Nolanville

Navasota is on a bend of the Navasota River at the intersection of State Highway 105 and Farm roads 3090 and 1227 in southeastern Grimes County. The site was first named Hollandale for Francis Holland, who bought land in the area in 1822. In 1832 a Georgia planter named Daniel Arnold moved to the vicinity. In 1848 James Nolan set up some tents nearby, and by 1852 he had built a log cabin that became a stage stop. The site was a natural crossroads, as it was located near the spot where the La Bahía Road crossed the Navasota River, and about halfway between Anderson and Washington-on-the-Brazos. By the mid-1850s four stage lines had established stops in the vicinity. The settlement name was changed to Navasota (for the river) in 1854, when a post office was established there. After September 1859, when the Houston and Texas Central Railway built into the town, Navasota became even more important as a shipping and marketing center for the surrounding area. Cotton, gunpowder, and guns were stored there during the Civil War. By 1865 the population was about 2,700.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.