Old River-Winfree, TX

Old River-Winfree is a Chambers and Liberty county city built around the waterway in its name, roughly thirty-five miles east of Houston. The 2020 census counted 1,315 residents. Robert Wiseman was among the first settlers in 1827, and the river was the local highway for farmers moving cattle, cotton, rice, timber, and other goods. A brickyard, river ferries, and the Old River Rice Irrigation Company followed. The place carried several names along the way—Straddle for an early post office, Winfree for the later post office and community, and finally Old River-Winfree when voters incorporated in 1979.

The name makes more sense once you look at the map: Old River rises in Liberty County, runs southeast, and joins the Trinity in Chambers County. The city now sits in the industrial orbit of Mont Belvieu and the Houston region, yet the older river-and-farm story remains visible in its county-line geography. Barbers Hill ISD serves the Chambers County portion, while Dayton ISD serves the Liberty County portion. Old River-Winfree is a Gulf Coast crossroads where waterways, county lines, schools, and petrochemical growth all meet in a small footprint.