Liberty

Liberty is among the oldest settled areas of Texas where several hundred Anglo-Americans established farms in the1820s on Mexican land grants. Liberty was laid out 1831, named Villa de la Santissima Trinidad de la Libertad, quickly shortened to Liberty by the English-speaking residents. William B. Travis, Sam Houston, and David Burnet all practiced law in Liberty. Three brothers from the town died at the Alamo, and some 50 Liberty citizens fought in the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, when Texas won its independence.

As the seat of Liberty County, the town was a busy port when steamboats plied the Trinity River in the late 19th century. Today it is a farming-ranching community with substantial oil production dating from 1925. Each March the “Liberty Jubilee” is held downtown and features barbecue cook-offs, street dances, a parade, antiques show, food, arts & crafts, and a fireworks display.