To the northeast of Sealy, along the Mill creek, stood Cummings Mill, the first water powered mill in Texas (1826). Trenckman's Austin County states the Cummings Mill sawed from the trunks of virgin forest the lumber to build San Felipe.

Five miles east of Sealy along I-10, the Brazos River would guide steamboats carrying cotton from the plantations to the North.  The famous "Yellowstone" steamboat which carried Sam Houston and his troops across to Groces Landing would also carry the body of Stephen F. Austin to his burial place at Peach Point.

To the southeast of I-10, at the Brazos, lies the site of Button Willow Lake. Legend states that this is the site where Santa Anna buried two cannons filled with gold before marching on to San Jacinto.

A prehistoric aboriginal cemetery dating back to 2600 B.C. has been unearthed along the Brazos River. Near Sealy, the site is now known as "Texas' Oldest Human Cemetery."

Nestled at the crossroads of Texas Highway 36 and Interstate 10 the City of Sealy now boasts a population between five and six thousand and is the largest city in Austin County.  

Sealy hosts a number of historical sites, antique shops, motels/hotels, and eating establishments.

Liedertafel In 1914 a German singing society built this hall on land donated by the Lux and Kinkler families. It was built for the purpose of a gathering place for plays, concerts, dancing and the likes. In 1944, the Sealy Volunteer Fireman's Association purchased the Liedertafel for the annual Fireman's Frolic and other local social affairs. The Liedertafel is currently under renovation.

Daniel Haynes and the Sealy Mattress Daniel Haynes (1828-1913) came to the new railroad town of Sealy, Texas in 1881. In 1885 he invented a process and a machine to manufacture a felted cotton, non-tufted mattress. Trademarked under the Haynes name, the mattresses were sold throughout the Southern United States and soon became associated with the name Sealy.  In 1906 Haynes sold his patents to a group of men who formed their own company and adopted the name Sealy. Haynes opened a new mattress factory in 1909, on a new site, under the Haynes name. It remained in operation after his death, maintaining its reputation as one of Sealy's primary industries until 1976.
	(1909) Daniel Haynes, inventor of the Sealy Mattress, built this beautiful two story cypress wood home. The September 3, 1909 Sealy Weekly News states that this was "one of seven (two-story) homes and a total of sixty-five built in town and the farming district of Sealy this year."

Bostick / Laughter Home
This home built in 1895 by Dr. James W. Bostick, was originally a four room cottage. The second story was added in 1907. The home is seen here traditionally decorated for the Fantasy of Lights Festival occurring the first Saturday in December.

Paul and Mahala Hackbarth House Completed in 1911 for civic leaders Paul and Mahala Hackbarth, this concrete block house is an unusual example of vernacular architecture. Prominent features include a wraparound porch, ionic columns on piers, and large wood sash windows. The Hackbarth Lumber Company, one of the earliest businesses in Sealy, promoted the use of concrete blocks for local buildings. This house is a fine example of the vernacular construction method.

Arched Stone and Brick Santa Fe Railroad Bridges
Arched railroad bridges made of stone and brick were constructed in the area for the Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad in 1880.

The railroad reached Sealy by December of 1879 and expanded towards Bellville and Brenham in the early 1880's. Area bridges include a two arch bridge located at Dead man's Creek in Peters, a three arch bridge located near Sealy at Bollinger's Creek, just behind the business place known as Roper's ( a popular spot for picnics in the early 1900's).

Sealy Cemetery
In 1879, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company agent, George Sealy, purchased 11,635 acres at the location of the current Sealy cemetery from the Township of San Felipe de Austin for the purpose of establishing a railroad depot. The village of Sealy soon developed around the depot and on July 5, 1883, the cemetery recorded its first burial here-that of Annie Fowlkes.

Families that settled in Sealy purchased cemetery plots directly from the railroad until the company donated the land to cemetery trustees, C. H. Ruff, R. P. Josey and John Hackbarth in 1887.

The Sealy cemetery association was founded sometime prior to 1898 and officially chartered in 1924.  The ladies of the cemetery society, organized in 1904, helped the association cultivate community support to upgrade and maintain the cemetery.

Southwest Czech Presbytery
The Southwest Czech Presbytery was organized in the Czech Presbyterian Church in Sealy, Texas on November 3, 1911, by authority of the Synod of Texas. There were then four Presbyterian parishes and eight ministers in this body using the Czech language.

St. John's Episcopal Church
Organized in 1885, five years after the railroad town of Sealy was founded, St. John's has served the community with worship and outreach programs. Among the church's many supporters was railroad official George Sealy, for whom the town was named and who served on the missionary board of the Episcopal Dioceses of Texas. The congregation's first building, erected two blocks north of this site in 1889, was destroyed in the hurricane of 1900. A new church structure was erected at it's current location in 1910.

Gone but not forgotten...

The Allen House
As a young man Martin Allen assisted his father, Benjamin, in surveying roads in their native state of Kentucky.  He married Elizabeth Vice in 1804 and by 1810 they and their three children were living in Louisiana.

Martin joined the Guiterriz-Magee expedition's bid to rid Texas of Spanish rule in 1812-1813. His father and nephew were killed at the decisive battle of Medina. Martin, on a recruiting mission at the time, survived.

After a brief stay in the Arkansas territory, the Allen's moved back to northwest Louisiana and around 1818 settled in a community which shortly thereafter was named Allen's Settlement in Martin's honor. In 1821 Martin traveled to nearby Wharton County as one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists. Martin was among the first settlers on the Colorado river. About 1834 the Allen's purchased land in Sealy at Eight Mile Point (so named for its distance from San Felipe de Austin) from their son, Miles. The Allen's lived on this property for the rest of their lives. Allen family members operated a "public house" approximately 1/4 mile East of Sealy. Future hero of the Alamo, William B. Travis was a frequent guest of the Allen's.

Martin, a Texas War of Independence veteran, is buried near the "public house" in the Allen family cemetery.