William H. Watson

Watson reached Texas at twenty-two after years at sea. His father died in 1849, and the Handbook says he went to sea, settled in New York in 1853, worked a boat between Louisville and New Orleans, and landed in Galveston in 1859. He served in the Confederate Army and was discharged for disability before the war ended. In 1869 he published an early Texas article on grape culture, and in 1871 he joined the incorporators of the Victoria Society of Washington County, which sought British immigrants. He died in Brenham in 1897 and lies in Prairie Lea Cemetery.

What the plaque says

William H. Watson One of the most influential horticulturists in Texas, William H. Watson was born in Ireland in 1837. He migrated to America in 1853 and moved to Texas by 1859. He and his wife, Sarah Warren, settled in Brenham, where he established Rosedale Nursery by 1860. Beginning in the 1870s, Watson helped bring in other horticulturists to Texas such as William Falconer and W.A. Yates. His Rosedale arborvitae hybrid plant garnered much attention. In 1875 Watson served as Vice President of the Texas Horticultural and Pomological Association. He was later elected President of the Texas State Horticultural Society in 1889. William died in 1897 but his work is still remembered for its impact on plant study in Texas. (2015)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 12 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

• 100th Anniversary Brenham "Banner-Press" — 0.6 mi
• Evangelical Lutheran Colleges of Texas — 0.7 mi
• Germania Mutual Aid Association — 0.7 mi
• Blue Bell Creameries — 0.8 mi