Benchley is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Brazos and Robertson counties,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States, with a population of approximately 100. The community is named after the first freight conductor of the

Houston and Texas Central Railway The Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC), was an 872-mile (1403-km) railway system chartered in Texas in 1848, with construction beginning in 1856. The line eventually stretched from Houston northward to Dallas and Denison, Texas. with branch ...

, Henry Benchley. It was settled between 1829 and 1834 by

Irish immigrants The Irish diaspora ( ga, Diaspóra na nGael) refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner and Meeder, The ...

, originally named Stagger's Point.

History

Many of Benchley's residents left because of the

runaway scrape The Runaway Scrape events took place mainly between September 1835 and April 1836 and were the evacuations by Texas residents fleeing the Mexican Army of Operations during the Texas Revolution, from the Battle of the Alamo through the decisive Ba ...

, which occurred between September 1835 and April 1836. Around the 1840s, a band of criminals posed as preachers, and while one gave a sermon, the others attempted to make off with several

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s. Residents went after them, and some of the thieves were killed. The residents were then able to get back their horses. Throughout its history, the community has never had more than just a few businesses or public locations.

Government Services

Benchley lies within the boundaries of the Bryan ISD, and Brazos County Pct. 4 Fire Department in Brazos County, and Blackjack Volunteer Fire Department in Robertson County. Benchley is served by the Bryan post office with the Bryan, TX zip code 77807.

References

External links

Unincorporated communities in Robertson County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Brazos County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas 1830 establishments in Mexico {{RobertsonCountyTX-geo-stub