Whitman

Whitman is on Farm Road 1155 near Jackson Creek and Farm Road 2193, fourteen miles northeast of Brenham in eastern Washington County. It was named for its first postmaster, Walter G. Whitman, when it opened its post office in 1876. Mrs. Kate Ewing was postmistress from 1885 until the post office closed in 1907. By 1883 Whitman was a prosperous supply point with a commercial sector and processing industries based on the vicinity's cotton production. The community had three churches, two of which were black congregations. By 1884 Whitman had seventy-five residents. By 1945 Whitman had become almost totally dependent on agriculture. It had only one business. From 1945 through 2000, when no businesses were reported, the population was twenty-five.