Anderson County Was Named for a Vice President Who Never Saw It Formed

Anderson County's name begins with a trip home that Kenneth Lewis Anderson did not finish. He was the Republic of Texas's last vice president. In June 1845, he presided over the Senate when Congress approved annexation. He left Washington-on-the-Brazos while ill, stopped at Fanthorp Inn after about 20 miles, and died there on July 3 at age 39.

On March 24, 1846, the Texas Legislature created a new county from Houston County. Burnet was proposed as its name, but lawmakers chose Anderson instead. The county arrived after its namesake's death and after the Republic he served had given way to statehood.

Settlers around Fort Houston had asked for the county. Because that settlement sat away from the county's center, a committee selected a new 100-acre county-seat site and named it Palestine. The county court met on July 30, 1846. Its early business included roads, a courtroom, a jail, taxes, and election precincts.

Put together, the map preserves a compact piece of Texas's transition: a county named for the final vice president of the Republic, with a seat laid out during the year Texas began operating as a state.