Fort Oldham

[joe817]

FORT OLDHAM. Fort Oldham, a mile east of Farm Road 1362 in central Burleson County, was a private fort and stopping place on the Independence-Tenoxtitlán road during the Republic of Texas.

It was located on land belonging to Maj. William Oldham, who purchased it from Hendrick Arnold in September 1837. Fort Oldham was probably a fortified house built by Major Oldham on his property. Settlers in the area took refuge there during Indian alarms around 1837–38, but no record survives of the fort's actually having been attacked.

By July 1838 a post office was operating at the site, and in 1841 Fort Oldham was a station on post office route 22 (the route connecting Independence and Franklin via Mound Prairie, Fort Oldham, Tenoxtitlán, and Nashville). The site is on land still owned by black descendants of Major Oldham.