Bernardo Plantation, established by Jared E. Groce in 1822 on the Brazos River near present-day Hempstead, functioned as one of the largest and most productive cotton operations in early Anglo-Texas. Groce brought a large enslaved workforce with him from Georgia, and the plantation's daily operations depended entirely on their forced labor in the fields, the cotton gin (operating by 1825), and household work; separate housing existed for field laborers near the plantation's outbuildings and for house servants closer to the main residence, with an overseer supervising the work. The plantation's cotton production and gin made it an early center of the commercial agriculture that would come to define Texas's antebellum economy. During the Texas Revolution in the spring of 1836, Bernardo took on a critical wartime support role: Sam Houston's retreating army camped on the grounds, plantation buildings and supplies were placed at the soldiers' disposal, a field hospital was set up for the sick and wounded, and Groce himself contributed lead and resources to the war effort. The site also served as a staging point where troops and refugees crossed the Brazos River aboard the steamboat Yellow Stone. The plantation continued under family management for decades afterward, though its original structures no longer stand. Today the site is remembered through a Texas Historical Commission marker along U.S. Highway 290 near Hempstead, preserving its dual legacy as a working cotton plantation built on enslaved labor and as a vital supply and refuge point during the Texas Revolution.