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Palacios, Texas

Everything Palacios is known for

2 songs mention this city

RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Palacios. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.

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Music in Palacios

Songs About Palacios

State of the Union
James McMurtry
50%
"Lives in Palacios"
South Texas Girl
Lyle Lovett
49%
"It looks like Palacios but sounds like Palashes"

Artists From Palacios

No artists from Palacios in the database yet.

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Rivers & Roads in Song near Palacios

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Palacios.

Texas State Highway 71 2 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs U.S. Route 59 9 songs Guadalupe River 18 songs San Antonio River 2 songs

History of Palacios

When Palacios Went to War: Camp Hulen RoadyGoat

As you look around Palacios, it's hard to imagine this quiet town as a major military hub. But during World War II it was exactly that. A Texas National Guard camp had been out here since 1926 -- Camp Palacios, renamed Camp Hulen in 1930 for General John A. Hulen of the Thirty-sixth Division. In 1940 the War Department took it over and rebuilt it into an antiaircraft artillery training center for Guard units from all over the country. The camp's troop capacity ran to about 14,560 men, several times the size of the town itself, which counted roughly 2,300 residents. Housing ran out. A quarter of Palacios had no proper sewage. The Texas Rangers were called in to help keep order. And the quiet bay echoed with artillery practice as gunners learned to knock aircraft out of the sky. The War Department declared the camp surplus on May 31, 1946, and the Guard gradually took it apart for scrap. The foundations are gone, but the ghost of a military city is still out here.

RoadyGoat →

The New Faces of the Fleet RoadyGoat

In 1976 the first Vietnamese families arrived in Palacios -- six households, then dozens more, until several hundred refugees had settled on the northeastern edge of town. They had come out of a country that fell in 1975, and they came here for the reason anybody comes to Palacios: work. There were jobs at a crab-processing plant and at the nuclear plant going up down the coast. But a lot of them had been fishermen and net makers in the coastal towns of southern Vietnam, and out on the water no English was required. They took deckhand jobs, saved hard, and started buying and building boats -- some of them seventy feet. It was never a smooth transition. The bay only holds so many shrimp, the number of licenses nearly doubled in seven years, and the resentment that followed turned ugly up and down this coast before it burned out. But look at the names on the boats in the harbor today. It's a story about who was willing to do the work, and who stayed.

RoadyGoat →

Palacios, TX RoadyGoat

In 1973, acknowledging the rash of UFO sightings in the area and the state, then Mayor W.C. 'Bill' Jackson declared October 24 Palacios' 'First Annual UFO Fly-In Day' and called on President Richard Nixon to declare the community the 'Interplanetary Capital of the Universe'. In 1995, the French shipwreck La Belle was discovered at the bottom of the bay, becoming the focus of a major archeological excavation which was staged out of Palacios in 1996-1997.

RoadyGoat →

Karankawa Territory

The Karankawa were the indigenous people of the Texas Gulf Coast, known for their tall stature, skilled kayak navigation, and fierce resistance to colonization.

Palacios Colored School

1920

Founded in the 1920s, Palacios Colored School was the city's first school for African Americans. In 1931, materials from a razed building were used in a new two-room school on Humphrey Street. This building was moved to 8th Street and later expanded. The new Palacios Colored School opened on October 2, 1939. The cross-gabled floor plan features clapboard siding, three projecting wings and banks of 9-over-9 double-hung windows. Between 1940 and 1946, the student body grew from 37 to 81 students. When Palacios Independent School District integrated in 1963, the campus closed. Open for about 40 years, Palacios Colored School symbolized the African American community's struggle against racial inequality and their dedication to education. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2019

Historical Marker →

Luther Hotel

1903

Old Palacios Hotel. Built 1903, East Bay front. Moved 1905 to present site. Enlarged. A resort for investors from north, buying orchards, land on coast. Had farmed dining room, permanent orchestra. Has withstood many hurricanes, including 1961's "Carla". Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965

Historical Marker →

Camp Hulen

1926

Camp Hulen, formerly known as Camp Palacios, was on Turtle and Tres Palacios bays just west of Palacios in southwestern Matagorda County. It reached its peak use as a United States Army training center during World War II . It was originally established as a summer training camp for the Thirty-sixth Infantry Division of the Texas National Guard after the Palacios Campsite Association donated the land to the state in 1926. The association had in mind the economic benefits a military training center would bring Palacios. Some 6,500 men came to the first training session in the summer of 1926. Beginning in July 1926 Camp Palacios had a newspaper, the Camp Palacios T-Arrow Daily , published by the Palacios Beacon ; its name was derived from the symbols for the two states that largely made up the Thirty-sixth Division: T for Texas and an arrowhead for Oklahoma. In 1930 the camp, where more than $500,000 was spent on housing for the division, was renamed Camp Hulen, after John Augustus Hulen . By 1934 some 1,886 concrete tent floors had been laid for the trainees. Because the surrounding bays provided a safe range for target practice, in 1940 the United States War Department began to use the base for antiaircraft training for national guard units from across the country (the Thirty-sixth Division had moved to Camp Bowie in Brown County). In January 1941 the first draftees arrived, and the following month saw the first printed issue of the weekly Camp Hulen Searchlight , which had begun earlier as a simple mimeographed sheet. The paper ran until 1945; a few 1943 copies are housed at the Barker Texas History Center , University of Texas at Austin. Civil contractors and the Work Projects Administration constructed additions to the camp, which eventually included some 400 semipermanent buildings and 2,825 floored, framed, and screened tents, as well as a tent theater, fire station, bakery, weather station, library, dental clinic, post office, and 500-bed hospital. At its height the installation's troop capacity was 14,560. Associated with Camp Hulen were the Indianola Battalion Camp, the Wells Point rifle range and antiaircraft firing range, the Olivia projectile area, and the Civilian War Housing Project. Camp Hulen proper encompassed some 1,460 acres and adjoined the army air base to the north, which, despite the damage done the area by a September hurricane, saw construction begin in October 1942. Housing for soldiers' families and other newcomers was limited in nearby Palacios, and the town, a fourth of which did not even have proper sewage facilities, was temporarily overloaded by the sudden rise in population. At one time the Texas Rangers were called in to help maintain order. In November 1940 Gen. Harvey C. Allen took command of the camp and the antiaircraft artillery training center. In May 1942 Col. John K. Brown became camp commander, though Allen maintained command of the antiaircraft training center. Several other men commanded the camp before it was deactivated. In January 1944 Camp Hulen was converted to a prisoner of war camp; the Germans housed there were farmed out to help with agricultural work in the county ( see GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR ). On May 31, 1946, the War Department declared Camp Hulen surplus and returned it to the Texas National Guard. Rather than use it for summer training, the guard slowly dismantled it for scrap. Though in 1965 the site was sold to developers hoping to construct an industrial park, by 1985 the abandoned camp still remained undeveloped. The army air base became the Palacios Municipal Airport.

Tsha Handbook →

DeSauque, Francis L.

1836

Francis L. DeSauque, Alamo defender and victim of the Goliad Massacre , traveled to Texas from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1835 and settled in Matagorda County, where he made his living as a store owner. He was a married man. He entered the service of Texas on October 10, 1835, and served in the Texas Revolution as a captain. He traveled to San Antonio de Béxar sometime before the siege of the Alamo began, probably with Capt. Philip Dimmitt . While in Bexar, DeSauque lent William B. Travis $200 for the garrison, charged against the account of the Texas government. He then left Bexar shortly before the arrival of the Mexican army and brought word of the Alamo's need for supplies to the Texan garrison at Goliad. DeSauque was returning to Bexar with Capt. John Chenoweth and the much-needed supplies when he received a letter from Col. James W. Fannin, Jr. , at Goliad, describing the colonel's failed attempt to reach the Alamo and advising DeSauque and Chenoweth to return to Goliad or reach Gonzales and confer with any officers there. DeSauque returned to Goliad and rejoined Fannin's command. He was taken prisoner with this group by the Mexican army on March 20, 1836, and was killed in the Goliad executions on March 27, 1836. One week before his death, DeSauque's name began to appear on lists of Alamo casualties. His family received 1,920 acres of land for his service and death with Fannin. They later received 640 acres for his death at the Alamo. In 1853 DeSauque's wife, Ann, was killed in a railroad accident in Norwalk, Connecticut, leaving their daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, Samuel R. Keemle, as his only heirs. See also GOLIAD CAMPAIGN OF 1836 .

Tsha Handbook → · 14.4 mi away

Things to Do in Palacios

historical 20.3 mi away
The 1875 Hurricane That Nearly Erased a City

On September 15 1875 the people of Indianola woke to darkening skies and a rising tide that would not stop. By nightfall a monster hurricane had driven the sea…
historical 20.3 mi away
The 1886 Storm That Finished the Job

Indianola had barely clawed its way back from the 1875 hurricane when on August 20 1886 a Category 4 monster roared ashore and flattened every single building…
historical 21.0 mi away
Jefferson Davis Camel Corps Lands Here

Picture this: its 1856 and a US Navy ship pulls into a sleepy Texas port carrying 34 camels. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis had this wild idea that camels…
historical 15.4 mi away
La Salles Accidental Landfall

In 1685 French explorer La Salle was supposed to find the mouth of the Mississippi River and claim it for France. Instead he overshot by roughly 400 miles and…
historical 20.3 mi away
Gateway for 7000 German Immigrants

In 1844 a young German prince named Carl of Solms-Braunfels pointed at a map of the Texas coast and declared Indianola the front door for a bold colonization…
quirky 20.3 mi away
A City That Sank Beneath the Waves

Most people picture ghost towns as dusty streets and tumbleweeds but Indianolas ghost town sits under the waters of Matagorda Bay. After two catastrophic…
historical 20.4 mi away
Yellow Fever Sails In from Vera Cruz

In July 1867 a merchant vessel from Vera Cruz tied up at Indianola carrying more than cargo in its hold. Within days the first cases of yellow fever appeared…
historical 20.4 mi away
The Fall of Fort Esperanza

Fort Esperanza sat on Matagorda Island guarding the pass that controlled all shipping into Indianola and it was the last thing standing between Federal forces…
day trip
Day Trip to Palacios ⚓️ (FULL EPISODE) S11 E11

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Everything Near Palacios

164 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Palacios, TX · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Palacios, a town born from a bull pasture. Back in 1901, the land was owned by Abel Pierce, but the Texas Rice Development Company saw potential. They bought the land and began selling off tracts,…

  • Camp Hulen · Tsha Handbook

    Camp Hulen, formerly known as Camp Palacios, was on Turtle and Tres Palacios bays just west of Palacios in southwestern Matagorda County. It reached its peak use as a United States Army training center during World War…

  • Palacios Cemetery · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Palacios Cemetery, the final resting place for this coastal community. It all started in 1905 with the death of Alice Singer, prompting the donation of land from Texas Cattle Baron A.H.…

  • Palacios Colored School · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    Founded in the 1920s, Palacios Colored School was the city's first school for African Americans. In 1931, materials from a razed building were used in a new two-room school on Humphrey Street. This building was moved to…

  • When Palacios Went to War: Camp Hulen · 0.8 mi

    As you look around Palacios, it's hard to imagine this quiet town as a major military hub. But during World War II it was exactly that. A Texas National Guard camp had been out here since 1926 -- Camp Palacios, renamed…

  • The New Faces of the Fleet · 0.8 mi

    In 1976 the first Vietnamese families arrived in Palacios -- six households, then dozens more, until several hundred refugees had settled on the northeastern edge of town. They had come out of a country that fell in…

  • Palacios, TX · 0.8 mi

    In 1973, acknowledging the rash of UFO sightings in the area and the state, then Mayor W.C. 'Bill' Jackson declared October 24 Palacios' 'First Annual UFO Fly-In Day' and called on President Richard Nixon to declare the…

  • The Monster in the Bay: Hurricane Carla · 0.8 mi

    The beautiful, calm bay you see today holds the memory of incredible violence. In September 1961, Hurricane Carla, one of the most powerful storms in U.S. history, slammed into the Texas coast. Palacios was directly in…

  • The Nuclear Neighbor · 0.8 mi

    About a dozen miles inland from Palacios, southwest of Bay City, sits one of the most complex engineering projects in Texas: the South Texas Project Electric Generating Station. It's one of only two nuclear plants in…

  • The Reef Rebuilt From Scratch · 0.8 mi

    Just off Palacios Point, Matagorda Bay used to have an oyster reef covering hundreds of acres -- gone by the early 1900s, torn up by dredging and generations of harvesting. In 2014, The Nature Conservancy, the Texas…

  • Queen of the Texas Riviera · 0.8 mi

    Before it was the Shrimp Capital, Palacios was sold as a paradise. The Texas Rice Development Company laid the townsite out in 1902 on land cut from the estate of the old cattleman Abel H. 'Shanghai' Pierce, and then…

  • First United Methodist Church of Palacios · 1.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First United Methodist Church of Palacios. Organized in 1903, the congregation met in a schoolhouse before building Pioneer Hall and later a larger sanctuary. The church has served…

Show all 164 nearby places
  • Luther Hotel · 1.1 mi · Historical Marker

    Old Palacios Hotel. Built 1903, East Bay front. Moved 1905 to present site. Enlarged. A resort for investors from north, buying orchards, land on coast. Had farmed dining room, permanent orchestra. Has withstood many…

  • Palacios Pavilions · 1.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Palacios, and right here is where a grand vision met the Texas coast. Back in 1903, the Palacios townsite company lured the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the very next year, they opened this…

  • Cates-Price House · 1.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Cates-Price House in Palacios, a beautiful example of early 20th-century Craftsman architecture. Designed by Winn Wood and built around 1910, this home was a showplace, even hosting former Texas…

  • W.C. Williams Building · 1.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the W.C. Williams Building, a Romanesque Revival structure completed in Palacios back in 1909. Williams, a childhood friend of author Charles Siringo, came here in 1904 and built this brick…

  • Site of Camp Hulen · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Camp Hulen, originally established in 1925 as a summer training ground for the Texas National Guard. By 1940, it was leased by the War Department for anti-aircraft training, growing to…

  • St. John's Episcopal Church · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Palacios, where a resilient Episcopal congregation has a story tied to its very building. Back in 1908, Collegeport was a new settlement across the bay. Three families there wanted an Episcopal…

  • Pybus-Koerber House · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Pybus-Koerber House in Palacios. Built in 1915 by Joseph Pybus, this home was designed by C.F. Emmons. It changed hands in 1924 to James and Ina Mae Koerber. James Koerber was a local…

  • R. J. Hill Building · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the R. J. Hill Building, a prominent structure in downtown Palacios. Built in 1910 by contractor J. G. Bontrager for Robert and Kate Hill, this concrete block building originally housed a mercantile…

  • First Baptist Church of Palacios · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palacios, where the First Baptist Church began in 1905. The congregation first met in homes and at a special encampment tabernacle. In 1909, they built their first dedicated sanctuary at the…

  • General John Augustus Hulen · 1.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palacios, and you're passing the site of Camp Hulen, named for a decorated Texas military leader. John Augustus Hulen was a Missourian who came to Texas as a boy. He rose through the ranks,…

  • Texas Baptist Encampment Grounds · 1.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the historic grounds of the Texas Baptist Encampment, selected back in 1906. Imagine thousands of families arriving by train and wagon, ready to spend weeks here for inspirational camp meetings. It…

  • Price-Farwell House · 1.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Price-Farwell House, a beautiful example of early 20th-century residential design in Palacios. Lumberman John T. Price built this home in 1906, right after moving here from Tennessee. It…

  • Palacios Preparatory School · 1.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Palacios Preparatory School, which opened its doors in 1910. Founded by Martha Pearl Dickson McGuire, this was the first school in Palacios to offer courses in cultural arts alongside…

  • Karankawa Territory · 2.6 mi

    The Karankawa were the people of the Texas coast for thousands of years before anyone else arrived. They ranged from Galveston Bay to Corpus Christi, living on the barrier islands and estuaries, traveling by dugout…

  • College Port · 3.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the site of Collegeport, a town built on big dreams starting in 1908. Land developers advertised this spot on Trespalacios Bay as a farming paradise with a college and a port. By 1909, the Gulf…

  • First Presbyterian Church of Collegeport · 3.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Collegeport, a town that started as a promotional scheme back in 1909. Its founders aimed to unite the community with a single church, representing fourteen different denominations. This Federated…

  • Pilkington Slough Ranch · 3.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Pilkington Slough Ranch, a landmark for over a century. Its story starts with the Yeamans brothers, who fought in the Texas Revolution, though Elias and Erastus died at Goliad. Later, this land…

  • Collegeport Cemetery · 4.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Collegeport Cemetery, a place that's seen more than a century of life and loss. Founded in 1908 alongside the town of Collegeport, this burial ground holds the stories of early residents like…

  • Home of Horace Yeamans · 5.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the home of Horace Yeamans, a man who arrived in Texas as part of Stephen F. Austin's 1829 colony. He later served in the army of the Republic of Texas, and the land for this homesite was…

  • Stephen F. Austin and the Town Where He Died · 9.7 mi

    State Highway Thirty Five, through Matagorda and Brazoria counties, is the Stephen F. Austin Memorial Highway. Austin was born at the lead mines of southwestern Virginia in seventeen ninety three. His father, Moses, set…

  • La Salle's Shipwreck at Matagorda Bay · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker

    In 1684, the French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, sailed from France with four ships and three hundred colonists to establish a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River. He missed the…

  • Blessing, TX · 10.9 mi

    Pudge Heffelfinger, recognized as the first professional football player, passed away in Blessing in 1954. This event adds a unique piece of sports history to the town's narrative.

  • The A.B. Pierce Home · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, passing the historic A.B. Pierce Home, built in 1909. Pierce himself, a Spanish-American War veteran, co-founded the nearby town of Blessing. But this house was more than just a…

  • St. Peter's Catholic Church · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Blessing. Mass was first held here in 1912, with a church building completed in 1915. The current structure was dedicated in 1976 after several moves and…

  • Grimes Cemetery · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Grimes Cemetery, a burial ground that’s still active today. It started in 1856, when cattleman Richard Grimes established it after his infant grandson died. Grimes himself came to Texas in 1837,…

  • Blessing Library Association · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Blessing, a town that owes its start to Jonathan Pierce laying out a rail line in the early 1900s. But listen up for the *real* story: the Blessing Library Association. In 1912, local women banded…

  • Blessing State Bank · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Blessing State Bank, built in 1907 during a local boom. Designed possibly by Jules Leffland, the same architect as the Blessing Hotel, this is one of the few commercial buildings left from that…

  • Hotel Blessing · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Hotel Blessing, built back in 1906. It wasn't just a place for travelers, but a family home for Jonathan E. Pierce and his son Abel B. Pierce. These prominent developers were instrumental in…

  • Masonic Lodge #411 · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and you might just pass the site of an old Masonic Lodge. Built in 1875 near Pierce Ranch, this hall served a dual purpose. The first floor wasn't just for Masonic brothers; it…

  • Blessing, TX · 11.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Blessing, Texas, a town with a rather unusual origin story. It all started in 1903 when Jonathan Edwards Pierce, the landowner, gave right-of-way for a railroad. He wanted to name the new…

  • How Two Reactors Boil Water to Power Two Million Homes · 12.2 mi

    Southwest of Bay City, near Wadsworth, sits one of the largest nuclear stations in the United States: the South Texas Project. It runs two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors, each rated near 1,280 megawatts,…

  • Francitas · 12.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Francitas. The LaBauve family moved here from Louisiana in the 1800s; many are buried in nearby LaBauve Cemetery. After the railroad came in 1906, Nebraskans John G. Maher and William F. Schwind…

  • Hawley Cemetery, Old · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, passing by the Hawley Cemetery. Originally known as Deming's Bridge Cemetery back in 1838, this place served as the final resting spot for many of the region's early cattlemen.…

  • Shanghai Pierce: The Coastal Cattle King · 13.1 mi

    Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce (1834-1900) was one of Texas's most colorful cattle kings. Born in Rhode Island, he stowed away on a schooner to Texas in 1854, landed near Indianola, and started out splitting rails on the…

  • William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger · 13.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Blessing home of William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger, a true football pioneer. Born in 1867, he's considered the first professional player in the U.S., earning $500 to play in Pittsburgh in 1892.…

  • Deming's Bridge Community · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Deming's Bridge, a community that sprang up around a wooden bridge built in 1857 over the Tres Palacios River. This crossing became a vital gathering spot for settlers, hosting a post…

  • Ward-Coates Home · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Ward-Coates Home in La Ward. This ranch house was built in the 1860s by Lafayette Ward, Sr. He was a pioneer rancher who first arrived in Texas way back in 1836, coming all the way…

  • Olivia Cemetery · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Olivia, a community founded by Swedish immigrants. In 1892, Reverend Carl Haterius bought land here, naming the settlement for his wife, Olivia. By 1893, he'd set aside this burial ground for the…

  • Selkirk Island · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past what used to be Selkirk Island, named for William Selkirk. He arrived in Texas from New York in 1822, one of Stephen F. Austin's original settlers and a surveyor for the colony. In 1824, he was part…

  • DeSauque, Francis L. · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Francis L. DeSauque, Alamo defender and victim of the Goliad Massacre , traveled to Texas from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1835 and settled in Matagorda County, where he made his living as a store owner. He was a…

  • Hardeman, Bailey · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Bailey Hardeman, War of 1812 soldier, Santa Fe trader, mountain man, a founder and officer of the Republic of Texas , thirteenth or fourteenth child of Thomas and Mary (Perkins) Hardeman, was born at the Thomas Hardeman…

  • Lacey, William Demetris · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    William Demetris Lacey, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence , was born in Virginia in 1808 and reared in Paducah, Kentucky. In 1831 he moved from Tennessee to Texas, where he established a tanyard and saddle…

  • Vann Settlement, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Vann Settlement, also known as Van, African, and King Vann African Settlement, was a rural community on Buckner's Prairie near what is now Farm Road 521 and twelve miles southeast of Bay City in eastern Matagorda…

  • Cotten, Godwin Brown Michael · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here, in what was once San Felipe de Austin, was the birthplace of Texas journalism. Godwin Cotten arrived in 1829, bringing his printing press with him. He started the…

  • DeMoss, Peter · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, a place Peter DeMoss helped settle way back in 1824. He was one of Stephen F. Austin's original colonists, granted a whole league of land right here. DeMoss wasn't just a farmer;…

  • Morrison, Moses · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here, in the early days of Texas, Moses Morrison was a key figure. Arriving in 1821, he was one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. By 1823, he was…

  • Williams, Robert Harris · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the heart of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colony. Right here, Robert Harris Williams arrived in Texas in December 1823, becoming one of Austin's first settlers. He received…

  • Collegeport, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Collegeport is on Farm Road 1095 and the eastern shore of Tres Palacios Bay, half a mile north of Pelican Slough and two miles northeast of Palacios in southwestern Matagorda County. It was organized by the Hurd Land…

  • Cooke, Francis Jarvis · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Francis Jarvis Cooke, Texas revolutionary fighter and merchant, was born on July 13, 1816, in Beaufort, Carteret County, North Carolina, the son of Henry M. and Frances Barry (Buxton) Cooke. Mrs. Cooke died in February…

  • Decros Point, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    DeCros Point, also known as DeCrow's Point, Decros or DeCrow's Landing, Port Cavallo, Port Cabello, and Paso Cavallo, was an early coastal community on the western end of Matagorda Peninsula at Cavallo Pass in extreme…

  • German Settlement, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    German Settlement, sometimes called Dutch Settlement, was on the Matagorda Peninsula midway between Cavallo Pass on the west and the mouth of Caney Creek to the east, in extreme southern Matagorda County. It was one of…

  • Gulf, TX (Matagorda County) · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Gulf, also known as Old Gulf, Big Hill, and Gulf Hill, was near the junction of Boggy Creek and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, sixteen miles south of Bay City in south central Matagorda County. It was…

  • Hawkinsville, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Hawkinsville was a plantation community seventeen miles from what is now Van Vleck in southeastern Matagorda County. It was at a site on Caney Creek, where the rich bottomlands supported a thriving plantation economy…

  • Bostwick, Caleb R. · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the wild frontier of Mexican Texas, and right here, you might have been passing by land once held by Caleb R. Bostwick. He was one of Stephen F. Austin's original colonists, arriving…

  • Burnett, Pumphrey · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, near the Tres Palacios River. Right here is where Pumphrey Burnett, one of Stephen F. Austin's original Old Three Hundred colonists, settled. He arrived in Texas as early as…

  • DeCrow, Daniel D. · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, a place that was wild frontier when Daniel D. DeCrow arrived in the 1820s. He was one of Stephen F. Austin's first colonists, granted land here in 1824. DeCrow wasn't just a…

  • Elliott, TX (Matagorda County) · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here is the area that was once Elliott's Ferry. It started as a crucial crossing point on the Colorado River, even hosting an army post in the winter of 1836 to guard…

  • Hawkins, James Boyd · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here is the site of Hawkinsville, a community named for James Boyd Hawkins. Hawkins arrived from North Carolina around 1845 with over a hundred slaves, and he…

  • Montgomery, James Steen · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, a place that saw a bit of Texas history, thanks to men like James Steen Montgomery. He arrived in Texas in 1836, right in the thick of things, and enlisted in the Republic of…

  • Powell, Peter · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here is where Peter Powell staked his claim. He was an Englishman who came to Texas from Maryland, possibly as early as 1819, before Stephen F. Austin's colony was even…

  • Ramey, Lawrence · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, a place that was once the edge of the Texas frontier. Right here, back in 1825, Lawrence Ramey arrived as one of Stephen F. Austin's first colonists. He wasn't just a settler;…

  • Rawls, Amos · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Matagorda County, a land that was wild frontier when Amos Rawls arrived in 1824. He was one of Stephen F. Austin's first colonists, granted a huge stretch of land along Caney Creek.…

  • Rawls, Benjamin · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, land that was once the frontier for Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. One of those early settlers was Benjamin Rawls. He arrived around 1824, likely from Missouri,…

  • Rawls, Daniel · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, a place that was the wild frontier when Daniel Rawls arrived in the 1820s. He was one of Stephen F. Austin's original colonists, granted over a league of land. Imagine Rawls, a…

  • Rugeley, John · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, where John Rugeley settled after moving from Alabama in 1840. He wasn't just any planter; Rugeley was a captain in the Texas army, leading an expedition against Rafael Vásquez in…

  • Smeathers, William · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the heart of early Texas, a land still wild and untamed. Right here, in what is now Matagorda County, you're near where William Smeathers, a veteran of the War of 1812, helped Stephen F. Austin…

  • Stout, Owen H. · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Matagorda County, an area that was part of Stephen F. Austin's original colony. Right here, Owen H. Stout was one of the very first settlers, arriving probably in 1822. He took an oath…

  • Williams, Henry · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, the heart of Texas's early frontier. Right here, back in August of 1824, a man named Henry Williams was granted land as one of Stephen F. Austin's original Old Three Hundred…

  • Williams, Thomas [1771?–1825?] · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, maybe near La Grange, following the footsteps of Thomas Williams. He was one of Stephen F. Austin's first Old Three Hundred colonists, arriving in Texas from Arkansas in 1821.…

  • Gainesmore, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Gainesmore, also known as At Last, was on Farm Road 457 seventeen miles south of Bay City in eastern Matagorda County. The community was founded on the banks of Caney Creek sometime between June 1901 and February 1,…

  • Liveoak Community, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Liveoak (Live Oak) Community is near Live Oak Bayou and Farm Road 2540 ten miles southeast of Bay City in southeastern Matagorda County. The Live Oak Bayou area had probably been an Indian campground before Anglo…

  • Podo, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Podo was a rural settlement nine miles northeast of Bay City in northeastern Matagorda County. Located in an area of the rich Caney Creek bottomlands once known as plantation row, it was within the former plantation of…

  • Turtle Bay, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Turtle Bay is a rural community on State Highway 35 four miles north of Turtle Bay, from which it took its name, and four miles west of Palacios in southwestern Matagorda County. The area was used primarily as rangeland…

  • Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, heading towards East Matagorda Bay. Right here is the Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge, established in July of 1983. This refuge covers over 4,000 acres of coastal prairie and…

  • Ashby, TX (Matagorda County) · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Ashby is off Farm Road 1095 just north of a residential development called Tres Palacios Oaks, nine miles northeast of Palacios in west central Matagorda County. Before settlers arrived, the area had been a campsite of…

  • Ashwood, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Ashwood is at the junction of Farm roads 1728 and 3156, thirteen miles north of Bay City in northeastern Matagorda County. The railroad reached this town on Caney Creek when a branch of the New York, Texas and Mexican…

  • Buckeye, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Buckeye is on Farm Road 1468 and the Missouri Pacific Railroad, nine miles southwest of Bay City and four miles south of Markham in central Matagorda County. It was named by J. W. Stoddard and A. A. Plotner for their…

  • Cedar Lake, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Cedar Lake, on Farm Road 2611 just west of the Brazoria county line in southeastern Matagorda County, was named for a cedar brake surrounding a nearby lake. A post office operated there from 1848 until 1855. In…

  • Coulterville, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Coulterville, also known as Culver, was in Buckner's Prairie, fifteen miles east of Bay City in eastern Matagorda County. In 1888 William D. Culver became the first postmaster, and by 1891 a community with two general…

  • Manhattan, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Manhattan was the name of a proposed town in southeastern Matagorda County to be located at the mouth of Caney Creek on East Matagorda Bay, the easternmost part of which, at the junction of the mainland and the…

  • Northern Headquarters, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Northern Headquarters was a rice-growing community just west of the Colorado River and seven miles north of Markham in northern Matagorda County. It was developed in the early 1900s and was founded by and named after…

  • Pledger, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Pledger is at the junction of Farm roads 1301 and 1728, nineteen miles north of Bay City in the northern corner of Matagorda County. The area's first settlers were brought by Stephen F. Austin , who granted titles to…

  • Portsmouth, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Portsmouth, known earlier as Palacios Point, was a bayside settlement located on Matagorda Bay in the extreme southwestern part of mainland Matagorda County, eight miles across Tres Palacios Bay from what later became…

  • Tres Palacios, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Tres Palacios, also known as Tidehaven, was a port community on the Tres Palacios River south of Hawley and near what is now Farm Road 459, thirteen miles southwest of Bay City in western Matagorda County. Pumphrey…

  • Olivia · 14.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Olivia, a town founded in 1892 by Swedish immigrants. Reverend Carl Haterius advertised this new settlement to his countrymen in the Midwest, and twelve families answered the call. They built the…

  • La Salles Accidental Landfall · 15.4 mi · Things to Do

    In 1685 French explorer La Salle was supposed to find the mouth of the Mississippi River and claim it for France. Instead he overshot by roughly 400 miles and…

  • Fisher - Sargent - Gottschalk House · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past a house that witnessed the birth of a nation! Samuel Rhoads Fisher, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Republic of Texas's Secretary of the Navy, built this home in 1832. His…

  • Early Texas Freighting · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, where the very lifeblood of early Texas flowed on wagon wheels. Long before railroads, teamsters braved hostile terrain, outlaws, and brutal weather to haul vital goods. Imagine…

  • McManus, Jane · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and we're passing the site of an ambitious colonial leader, Jane McManus. Back in 1832, she dreamed of bringing European settlers to Texas, though she never got the land grant. A…

  • World War I and II Memorial · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here, this marker honors local heroes. It remembers Boyd Scott, Dunbar, Woe, Yeamans, Joseph Beverly, and Lawhon – men who served and sacrificed in both World War I and…

  • Matagorda Post Office, Old · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the old Matagorda Post Office. Built before 1872, this hand-cut lumber structure with wooden pegs started as a general store. In 1882, it officially became the town's post office, serving…

  • St. Peter's Baptist Church · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of St. Peter's Baptist Church in Matagorda. Likely organized by area African Americans in the 1870s, the church received land here in 1879 from the heirs of a signer of the Texas Declaration…

  • Midfield, TX · 15.7 mi

    Midfield, Texas, out there in Matagorda County, is rice country, plain and simple. You can't drive through in the fall without seeing those massive combines cutting through golden fields, or the irrigation canals…

  • Midfield, TX · 15.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, heading northwest of Bay City. Right here is Midfield, a town that got its name because it was perfectly situated, equidistant from four other Texas towns: El Campo, Palacios,…

  • Christ Church · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, heading towards the site of Texas's very first Episcopal church. Christ Church was organized way back on January 27, 1839, by Reverend Caleb S. Ives. The original building was…

  • Matagorda · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda, a town that was once a major player in early Texas. Projected as a town way back in 1826, it was officially founded in 1829 by big names like Stephen F. Austin. By 1834, it was the…

  • Matagorda Methodist Church · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda, and right here is the site of one of the earliest Methodist churches in Texas. It all started on January 6th, 1839, when circuit rider Jesse Hord battled black mud, pouring rain, and a…

  • Matagorda Lodge No. 7, A.F. & A.M. · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Matagorda Lodge No. 7, one of the oldest Masonic lodges in Texas, tracing its roots back to the Republic of Texas. On June 24, 1838, a group of masons petitioned the Grand Lodge of Texas…

  • Midfield Methodist Church · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Midfield, Matagorda County. Methodists here first worshiped at Hawley Methodist Church before chartering their own congregation in Midfield in 1907. They met at the Keller Hotel, then built a…

  • Horton, Albert Clinton · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here is where Albert Clinton Horton, the very first lieutenant governor of Texas, made his home. Horton arrived in Texas in 1835, just in time to support the Texas…

  • Ingram, Ira · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the Austin colony, and right here in Waller County, you're near where Ira Ingram first settled in Texas back in 1826. Ingram was a man of many firsts: he was a member of Stephen F.…

  • Matagorda, TX · 15.9 mi

    Matagorda Bay, a large Gulf of Mexico bay on the Texas coast, is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas. It serves as the mouth of numerous streams, most notably the Lavaca and Colorado Rivers. The…

  • Matagorda Bay - Cabeza de Vaca's Karankawa Years · 15.9 mi · Historical Event

    You're near Matagorda Bay, somewhere along the stretch of Texas coast where Cabeza de Vaca spent four years living among the Karankawa. From 1528 to about 1532, he and a handful of other Spanish survivors were absorbed…

  • Baker, Daniel Davis D. · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the Republic of Texas, and right here, in what is now Wharton County, Daniel D. D. Baker arrived in 1831. He quickly became involved in the fight for Texas independence, serving as…

  • Duke, Thomas Marshall · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda, and right here, Thomas Marshall Duke was a key figure in early Texas. A veteran of the War of 1812, he arrived in Austin's colony around 1822. He served as the first constitutional…

  • Durango · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda Bay, and right here, a ship called the Durango met its fate. It was March 22nd, 1836, and Texas was desperate for supplies and ships. The Texas schooner Liberty seized the Durango, an…

  • Ives, Caleb Smith · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda, a town that holds a special place in Texas religious history. In late 1838, Reverend Caleb Smith Ives arrived, and on Christmas Day, he celebrated the Holy Eucharist. To his knowledge,…

  • Levy, Albert Moses · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda, a town that remembers Dr. Albert Moses Levy. He wasn't always a Texan hero. Born in Amsterdam, he practiced medicine in Virginia before tragedy struck his family. After his wife died,…

  • Osborn, Benjamin · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what used to be Austin's Little Colony, near Bastrop and Travis counties. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1825</say-as>, Benjamin Osborn and his family crossed the Sabine…

  • Royall, Richard Royster · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here, Richard Royster Royall was a key player in the early days of the Texas Revolution. In 1835, he chaired the Permanent Council in San Felipe, the body that raised…

  • Texasgulf · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, right where Texasgulf got its start. Back in 1909, this area was the site of the Big Hill Dome, where prospectors were looking for oil but found something even more valuable:…

  • Wightman, Elias R. · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda, and right here is where Elias R. Wightman helped shape this Texas town. He was one of Stephen F. Austin's original Old Three Hundred colonists, arriving as early as 1824. By 1826,…

  • Christ Episcopal Church · 15.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Christ Episcopal Church, the oldest Episcopal congregation in Texas! Its story begins way back in 1838 when Reverend Caleb Ives was appointed missionary to the Republic of Texas. The…

  • Copano, TX · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving along the coast of Copano Bay, near where the town of Copano once stood. This place was a critical port during the Texas Revolution. In September 1835, Mexican General Cos landed his army here on his way…

  • Matagorda, TX · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda, a town that started with a big dream in 1827. Stephen F. Austin wanted a place to protect new settlers, so he got permission from Mexico to build it. Elias Wightman and his partners…

  • Braman, Don Egbert Erastus · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Jackson County, right where Don Egbert Erastus Braman enlisted in the Texas army back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1837</say-as>. He served a year and a half, earning land in Baylor…

  • Gervais, Sinclair David · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, the final stop for Sinclair David Gervais, an early Texas jurist. He arrived in Texas in 1835, settling near Mina, but fled Comanche and Mexican attacks the next year. He…

  • Matagorda County · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, a place named for the thick brush that once lined its shores. This coastal prairie has seen it all, from early Paleo-Indian hunters thousands of years ago, to the Karankawa and…

  • Peyton, Jonathan C. · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here, in what was once San Felipe de Austin, lived Jonathan C. Peyton. He was one of Stephen F. Austin's original Old Three Hundred colonists, arriving in Matagorda in…

  • Prissick, William · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here, William Prissick lived out his final, eccentric years. Born in England in 1805, Prissick eventually landed in Texas in 1835, receiving a huge land grant in what…

  • Selkirk, William · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here is where William Selkirk, one of Stephen F. Austin's first colonists, landed. Born in New York, he served in the War of 1812 and worked as a silversmith before…

  • Thompson, Frances Judith Somes Trask · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, perhaps near Independence or Karnes County, and right here, a woman named Frances Trask Thompson was shaping young minds over 180 years ago. Born in Massachusetts, she came to Texas in 1834…

  • Van Dorn, Isaac · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here, Isaac Van Dorn carved out a life in early Texas. Born in Pennsylvania around 1801, he arrived in Texas by 1822, eventually settling on Live Oak Creek. He was one…

  • Maverick, George Madison · 15.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda, the birthplace of George Madison Maverick. Born in 1845, Maverick was just sixteen when he joined the Confederate Army, a scrawny private weighing only 100 pounds. After the war, he and…

  • Dale-Rugeley-Sisk Home · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Dale-Rugeley-Sisk Home, a house that's seen more than its share of Texas hurricanes and still stands strong. But this isn't just any old house; it's been a hub for culture, society, and politics…

  • The Culver Home · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Culver Home in Matagorda, a grand house built in the late 1890s for George B. Culver. Designed by architect Roy Shoultz, it features colonial styling with two large galleries and a cupola. Notice…

  • Midfield Cemetery · 16.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Midfield Cemetery, the community's burial ground since the early 1900s. The first recorded burial was Iva Nell Hale in 1913, who died of appendicitis. Her father's request led to the land being…

  • Matagorda Cemetery · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Matagorda Cemetery, one of the oldest burial grounds in Texas. Founded around 1829, it's seen over a thousand souls laid to rest. You'll find victims of the devastating 1862 yellow fever epidemic,…

  • S. Rhoads Fisher · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Matagorda, the home of S. Rhoads Fisher, a Quaker from Pennsylvania who became a key player in early Texas. He arrived in 1830, setting up a business right here. Fisher was chosen as a delegate to…

  • The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1862 · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda, a city that was once a vital Texas port. But back in the fall of 1862, this place was ravaged by a deadly epidemic. Yellow Fever, carried by the Aedes Egypti mosquito, swept through the…

  • Albert Clinton Horton · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Albert Clinton Horton. (1798-1865)&#xD;&#xA; Georgia native Albert Clinton Horton came to Texas in 1834 from Alabama, where he had served in the state legislature. He established a plantation along…

  • The Matagorda Incident · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Matagorda, a town that saw fierce fighting during the Civil War. In December of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1863</say-as>, Union forces were trying to block vital Texas coastal ports,…

  • First Burials in Matagorda Cemetery, Benjamin Wightman, Esther Randall Wightman · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda, a town with a history as deep as the bay it sits on. Look around – this area was settled by folks like Benjamin and Esther Wightman, pioneers from Connecticut. They arrived in <say-as…

  • Major George Morse Collinsworth · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Matagorda, where a key figure in the Texas Revolution once lived. Major George Morse Collinsworth, born in Mississippi, led the Texans in the daring capture of Goliad on October 9, 1835. He survived…

  • Ira Ingram · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, near where Ira Ingram served as the very first alcalde in 1834. He was a true pioneer, not just in government but also as a patron of public schools. Ingram even served as the…

  • Seth Ingram · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and you're passing the final resting place of Seth Ingram. Ingram was a sergeant in the 11th Regiment of the U.S. Infantry during the War of 1812. But his Texas story started…

  • Sinclair David Gervais · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda, where Sinclair David Gervais settled in 1837. He was a soldier in the War of 1812 and came to Texas in 1835 with two daughters after his wife's death. Gervais was appointed the first…

  • Dr. Albert Moses Levy · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Matagorda, where Dr. Albert Moses Levy settled after a remarkable career. This Dutch immigrant, a graduate of medical school, served as chief surgeon during the Siege of Bexar in 1835. He then joined…

  • Richard Royster Royall · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Richard Royster Royall. Temporary chairman of the consultation, 1835 member of the general council of the provisional government of Texas 1835-1836. Born in Virginia June 1, 1798, died May 28, 1840.

  • Buckeye · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, past the site of Buckeye. In the early 1900s, land promoters across Texas lured folks north with promises of warm weather and fertile soil. Dr. Ambrose Plotner and John Stoddard…

  • The Town on the Cattle King's Pasture · 16.9 mi

    Picture this whole stretch of southern Jackson County as open pasture, because that is what it was. This was rancher Lafayette Ward's country, and the older settlement nearby was called Red Bluff. Then in 1904 the St.…

  • La Ward, TX · 16.9 mi

    In 1904, the community of La Ward emerged on the coastal prairie with the arrival of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. It was named in honor of Lafayette Ward, a local figure who played a pivotal role in…

  • The F. Cornelius House · 17.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the F. Cornelius House. Friedrich Cornelius arrived from Germany in 1870, shortening his name and learning the ranching trade. By 1875, he had his own cattle and bought land here in 1882.…

  • Matagorda, TX · 17.1 mi

    Matagorda is synonymous with fishing. Generations have built their lives around the bay, lured by the promise of speckled trout shimmering beneath the waves. It’s more than just a hobby; it's a way of life passed down…

  • St. Francis Catholic · 17.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here is the site of the first Roman Catholic Church established by Euro-Americans in this county. Built in Polish Village, this church has seen its share of hardship.…

  • Battle Island · 18.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Matagorda County, near where a brutal clash took place in 1826. Tensions were high after a band of Karankawa Indians murdered several families on the nearby Caney River. In response, a company of…

  • Shanghai Pierce - Cattle Baron · 19.5 mi · Historical Marker

    Abel Head 'Shanghai' Pierce was one of the most colorful cattle barons in Texas history, building a ranching empire in Matagorda and Wharton counties and commissioning a life-size statue of himself.

  • Sacred Heart Catholic Church · 19.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wadsworth, a town that got its start around 1909. Look to your right, and you're passing the site of the original Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It was a unique 2-story building, serving as both a…

  • Markham, TX · 19.7 mi

    The name Markham has a notable origin, named in 1903 for Charles H. Markham, a prominent figure in the railroad industry. He was not only a railroad engineer for Southern Pacific but also later served as the President…

  • Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church · 19.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Markham, and right here is the site of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church. Organized in 1903 by nine charter members working in local industries, their first church building went up in 1909, only to be…

  • Wilson Creek (Matagorda County) · 19.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Matagorda County, maybe heading towards Palacios. Right here, you're near the old Wilson Creek. Back around 1822, a group of families known as 'Wilson's party' settled along this very creek. It…

  • Markham, TX · 19.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Markham, Texas, a community whose very name tells a story of changing times. Originally known as Cortes, this place had its own post office right at the turn of the 20th century. But by 1903,…

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