BEDIAS, TEXAS. Bedias is at the intersection of State Highway 90 and Farm roads 1696 and 2620, twenty-nine miles northeast of Navasota in northeast Grimes County. The community was named for the Bidai Indians, whose Caddo name means "brushwood." The town in turn has given its name to the distinctive tektitesqv—called Bediasites—found in Texas, most of which have been discovered within Grimes County. Settlement of the area began in 1835, when Thomas Phiney Plasterqv established a plantation a few miles west of the present townsite; earliest reports of the community refer to it as Plasterville. In 1844 Archelaus B. Dodsonqv took up residence on the northern edge of the settlement; his wife, Sarah Bradley Dodson,qv reportedly designed the first Lone Star flag. A post office was established at Bedias in 1846, 1847, or 1867, according to various sources. A Baptist church was organized in 1848, and the first Methodist congregation in the community was formed by a circuit rider from Palestine in 1871. By 1885 the population had grown to 300 residents, who supported four gristmill-gins, three churches, and four privately operated schools.
In 1903 the International-Great Northern Railroad line reached Bedias. By 1907 the town had five general stores, two banks, two hotels, two gins, and sundry additional businesses; by 1915 a population of 500 was reported. Most of the town's business section was destroyed by fire in 1927 but was soon restored. In 1936 the town reported twenty-five rated businesses and an estimated population of 500. The community's fortunes declined during the 1960s. By 1967 its population had fallen to an estimated 290 and its businesses to five. In 1990 Bedias had a population of 301 and six rated businesses. The population remained unchanged in 2000 but the number of businesses had grown to thirty-eight.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grimes County Historical Commission, History of Grimes County, Land of Heritage and Progress (Dallas: Taylor, 1982). Adele B. Looscan, "Harris County, 1822-1845," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 18-19 (October 1914-July 1915).
Charles Christopher Jackson
