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A story of one of the most important Texans - Columbia (now West Columbia) was the capital of Texas on October 22, 1836. On that day, Sam Houston, the first president of the new Republic of Texas, gave his inaugural address.Columbia (now West Columbia) was the capital of Texas on October 22, 1836. On that day, Sam Houston, the first president of the new Republic of Texas, gave his inaugural address.
The inauguration had been scheduled for December, but ad interim president David Burnet resigned unexpectedly, leaving Houston just two hours to prepare his speech. Maybe the lack of prep time channeled the emotion of his words: “We were a little band, contending for liberty; they were thousands, well appointed, munitioned, and provisioned, seeking to rivet chains upon us, or extirpate us from the earth.”
Among the Texas independence fighters who had a more direct experience with the chains of bondage was Joe, an enslaved man owned by William B. Travis who survived the battle of the Alamo. After escaping from the Mexican army, Joe made his way to General Houston’s camp and reported to the Texas Cabinet about the Alamo’s fall. Joe was one of about 5,000 enslaved people in the new republic’s population of roughly 50,000.
West Columbia is now home to a replica of the original Texas Congress building and a park with a path connecting a series of monuments that commemorate the history of this area.
More historic sites connected to the Republic of Texas: texastimetravel.com/node/28702
Remembering the Ramay - McAtee Lecture series, sponsored by the Bridge Street History Center on-going!
Hood County News:
Granbury Sons of the Republic of Texas receive Texas Historic Commission Award
Tue, 10/06/2020 - 7:48pm
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Eleven members of the local David Crockett Chapter of the Sons of the Republic of Texas received special recognition and the Award of Merit in Historical Preservation from the Texas State Historical Commission at their meeting Monday for efforts and contributions to Texas cultural and historical resources.
Over the last two years, local members of the SRT took on a community service project to refinish faded, discolored, and damaged historical monuments in Granbury and Hood County. With financial assistance from Hood County Historical Commission for the cost of materials, volunteers refinished 26 historic markers to look new. Most of the refurbished markers are around the courthouse square, providing historical information about early Granbury to its many visitors.
Special guests attending the award ceremony were Hood County Judge Ron Massingill, who submitted the application for the award to the Texas Historical Commission, and President of the Hood County Historical Commission, Becki Barnes.
The participants in the marker renewal project and recipients of the award are: Errol Flannery, James Veale, Ron Sutton, Devin Lindsey, Charlie Gillespie, Phil Harris, Robert Hollmann, Jim Scott, Jerry Turner, Dan Vanderburg and Jerry White (not pictured).
Special thanks to SRT David Crockett Chapter President Devin Lindsey for this report.
Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas:
1. Port Arthur to El Paso : 889 miles. Port Arthur to Chicago: 770 miles
2. Brownsville to Texline (north of Amarillo): 956 miles. Texline to Canada: 960 miles
3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas
4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos, Tx July 4, 1883.
5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. Destroyed by Hurricane Ike - 2008!
6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston, Texas .
7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
10. The worst natural disaster in US history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island.
11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was " Houston ," but the Space Center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.
12. The King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island.
13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979.
14. Texas is the only state to enter the US by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union ) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the US Flag, and Texas may choose to divide into 5 states.
15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.
16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper.
18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the Brazos, Harrisburg , Galveston , Velasco, West Columbia and Austin .
19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the US which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington , DC (by 7 feet).
20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington Monument .
21. The name ' Texas ' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning "friends". Tejas is NOT Spanish for Texas .
22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo. An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.
23. The first domed stadium in the US was the Astrodome in Houston.
24. The Beck family ranch land grant is one days ride by horse (25 miles) in each direction from the headquarters.
25. The name of the XIT ranch in Dalhart Texas stands for "ten in texas". That means 10 counties in Texas!
ItsATexanThing.com