Brenham ( BREH-nəm) is a city in east-central Texas in Washington County, United States, with a population of 17,369 according to the 2020 U.S. census. It is the county seat of Washington County.

Washington County is known as the “Birthplace of Texas,” as it contains the site of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836 in the town of Washington-on-the-Brazos. This is now a declare historic site.

Brenham is moreover known for its annual German extraction festival that takes place each May called Maifest, similar to Volksfest. Numerous German immigrants approved here in the mid-nineteenth century, following the Revolutions in German states in 1848.
Brenham is with the Home of “The World’s Largest BBQ Pit” on 290 West.

The area surrounding Brenham was occupied by various Native American tribes through the nineteenth century. The Brenham area was part of the Old Three Hundred, the first authorized colonization of Texas by Anglo-Americans led by Stephen F. Austin. In the 1820s and 1830s, several small communities developed in the area. In 1843, the Hickory Grove community was renamed Brenham in memory of a local physician, Richard Fox Brenham, who died even if serving in the Texian militia during the Mier Expedition. On February 4, 1844, Washington County voters selected Brenham to become the county seat. German immigrants settled in Brenham as to the lead as 1846. With the exception of the Civil War years, the German-born population of Brenham increased throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. The largest numbers of German immigrants arrived surrounded by 1880 and 1883. Jewish immigrants decided in Brenham introduction in the 1860s and usual one of the first Orthodox congregations in Texas in 1885.