MANOR, TEXAS - HOW IT CAME TO BE...

 PART 1

James Manor had lived in Travis County, Texas only a few years when he built his two-story home on the east bank of Gilleland’s Creek in 1842. In a few more years, he would be put in charge of building a road that would pass right by his home on its way to Houston. This same road would later go straight through his town of Manor when it was laid out in 1872.

SKETCH OF THE JAMES MANOR HOME FROM "WEBBERVILLE AND THE MANOR CEMETERY" 
 COMPILED BY BANKS MCLAURIN, JR - 1995

The city of Austin had been selected and mapped out as the new state Capital in 1839, and soon after, new roads began to be built that would connect it to other cities. On October 27, 1849 a group of citizens appeared before the Travis County Commissioners Court to present a petition asking that a road be laid out from a northeast part of Austin to the town of Brenham. It was specifically requested that the road would include the Burditts land on Walnut Creek and the James Manor home of Gilleland Creek. 

TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT MINUTES A, PAGES 118, 119

This document reads;

"October 27, 1849

The Court met this day in accordance with previous motion - Present - the Hon. J.(Joel) Miner, Chief Justice and Commissioners (Jesse) Burditt and (Dennis) Walsh. 

Commissioner Burditt presented a petition signed by sundry citizens praying that reviewers may be appointed to mark out a road leading from the City of Austin to the county line via Burditts on Walnut Creek and Manors on Gilleland Creek, in the direction to Caldwell and Brenham. 

And the court, after considering the said petition ordered that Joseph Barnhart, N.W. Burditt, G.H. Burditt, Wm Custard, and James Manor be appointed reviewers to examine said route for the contemplated road, and report to the next regular term of this Court. Any three of said reviewers may sign and return said report." Signed by "J. Miner, Chief Justice."

Three weeks later, James Manor, accompanied by Giles Burditt and Newell Burditt, presented their report to the Court.

TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT MINUTES A, PAGE 119

This document reads;

"Commissioners Court, November Term, 1849 - Nov 19, 1849 

The Court met in accordance with law, present The Hon. J. Miner, Chief Justice, and Commissioners Burditt and Walsh. 

This day came James Manor, G.H. Burditt and N.W. Burditt, three of the commissioners appointed by a previous order of the Court, for the purpose of marking out a road from the City of Austin via Gilleland’s Creek to the County line in the direction of Caldwell and Brenham, made a report which was received. Whereupon the Court orders that James Manor be and he is hereby appointed overseer of the same - and that all the hands being on Walnut Creek from N.W Burditts up and all those being on Gilleland Creek from Roundtrip (?) up to …(?)”

As was the practice at this time, all land owners, and those hands working their lands, along the path of the new road, were required to participate in the building of the new road. 

On February 22, 1853 the Commissioners Court divided the Austin to Brenham road into 3 precincts with different overseers and hands appointed for each precinct. Precinct 3 ran from the center of Gilleland's Creek to the eastern line of Travis County. 

TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT MINUTES B, PAGES 20, 21

As late as February, 1855 James Manor was again appointed overseer of Precinct 3 of the road. Many others were appointed as hands to help with establishing and maintaining the road.

TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT MINUTES B, PAGE 93

Although minor changes would be made in the direction of the road over a several year period, the direction of the road remained the same and Precinct 3 continued to run from Gilleland's Creek to the eastern line of Travis County - right by James Manor's house.

1880 TRAVIS COUNTY MAP SHOWING AUSTIN TO BRENHAM ROAD

When the mapping and platting of the new town of Manor was completed in January, 1872, it was evident that the town had been laid out with the Austin to Brenham road running through the middle of it. The portion of the road inside the Manor city limits was named Eggleston Street. James Manor's house was about two tenths of a mile due west of the town.

1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF AUSTIN TO BRENHAM ROAD 

ENTERING MANOR FROM THE WEST

When  James  Manor  died in  1881, his third wife,  Elizabeth  Ann, married Marion Courtland Abrams.  Records indicate that they both lived in the  Manor  house until their deaths in 1941. 

A Travis County Road Survey made between the years of 1898 and 1902 shows the Austin to Brenham road passing through what was now known as the M.C. Abrams property just before entering the town of Manor. 

Travis County Clerk Records: Road Book Precinct 1, Page: 22

Field notes accompanying the map read; 

"...passing Abrams property on both sides of the road...passing Abrams residense on the left."

TRAVIS COUNTY CLERK RECORDS; ROAD BOOK - PRECINCT 1 - PAGE 21

When the Austin to Brenham road was established in the early 1850's, it was designed for the use of people traveling by horseback, in wagons, buggies, stagecoaches, etc. When automobiles arrived on the scene in the early 1900's it was evident that roads such as this were not suitable for automobile travel.

When the Texas State Highway Department came into being in 1917, one of the first things they did was to make plans for a new, bigger and better, highway going from Austin to Houston. Known as State Highway 20, this road was mapped out from Austin, going through Bastrop, Giddings and on to Brenham. This would leave the old Austin to Brenham road in place in front of the James Manor home. 

But in December, 1918 the State Highway Department rerouted SH 20 so that it would instead go through Manor and Elgin, and then on to Brenham. This new highway, suitable for automobile travel, would enter and pass through downtown Manor on Parsons Street, nearer to the railroad tracks. Maintenance of much of the old road from Austin to Gilleland Creek would eventually be discontinued, leaving only the section from the Manor's house  eastward into the town in existence. 

2020 AERIAL MAP SHOWING REMAINS OF OLD AUSTIN TO BRENHAM 

ROAD DESIGNED BY JAMES MANOR STILL EVIDENT TODAY

It appears that James Manor would be what today would be called a "forward-thinking" kind of man. Not only did he play a major role in the design and building of a road from Austin to his house, but about 20 years later he would be responsible for a new town being built up around that road.