Recent news
Soak up the town’s history, shopping and dining
By Camille Wheeler
From its lone stoplight where U.S. 290 meets FM 1155, Chappell Hill opens like a history book. The two-lane road serves as both Main Street and a stretch of the Texas Independence Trail reaching into the Washington County countryside. On this general path, Stephen F. Austin established his first colony in 1821. A small community with an estimated population of 1,000, Chappell Hill has numerous homes and businesses with national and state historic designations. The unincorporated town traces its beginnings to a time when riverboats on the Brazos River carried cotton to market. In 1838, Tennessee native Robert Wooding Chappell arrived in the area, building a cotton plantation on an original piece of Austin’s colony. Chappell’s granddaughter, Mary Hargrove Haller, bought 100 acres there in 1847, and two years later began selling lots to Chappell Hill’s first residents. Today, the community welcomes thousands of visitors annually for its Bluebonnet and Scarecrow festivals, and Independence Day Parade. With its backdrop of rolling hills and the alluring historic Main Street area, Chappell Hill is a popular weekend getaway. After soaking up the town’s history, shopping and dining, head 20 miles northeast on FM 1155 to the birthplace of the Republic of Texas in Washington.
WHAT TO DO
Visit the Chappell Hill Historical Society Museum, 9220 Poplar St., from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Built in 1927 as the Chappell Hill Public School, the building is home to the nation’s largest collection of paintings by renowned Black folk artist Johnnie Swearingen. Call 979-836-6033 to take a society-sponsored tour of the Main Street Historic District — where some restored structures date to the mid-to-late 1800s. Other stops on the tour include historical society-preserved sites Providence Baptist Church, built in 1873; the Circulating Library, with its original book collection dating to the 1850s; and the Rock Store, originally a general store built in 1869 from locally quarried sandstone and hand-hewn timbers. Wall tapestries there depict the town’s history. Another historic stop is Chappell Hill Bank, 5060 Main St., circa 1897; the original teller stations and vault are still in use; 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m.-noon Saturday.
Some renovations are underway at the 293-acre Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, where 59 delegates signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836. The Star of the Republic Museum and the Visitor Center are scheduled to reopen in 2025, but visitors can stroll the rest of the complex to see how settlers of that era lived. 23400 Park Road 12, Washington. Get more information at www.thc.texas.gov/historic-sites (scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Washington-on-the-Brazos.)
Chappell Hill Lavender Farm, 8 miles north of town, offers events, classes and a gift shop; check chappellhilllavender.com for information, blooming season updates, plant availability and days/hours of operation; 2250 Dillard Road, Brenham; 979-251-8114.
GRAB A BITE
Dining options ranked in Tripadvisor’s top restaurants are:
Bevers Kitchen & Gifts, 5162 Main St., popular for its chicken-fried steak and rich assortment of pies; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.
Chappell Hill Bakery & Deli, 8900 U.S. 290 E., has its own butcher shop and serves up barbecue and pastries; 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Chappell Hill Sausage Company, 4255 Sausage Lane, makes its own smokehouse meats; restaurant open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday; retail shop open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
While in town, you can sample the 59 Delegates wine, plus other handcrafted selections, at Texas Star Winery, 10587 Old Chappell Hill Road, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Also get a glass at the Grapevine on Main wine bistro, 5120 Main St., open daily, live music Friday and Saturday evenings; call 979-777-3112 for lunch and dinner hours.
STOP AND SHOP
The Brazos Star, 5101 Main St. Handmade items galore, vintage kitchenware and homemade pickles — ask owner Mary Louise Young about her professional bowling career, too, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Bluebonnet House & Garden Center, 5095 Main St. Native and tropical plants, collectibles, locally made gifts and more, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
Chupacabra Leather Co., 5088 Main St. Gun holsters, knife scabbards and belts are made in the shop, 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday.
Cotton Pickin's Boutique & Market, 5145 Main St. Women’s linen clothing, home decor, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, noon-4 p.m. Sunday.
Other shops worth a stop: Kippers Kountry Store, 5084 Main St., noon-4 p.m. Thursday and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, and DLS Interiors, 5075 Main St., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.
A TIP FROM LOCALS
Relax with friends at Carol’s Ice House, 5090 Main St., where owner Carol Salah is always behind the bar; noon-10 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday.
This is part of an ongoing series featuring communities in the Bluebonnet region.
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative and LCRA representatives present a $10,000 grant to the Winchester Area Civic Association for improvements to Zilss Memorial Hall. The grant is part of LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program. Pictured in the front row are, from left, Ellen Brumback, association secretary; Barb Schafer, association member; Margaret D. "Meg" Voelter, LCRA board member; Byron Balke, Bluebonnet Board assistant secretary/treasurer; and Dinah Breeden, association vice chairman. Second row, from left, Margaret Atkins, association treasurer; and Michele Weth, association member. Third row, from left: Rhoda Gersch, association member; Pat Karisch, association past president; Bill Karisch, association member; Sherry Murphy, Bluebonnet Giddings-area community representative; and Liz Wallace, association member. Back row, from left, Nicolette Morrison, association president; Sherwood Gersch, association member; Kate Ramzinski, LCRA regional affairs representative; Russell Jurk, Bluebonnet Board member; Richard Schafer, association member and co-project manager of renovation; Matthew L. “Matt” Arthur, LCRA board member; and Tom Atkins, association member and co-project manager of renovation.
Zilss Memorial Hall soon will receive much-needed improvements to its nearly 100-year-old building, thanks to a $10,000 grant from Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative and the Lower Colorado River Authority.
The Community Development Partnership Program grant, along with $4,238 in matching funds from the Winchester Area Civic Association, will enable renovations to a restroom to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, constructing a closet and adding attic insulation. The association also will rebuild an ADA-compliant ramp into the building and purchase two air conditioners and a refrigerator.
The hall, built in the 1930s as a schoolhouse, later became the cafeteria for the nearby high school. The building was converted to a facility for public use after the Winchester public school closed in 1949. Emil Zilss, one of the leading merchants and early residents of Winchester, donated the building to be used as a community meeting place.
“The building was used for weddings and receptions when it first became a community hall,” said Rhoda Gersch, a WACA member who has held various officer positions over the years. “We have heard stories from some community members who were married in the hall, and in at least one instance, the weather was so cold that they decided to just spend their wedding night there instead of braving the cold to go back home.”
After members of the community officially created the Winchester Area Civic Association in the 1960s, association members made upgrades such as installing air conditioners and renovating the kitchen. The upgrades made the hall a place for Fayette County gatherings for decades.
“We still have wedding receptions there, but now there are so many events and uses for it,” Gersch said. “We recently started a farmers market, and we regularly have birthdays, wedding showers, and baby showers, and the fire department has its annual meeting and Christmas party there.”
WACA continues to host community events at the site.
“We have an annual community party at Christmas with Santa, a Spring Fling with the Easter Bunny, and a Taste of Winchester where we ask people to bring their favorite cooked dish to share with others, as well as to enter in a contest,” Gersch said. “And we can’t forget our bimonthly Young at Heart get-togethers, which are so important in some people’s lives, when about a dozen people bring a little meal and play dominoes or cards for three hours.”
The hall also is home to classes and events for the Quilt Block Trail of Winchester, which was created by Gersch and fellow resident Margaret Atkins. All proceeds from the group’s classes and sales of quilt blocks benefit the WACA. The group’s main fundraiser is a popular domino tournament with a fried chicken dinner that helps pay some of the hall’s bills, but primarily goes to providing scholarships for Fayette County students.
“We are so pleased we can make these upgrades with the grant money to keep this hall in use for many more years, because Zilss Memorial Hall is a place where people come for fellowship with their neighbors, and it’s been that way for a long time,” Gersch said.
The community grant is one of five grants being awarded by Bluebonnet and LCRA through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of LCRA’s wholesale electric customers and is a partner in the grant program.
Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in January. More information is available here
