Local History
Texas Empresario Colony Historical Markers: The Land Grants That Filled a State
A handful of land contracts drew the first settlers to Texas. These empresario colony markers, from West Columbia to Gonzales, still mark where it all started.
Photo: Braden Collum / Unsplash. Texas prairie.
You're driving through the Brazos bottomlands, past fields that roll down toward the river. Two centuries ago, families staked their whole futures on this exact ground. Texas holds more than 16,000 official historical markers, and a surprising number trace back to the empresario land grants that first drew settlers here. RoadHistorical is a Texas historical preservation platform that helps you find these markers on the road. This guide covers the empresario colony markers that tell how a handful of land contracts filled a state.
Stephen F. Austin and the Old Three Hundred
The Old Three Hundred marker stands in West Columbia, at the corner of East Brazos Avenue and South 17th Street. It honors the first families to settle under a Texas land grant.
In 1821, Moses Austin won the first grant to bring 300 families into the region. He died soon after. His son Stephen F. Austin took over the contract and got Mexican approval to continue.
Most of these colonists came from Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Missouri. Each family had to be Catholic and swear an oath of allegiance to Mexico before they received their land. Their descendants still fill the counties along the Brazos and Colorado rivers.
East Brazos Avenue and South 17th Street, West Columbia, TX
Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
Green DeWitt's Colony and the Town of Gonzales
Green DeWitt Cemetery in Gonzales marks the resting place tied to the second great empresario colony. You'll find it in J.B. Wells Park.
Green DeWitt signed his empresario contract in 1825. It gave him permission to settle 400 families on land southwest of Austin’s colony. He founded the town of Gonzales that same year and named it for the governor of Coahuila and Texas.
His wife, Sarah DeWitt, is buried here. She’s remembered for the "Come and Take It" flag that flew when the first battle of the Texas Revolution broke out at Gonzales. The colony DeWitt planned became the flashpoint for independence.
Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
Sterling C. Robertson's Colony on the Frontier
Empresario Sterling C. Robertson Brings Settlers to Texas stands in Salado, along South Main Street in Bell County. It tells the story of the largest colony grant of them all.
Robertson’s colony started as the Leftwich, or Nashville, grant. He carried settlers north into the frontier when the land was still raw and dangerous. The grant stretched about 100 miles wide and 200 miles long.
At its peak the colony reached into part or all of 30 counties. Families who came through Robertson’s contract put down roots across the heart of Central Texas. Salado grew up right in the middle of that country.
South Main Street, Salado, TX 76571
Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
The Randon and Pennington Grant on the Brazos
Randon & Pennington Grant of 1824 sits in Richmond, in Fort Bend County. It marks an early individual land grant inside Austin’s colony.
On August 3, 1824, David Randon and his partner Isaac Pennington received 4,428 acres on the Brazos River. The tract sat between the John Foster League to the east and the Churchill Fulshear League to the west.
Grants like this one turned an empresario contract into real farms and homesteads. Each league of land became a family, a crop, and eventually a county line. Richmond still traces its founding to these Brazos River settlers.
Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
How RoadHistorical Finds These Markers
Discovery Mode runs while you drive. It notifies you when you're about to pass a historical marker, so you'll never blow by one of these empresario sites without knowing. The AI Tour Guide answers the questions the plaque can't, like who a person was or what happened next.
RoadHistorical also works offline. Many of these markers sit on rural roads with no cell coverage, so the app keeps working when your signal drops. You get the full story wherever the drive takes you.
Start Discovering Texas History Today
RoadHistorical is free to download on iPhone and Android. Download it here and turn on Discovery Mode before your next drive. Android users can download RoadHistorical from Google Play.
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