San Jacinto Monument
The great shaft of San Jacinto, piercing the sky from the scene of the historic conflict between Sam Houston’s pioneers and Santa Anna’s Mexican invaders, was erected as a memorial to the Texas heroes, commemorating the Centennial of 1836. Appropriations aggregating $1,866,148 were made by the State of Texas and the Federal Government for the construction of the monument and improvement of San Jacinto State Park. Of this amount approximately $1,200,000 was used in building the monument.
On April 21, 1936, the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto, with impressive ceremonies, the ground was broken for the monument. Among the participants was General Andrew Jackson Houston, only surviving child of the Commander-in-Chief of the Texas Army at San Jacinto. The monument, 570 feet high, was officially dedicated April 21, 1939.
The reinforced concrete structure is faced with rough sawn fossilized limestone quarried near Leander, Williamson County, Texas. The interior walls are highly polished. The base of the building is 124 feet square and 36 feet high. The shaft is 47 feet square at the base and 30 feet at the top.
On the exterior walls of the shaft, about 90 feet above the ground, a frieze 178 feet around and 15½ feet high shows in relief the history of Texas from the coming of the Anglo-Americans to the present day. This was executed by William McVey, Houston sculptor.
On the outer sides of the base of the monument are carved inscriptions, summarizing the salient events of the Texas revolution. Each of these eight spaces measures 25 feet by 13 feet, and the letters in the inscriptions are 8 inches in height. Written by L. W. Kemp with collaboration of Dr. E. C. Barker, Mrs. Herbert Gambrell and other historical authorities, they epitomize the whole evolution of Texas independence in approximately 600 words.
There are five rooms on the first floor of the monument. The entrance is through the Hall of Honor, which is flanked by two spacious rooms. The south room houses the exhibits relating to the Spanish and Mexican period of Texas history, many of them donated by Colonel and Mrs. George A. Hill, Jr. Exhibits in the north room relate to the Anglo-American period until the beginning of the War between the States. An entrance lobby from the Hall of Honor leads to the elevator which runs to the observation deck in the tower. The elevator lobby serves as a gallery for paintings. Behind the elevator is a small room connecting the north and south rooms. It is devoted to relics of domestic life.
Two great bronze plaques adorn the interior walls of the monument. One, in the south room, records the names of the 910 heroes who fought in the battle; the other, in the north room, lists the 248 men of Houston’s army, mostly sick and non-effectives, who were detailed to remain at the camp established opposite Harrisburg. The lists were compiled by L. W. Kemp. In this booklet they were revised to January 1, 1947.
The monument was designed by Alfred C. Finn and was constructed by the W. S. Bellows Construction Company of Houston.
Operation and maintenance of the monument and museum is financed, without cost to the State, by receipts from a small fee charged for riding the elevator to the observation tower, and by the sale of souvenirs. The San Jacinto Museum of History Association, which operates the monument, is a non-profit organization incorporated under the laws of Texas, November 7, 1938. Members of the Association’s board of trustees are nominated by the San Jacinto State Park Board and approved by the State Board of Control.
The Field of St. Hyacinth
It is told that Franciscan friars of Mexico, exploring the Texas coast during the period 1751-1772, found the stream now known as San Jacinto River so choked with water hyacinths (a mauve species of lily that still abounds in this region) that they could not pass. They called it the “hyacinth stream.” From that name evolved “San Jacinto”—Spanish for “Saint Hyacinth.”
Legend has it that Adjutant General John A. Wharton gave the battlefield its name. Santa Anna, shortly after being captured, while conversing with a group of Texan officers inquired concerning the correct name of the field. One officer is supposed to have answered “Lynchburg,” but Wharton suggested “San Jacinto.”
The battleground, off the La Porte road, some twenty-three miles from the County Courthouse in Houston, is a State park of 402 acres. It is situated near the confluence of San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou—now the Houston Ship Channel—not far from the Bay. It is a spot of natural beauty. The land has a gentle roll, and vegetation is brilliant. Wild flowers here grow in profusion and fairly radiate their splendor. Nowhere else in this section are more luxuriant mossy “beards” to be found than on the huge liveoaks of San Jacinto.
The country surrounding the battlefield and nearby Lynchburg—known in the old days as “Lynch’s Ferry”—was one of the early settlements of Texas colonists. The sylvan retreats along the wide stream and adjacent lagoons were once popular as homes of prominent Texans. Across the bayou from the battleground was the home of Lorenzo de Zavala, ad interim Vice President of the Republic.
Nearby lived David G. Burnet, ad interim President. Later General Houston had a home on Trinity Bay, a few miles from the battlefield. It is now a Boy Scout camp. Ashbel Smith, minister of the Republic of Texas to England, had his home at about the site of present Goose Creek, not far from Lynchburg.