Durazno Plantation

Durazno Plantation occupies about 129 acres south of Jones Creek in Brazoria County, Texas. The land was part of a 1828 Mexican grant to Stephen F. Austin, who hoped to settle there with Mary Austin Holley. His nephew, William Joel Bryan, settled the property in 1840 and developed it into a cotton, cattle and sugar-producing center that became a hub for the extended Austin, Bryan and Perry families. The present main house dates from 1909 and was built around earlier structures, including a plantation office and a log kitchen still hidden within its walls. Other features include a brick gatepost and cistern, a log carriage house, a syrup kettle, and a relocated c. 1900 Carpenter Gothic church. Chimney ruins mark a row of about twelve slave cabins, and an unmarked slave cemetery lies northwest of the house. The property was listed for its historical associations, surviving fabric and potential to yield archeological information about Texas Gulf Coast plantation life.