Hidden Beneath the Streets
The Texas Story Project.
While repairing a street in the year 2000, a city crew uncovered a huge hole under an intersection in downtown Brenham. The hole revealed a cistern, used for water collection, along with pipes feeding into it from the nearby buildings. Although private cisterns were commonly used across Texas in the 1800s, this cistern indicated that the community had been cooperatively collecting water. The city crew had discovered Brenham’s first public utility and perhaps the first in the state! An exciting discovery on its own, the cistern is only the beginning of a longer story that connects the water system to the town forefathers, the notorious fire of 1866, and one of Brenham’s most prized artifacts, the Silsby steam-pumper fire truck.
In January 2010, the city of Brenham began developing Toubin Park on a downtown site that featured a historic cistern that belonged to a building that had since been demolished. The park would tell the stories of the Fire of 1866, which burned an entire Brenham city block, as well as the public cisterns (27 had since been discovered). As Main Street Director, I worked with volunteer Sharon Brass to research both topics. We began to uncover some interesting connections. The Toubin Park cistern was not a part of the public cistern system, but it was built by Brenham’s forefathers, J.D. and D.C. Giddings.
The Giddings brothers were the central figures of Brenham’s early development. They advocated for the incorporation of Brenham, served in public offices, and established the Washington County Railroad Company in 1856. With the support of other investors, they completed a rail line to Hempstead in 1861, giving local cotton growers and manufacturers unprecedented access to thriving markets in Houston and Galveston. Brenham’s population exploded almost overnight. Pioneers poured into Brenham from the coast . Some settled in the area and others moved further west. But the growth also brought transients and outlaws, and the city became a typical rough boom town. Most men walked the streets armed, and violence was common.
At the end of the Civil War, over 200 federal troops descended on Brenham, making the atmosphere even more hostile. The soldiers and their martial law were not welcomed. Making matters worse, they were rowdy and belligerent to citizens. The streets became even more violent, and a series of events led to disaster. On the night of September 7, 1866, there was a large gunfight on Main Street involving at least ten citizens and soldiers. The citizens were faster on the draw and only soldiers were wounded, one seriously. In retaliation, Union officers arrested the citizens and then ordered their men to ransack and loot downtown businesses. Drunk on whiskey they had stolen, the soldiers ultimately burned an entire block—a very large part of Brenham in those days.
The citizens of Brenham were determined that they would no longer be victims of the federals forces. In early 1867, they formed the Hook & Ladder Company and elected D.C. Giddings as their foreman. The group trained as firefighters and soldiers, to defend citizens and property. A few months after the Hook & Ladder Company was formed, the citizens of Brenham began building cisterns for public firefighting. It is presumed that the Giddings brothers led this effort since D C. was foreman of the new fire department. During the next 20 years, at least 27 cisterns were built downtown for public use. Many of these cisterns are still under Brenham streets.
With all this new knowledge, we found one more surprise. One of Brenham’s most prized artifacts is our original 1879 Silsby steam-pumper fire truck, on display downtown. It is only the second steam-pumper in Texas and was so advanced in its day that it would be the equivalent of having a space shuttle today. Research for Toubin Park also uncovered that the Silsby was designed to draw water from cisterns to fill its tank. In all the years the Silsby has been on display, it has never before been thought of in connection to the Giddings brothers or the downtown cisterns. These newly discovered historical connections are now shared with the public at Toubin Park.
Jennifer Eckermann is the Main Street Manager for the City of Brenham.
Posted July 21, 2014
