

Be sure to visit Toubin Park to read the markers which explain the use of cisterns in Brenham.

Harvest Time

Crush For Fun

It’s harvest time in Washington County!  Three wineries are harvesting their grapes and you have an opportunity to stomp the grapes.  Visit these sites for more information:

www.pleasanthillwinery.com Aug. 6, 7, 13, 14

www.windywinery.com Aug. 6, 7, 13, 14

www.saddlehornwinery.com Aug. 6, 7

Or join in the fun at the Chappell Hill Lavender and Wine Fest on Aug. 13 with live music, food and fun.  www.chappellhilllavender.com.

Remember to book your rooms at the www.antstreetinn.com to continue the fun.

Hot Nights, Cool Tunes

You have 2 Saturday nights left to join in the fun on the square at the free street concerts in downtown Brenham.  Bands get started about 7:00 pm and end before 10:00.  Bring lawn chairs and  coolers or buy some of the beverages and snacks for sale on the square.  Small town fun on the cheap!  Spend the night at the inn and walk a block back to your comphy bed at the end of the evening.

July 23- Suede: Austin band with 70′s and 80′s hits

July 30 Two Tons of Steel: San Antonio Country band

Fourth of July “Crawl”

Round Top Celebrations

The Ant Street Inn is in the middle of all the great celebrations for the Fourth of July.  Pick and choose or try to “crawl” to all of them.

Start off the holiday weekend July 2 with Hot Nights, Cool Tunes free street concert in downtown Brenham, 7:00pm.  Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the music and food and beverages sold or bring your own.

July 3, Round Top Festival Hill is having a patriotic concert at 3:00 pm with conductor Stefan Sanders.  www.festivalhill.org

July 4  Make a day of hitting several small town celebrations.

10:00am  Chappell Hill’s 35th Annual Parade with marching Kazoo Band. http://www.chappellhilltx.com/

10:30Round Top’s 161st Fourth of July parade, barbeque, music, tractor show. http://www.roundtoprifle.com/.  See 8 pages in July issue of Texas Highways describing event.

11:00am  Burton  123rd celebration with barbeque, auction, cake walk at the American Legion Post.  $8.00.

5:00pm Independence in Independence:   Parade, food, booths, street dance and fireworks.  979 830 3461

Fireworks on the Brazos at Washington on The Brazos State Park. 10:00am-10:00pm. Concert and light show extravaganza.  Blue Bell ice cream.

Don’t forget to book your room at the Ant Street Inn and relax on the upstairs porch.

Hope to see you then!  Pam and Tommy

Buried Treasure Discovered

A park will be built to showcase the brick lined cistern which has been unearthed in a lot between two buildings across the street from the Ant Street Inn.  To launch the construction of Toubin Park, a groundbreaking ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 25 at 10:00 am with the uncovering of the cistern for viewing.

Toubin Park, named for Leon and Mimi Toubin, who donated the land for this purpose, will exhibit how cisterns were used in the 1800′s through the use of maps, photos of cisterns  that still exist in Brenham, and give tips for using modern cisterns today.

“The story of Brenham’s cisterns starts in 1860 when the Washington County Railroad was finished,” said Sharon Brass, a Main Street Brenham volunteer who did most of the recent research.  “As only the second railroad in Texas, it was a remarkable feat that turned Brenham into a boom town, almost overnight.  This started a chain of extraordinary events, with colorful characters, leading to the cisterns under our streets and buildings.  This is the story we’ll tell at Toubin Park.”

“The railroad made Washington County extremely prosperous and the population exploded.  During the Civil War, the county’s population was highest of all Texas counties, with more residents than Houston and Austin combined.”

“Even though the railroad brought a surge of prosperity, it also brought many travelers and transients,” said Brass.  “Like any boom town, frequent violent crimes kept lawmen busy.  When the Civil War ended in 1865, former slaves and owners struggled with their new relationships, resulting in more crime.  With lawlessness and racial tensions growing, most men walked the streets armed.  The mood was tense and conflicts were frequent.  This atmosphere prevailed at the end of the Civil War, setting the stage for trouble to come.”

“That trouble came in the form of Union soldiers, sent here in 1865 to occupy Washington County during Reconstruction.  The soldiers terrorized citizens and the atmosphere turned hostile.  A local newspaper editor emerged as a hero criticizing the deeds of the army and was arrested twice for his writings.  Several events led to violence and the burning of a full city block by soldiers. ”

“After a second fire was set, the citizens began building cisterns, to collect rain water for fire-fighting.  An 1885 map shows that 26 public cisterns had been built by that time and Brenham even had a cistern factory that served the region.”

Brenham cisterns are now designated as  State Archeological Landmarks.