Editing Anahuac, Texas (section)

== History ==
{{Further|History of the Galveston Bay Area}}
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File:General Thomas Jefferson Chambers House, Anahuac, Texas.jpg|House of General Thomas Jefferson Chambers
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The Mexican term ''[[Anahuac (Aztec)|Anahuac]]'' comes from [[Nahuatl]], the language of the [[Aztecs]]. The name means "place beside the waters." Anáhuac is the pre-Columbian name of the [[Valley of Mexico]] and its former lake basins around [[Mexico City]], often including the Lerma and Pánuco river systems. Despite the name, neither the city of Anahuac, Texas, nor the immediate region were ever part of the [[Aztec Empire]].

The first dwellers in this area were the [[Atakapa]]n people as well as the [[Caddo]]. The first colonist settlers arrived in 1715, The Burkhalter and Morehead families. They established a small settlement near what is now Lake Anahuac. In 1721, Frenchman Jean Baptiste de La Harpe reached this area. In the 19th century the area became known as "Perry's Point", after Colonel Harry Perry, who erected a military post here in 1816.

Two major events in 1832 and 1835, known as the [[Anahuac Disturbances]] (caused mainly by rogue bandits termed "Texians" from the [[Brazos Valley]] area), helped to precipitate the [[Texas Revolution]] that led to the separation of Texas from [[Mexico]]. One of these events was the jailing by Mexican authorities of [[William Travis]] for illegal slave importation,<ref name=Tucker30>Tucker (2010), p. 30.</ref> and the other was unfair taxation and duties on river traffic to the settlers by the Mexican authorities.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

In October 1830, Mexican Colonel [[Juan Davis Bradburn]] established a customs post atop the same {{convert|30|ft|adj=on}} bluff where Perry had camped. Bradburn's orders specified that the new post be named Fort Anahuac.<ref name=henson51>Henson (1982), p. 51.</ref> The soldiers erected two large kilns to produce bricks to build a more permanent fort. Fort Anahuac would still be intact today had it not been for the locals using the bricks for their own home construction soon after the Texas Revolution; virtually all bricks were taken and none remain to this day. By March 1831, Anahuac comprised 20 houses and seven stores.<ref name=edmondson147>Edmondson (2000), p. 147.</ref> The town grew quickly. Soldiers were given 25 cents per day to use for food and other supplies, and they spent the money locally. By June 1, the town comprised over 300 civilians and 170 military personnel.<ref name=epperson438>Epperson (1998), p. 438.</ref>

In 1862, a small [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] outpost was established nearby.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hja08|title=ANAHUAC, TX|last=Ladd|first=Kevin|date=2018|access-date=April 13, 2020}}</ref>

The 1935 discovery of the Anahuac Oil Field<ref name=oo>{{cite book |last1=Olien |first1=Diana |last2=Olien |first2=Roger |title=Oil in Texas, The Gusher Age, 1895-1945 |date=2002 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0292760566 |pages=214}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bader |first1=Glenn |editor1-last=Nettleton |editor1-first=L.L. |title=Geophysical History of the anahuac Oil Field, Chambers County, Texas, in Geophysical Case Histories, Volume 1=1948 |date=1949 |publisher=Society of Exploration Geophysicists |pages=66–73}}</ref> and the [[Monroe City, Texas|Monroe City]] area oil field brought a period of economic development. The Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, later renamed the [[Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge]] in 2025, was established {{convert|16|mi}} southeast of the city in 1963 by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]]. In 1989, the local chamber of commerce organized the first Gatorfest, which attracted 14,000 people into the Fort Anahuac Park, and it has been held annually since then.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} The festival has expanded every year since, and in 2010 hosted the largest festival, with more than 30,000 people attending.

In 2019, [[Atlas Air Flight 3591]], a cargo flight operating for [[Amazon Air]], crashed in the [[Trinity Bay (Texas)|Trinity Bay]], near Anahuac, while flying from Miami to Houston.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abc13.com/witnesses-recall-moments-before-cargo-plane-crash/5153812/abc13.com/5153229/|title=Human remains found after Atlas Air cargo plane crashes in Chambers Co. |publisher=[[KTRK-TV]]|date=2019-02-23|access-date=2019-02-28}}</ref>