White Rock

Brandon is at the intersection of State Highway 22 and Farm Road 1243, ten miles east of Hillsboro in eastern Hill County. In 1840–41 a road was surveyed on the banks of Pecan Creek several miles from the site of Brandon. Elisha S. and Martha Wyman settled on this road in 1846. In 1851 a voting box was placed across the road in a grove of trees near Wyman Spring, when the area was still in Navarro County. All seventeen men in what would become Hill County voted there in the election. In 1852 a post office known as White Rock was established on White Rock Creek in the home of Henry Harlos (or Hollis) in Navarro County. In 1853, when Hill County was established, the Brandon area was in the new county. Joseph M. Martin built White Rock Mill on the creek before 1855, and by 1861 the Woods home in the community was used as an overnight stagecoach stop; it hosted such famous guests as Cynthia Ann Parker. In 1868 the name of the post office was changed to Jackson, probably to avoid confusion between the numerous White Rock communities in Texas. It had a post office only five months before it was withdrawn. The community received a post office in 1873 and was named Brandon. Dr. J. R. Harrington, a dentist, named the settlement and served as its first postmaster. The community was known as a health resort, and people camped near its several sulfur springs. Brandon was a prosperous community on the major road from Corsicana to Hillsboro. At one time it had a hotel, three churches, a school, a blacksmith shop, a cotton gin, and grocery, hardware, and drug stores.

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.