Brenham Public Library

Two sources give 1899 for the library, not the plaque's 1901. The Handbook of Texas and a 1915 county history both say the Fortnightly Club founded it that year. The county history says it began with about a hundred books given by members and townspeople. By 1915 more than 5,000 volumes filled rooms in the City Hall, and Miss Annette Ray, the librarian, was on duty every day. The same book lists it beside the weekly German-language Texas Volksbote, founded in 1873, among the town's institutions.

What the plaque says

Brenham Public Library First in county. Founded 1901 and still maintained by Fortnightly Literary Club, with county and city support. All housing has been donated. First call for books brought 1,000 volumes. In 1934 occupied present quarters built by the city. (1966)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 11 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site — 18 mi
  The townsite on the Brazos where delegates met in a cold, unfinished hall in March 1836 to declare Texas independent, with Independence Hall rebuilt and Anson Jones's Barrington farm worked as in 1850.
• Star of the Republic Museum — 18 mi
  A star-shaped museum of the Republic of Texas years, 1836 to 1846, built at Washington-on-the-Brazos after a Brenham campaign and opened on March 1, 1970.
• Round Top and Festival Hill — 19 mi
  A German village on the old La Bahía Road, named for a house tower, with an 1867 stone church, a Fourth of July kept since 1851 and a concert hall a pianist built without blueprints.

More markers nearby

• First Methodist Church — steps away
• First Baptist Church — steps away
• Washington County, C.S.A. — 0.2 mi
• The Brenham Maifest — 0.3 mi