Navasota is a city primarily in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,643 at the 2020 census.[4] In 2005, the Texas Legislature designated Navasota as the "Blues Capital of Texas" in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and blues musician.[5] Technically, a sliver of Navasota is in Brazos County, which is part of the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan area.
Navasota is located in southwestern Grimes County, east of the Navasota River (a tributary of the Brazos River). It is 71 miles (114 km) northwest of Houston. Texas State Highway 105 is the main east–west route that passes through the center of Navasota, leading southwest 25 miles (40 km) to Brenham and east 41 miles (66 km) to Conroe. Texas State Highway 6 passes north–south through the eastern side of the city as a four-lane bypass, leading northwest 22 miles (35 km) to College Station and south 21 miles (34 km) to Hempstead.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.4 square miles (19.1 km2), of which 0.04 square miles (0.1 km2), or 0.47%, is water.[6]
The French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who was misguided in his 1687 attempt to locate the Mississippi River and trying to find his way back to French-held lands near the Great Lakes, came through the area that would become Navasota, where he was murdered by one of his men. After numerous voyages, explorations of the Mississippi River valley, and trading ventures and several mutinies, La Salle's bones are believed to have found their resting place in the Navasota Valley.
Navasota was founded by European Americans in 1831 as a stagecoach stop named "Nolansville." Its name was changed in 1858 to Navasota, a name perhaps derived from the Native American word nabatoto ("muddy water").[citation needed]
After September 1859, when the Houston and Texas Central Railway built rails through the town, Navasota became an important shipping and marketing center for the surrounding area. When the nearby historic town of Washington-on-the-Brazos resisted railways, it forfeited its geographic advantage and began to decline after many of its businesses and residents began to migrate to the new railhead 7 miles (11 km) to the northeast across the Brazos River at Navasota.
Slavery was integral to the local economy. A few wealthy planters depended on enslaved African Americans to provide labor for their large cotton plantations. The slaves were brought to the city and sold in the domestic slave trade. They worked primarily in the cotton fields, which were a major commodity crop in the area. Guns were made in nearby Anderson. Cotton, gunpowder, and shoes were made, processed, and stored in Anderson for the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
By 1865, the population of Navasota was about 2,700. Throughout the Civil War, all the marketable goods produced in the region were brought to Navasota, which at the time was the furthest inland railhead in Texas. Such goods were shipped south by rail to Galveston, where they could be transported by steamboat along the Texas coast and up the Mississippi River to the war effort or exported to Mexico or overseas to Europe.
Navasota suffered a series of disasters in the mid-1860s that severely depleted its population. In 1865, a warehouse filled with cotton and gunpowder exploded after it was torched by returning Confederate soldiers. The blast killed a number of people and started a fire that destroyed much of the original downtown. Many buildings were damaged, including the post office. Not long afterward, the town was struck by a deadly cholera epidemic. That was followed in 1867 by an even more dangerous epidemic of yellow fever. Many Navasota citizens, including the mayor, fled to escape the disease, and the town's population dropped by about 50 percent.
In the late 1860s the KKK moved into Navasota, prompting a tense confrontation between federal soldiers and a crowd of local whites on one occasion.[7]
Navasota was considered such a "wild and woolly" place that women and children were discouraged from going downtown even in broad daylight. The downtown buildings were overrun with lawless ruffians, gamblers, prostitutes, and drunks. Lawmen had to hide and watch, and often were afraid of the streets at night. There were many saloons and gaming halls to entertain the cowboys, railroad men, and others on the loose. Every Sunday morning the undertaker hitched up a buggy and went downtown to collect the bodies he expected to find after another wild Saturday night.[citation needed]
On May 26th, 2016, a severe weather outbreak occurred across Southeastern Texas which spawned many tornadoes. One storm produced a tornado which was rated EF2, that traveled about a mile to the west in south Navasota. This tornado destroyed a large metal commercial building and damaged multiple other buildings and killed 4 people directly, and 1 indirectly. Right as the EF2 lifted, the storm recycled and produced a second, EF1 tornado which traveled a much shorter path crossing over Highway 6, damaging multiple trees. The storms additionally produced an EF1 tornado which damaged a prison facility in nearby Brenham in Washington County, and another EF1 tornado in College Station to the north.[citation needed]
In 1908, Navasota was still a Wild West boomtown: according to one source, "shootouts on the main street were so frequent that in two years at least a hundred men had died".[8] Famed lawman Frank Hamer, then 24 years old, was hired from the Texas Rangers to become the City Marshal. Hamer moved in and imposed law and order, prosecuting Navasota criminals until the town became safe again. He served as marshal until 1911. Hamer became more widely known in 1934 as a leader of the posse that hunted down and fatally shot Bonnie and Clyde. In 2012, the City of Navasota commissioned local sculptor Russell Cushman to design and create a statue of Frank Hamer, which is now on display in front of the city hall building.
As of 2018, the population of the town was an estimated 7,715 people.[4] The industrial sector of the community boasts 23 companies and over 1,200 jobs. In 2009, Navasota was selected as a "Visionaries in Preservation" city by the Texas Historical Commission to protect the numerous historic structures in the city. A new municipal building was completed in 2011 and continued downtown improvements are under construction, with completion scheduled for 2023.
In 2012, Navasota Municipal Airport completed an expansion of its runway to 5,000 feet (1,500 m) long by 75 feet (23 m) wide and is now able to accommodate jets on the runway.
The city of Navasota earned a 2011 Gold Leadership Award from the Texas Comptroller's Office for efforts in transparency. Its application scored 17 of 20 points. Navasota was one of 70 (out of over a thousand) cities in Texas to receive the Gold status. It also received the award in 2013.[citation needed]
In 2012, Navasota was named by the Union Pacific Railroad as "Train Town USA".[9]
In August 2013, Navasota was named a Go Texan "Certified Retirement Community" by the Texas Department of Agriculture.[10]
Navasota is served by the weekly Navasota Examiner newspaper, which has been reporting on Grimes County since 1894. The city is also home to the Willy 98.7 FM and 1550 AM radio stations, which are owned and managed by Bryan Broadcasting in Bryan, Texas. Willy 98.7 is a classic country station with local programming that includes the Navasota News and live broadcasts of Navasota Rattlers football games.
In 2013, the British documentary project known as Vague Direction visited Navasota and interviewed local residents Misslette The Singing Cowgirl and hog trapper Steve Stribling.[11]
Navasota has many shops and artisans in its historic downtown district, including antique, gift, and boutique stores and art galleries housed in old classic stone and brick structures. Live plays are performed regularly at the Sunny Furman Theatre. The city also has golfing facilities and parks as well as wineries.
Navasota retains a number of historic Victorian homes on Washington Avenue, the main residential and commercial thoroughfare through town.
Another attraction is the historic Brule Field, a natural amphitheater built in the 1930s out of native stone.[12] It served as the primary grid for the local high school football team, the Navasota Rattlers, until the new stadium was constructed in 2006. Several native-stone churches also remain near downtown, with distinctive Victorian fronts.
The city is home to two statues of French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, including a bronze monument, dedicated in 1936 by the DAR, to celebrate the travels of the famous French explorer. The second is a stone bust that was previously in downtown, and was rededicated by the French consulate in May 2012 at nearby August Horst Park. The bust was donated to the city by the French government in 1978.
Each spring, Navasota is a popular destination for its bluebonnet fields, the state flower of Texas. A statue of Mance Lipscomb is now a part of Mance Lipscomb Park, near downtown.[13] A statue of Frank Hamer stands in front of city hall, honoring the time he served as city marshal. Local artist and sculptor Russell Cushman designed and built the bronze statue.[14] Other attractions include art galleries, the Horlock House Artists-in-Residence program and museum, live music venues, food truck parks and several murals that present great selfie locations for area visitors. Seasonal festivals attract crowds each year, with live music being a large part of the draw.