Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
‘Reborn’ history on tap this weekend
DAR President Set to Re-dedicate Park at Oldest County Settlement
Rockdale Reporter - 2015-06-04
From 1837 to 1845 a town called Nashville on the Milam County side of the Brazos River
was one of the most important settlements in what would grow to become a republic, then
the Lone Star State.
In 2005, vandals all but obliterated the only remaining indication such a historic town
ever existed. This weekend, Old Nashville will live again, in a way.
Daughters of the American Revolution President-General Lynn Forney Young will preside
over a re-dedication, commemorating the DAR’s 1936 effort to mark Nashville during the
Texas Centennial celebration.
It will be the highlight of a three-day (Thursday-Saturday) observance, much of it in
Rockdale.
LOCAL EVENTS — Activities will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 4 at the Lucy Hill
Patterson Library in Rockdale.
J. S. “Sandy” Duncan of Austin will discuss Native Americans and their role in the
development of Texas in the colonial period.
Light refreshments will be served.
From 9 to 10:30 the next morning the Rockdale Chamber of Commerce will host a hospitality
room at its headquarters, 1203 West Cameron (US 79).
Dr. Steven Gonzales will speak at the Kay Theatre from 10 a.m. to 12-noon and Jessee
Villarreal, author of “Texas in the American Revolution” will speak from 1 to 3 p.m. at
the I&GN Depot Museum.
June 5 events end with another Chamber reception from 3 to 4:30. All are open to the
public.
The re-dedication at the Nashville marker is set for 10 a.m. June 6.
Bus transportation to the event will be available.
Those attending the dedication must register. Contact the Chamber of Commerce for more
information, Dr. Lucile Estell event chair, said.
HISTORY — Sterling C. Robertson — the county across the Brazos from Nashville bears his
name — founded the town in 1835.
Nashville-on-the-Brazos was the capital of his colony and was named for its Tennessee
counterpart, a place many of Robertson’s colonists had called home.
The next year it became the “seat of justice” for the Milam municipality.
Nashville was the first Texas home of George C. Childress, who chaired the committee
which drafted the Texas Declaration of Independence.
The town was in the running to be named capital of the Republic of Texas. It wasn’t
chosen, but Nashville-on-the-Brazos flourished until Texas became a state in 1845.
CENTENNIAL — Then came the long slow decline as Milam population shifted away from
Nashville, and nearby Port Sullivan— to other settlements.
Robertson was buried in the Nashville Cemetery, His remains were moved to the Texas State
Cemetery in Austin in 1935.
By 1936, when Texas observed its centennial, the DAR made its initial attempt to
commemorate the historic town.
Cameron’s Sarah MCCalla DAR chapter created a park at the original townsite, about three-
fourths of a mile upriver from the highway.
When that site became inaccessible, the DAR’s 1936 marker, and stones from the ruins of
Nashville, were moved to the roadside park. Those fell to vandals in 2010.
SPEAKER — Young and husband, Steve, own a cattle ranch in Milam County near Rockdale.
Steve Young is the son of George and the late Geneva Young of Rockdale.
Steve and Lynn Young were recently recognized for restoration and preservation of a
historic cemetery located on their property.
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goes to the
Rockdale Reporter
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Rockdale Reporter
Lynn Forney Young, national President-General of the DAR, will preside over Saturday’s ceremony.
PARTY CRASHERS — Five years ago vandals toppled brick pedestals incorporated into tiny Centennial Park at the Brazos River on US 79 just inside the Milam County line. It looked to mark the end of the line for the site of “Old Nashville,” the oldest settlement in the county. Named for its counterpart in Tennessee, the town flourished from 1837 to 1845. Daughters of the American Revolution will re-dedicate Centennial Park on Saturday.
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