The San Jacinto Monument is a column located on the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, about 16 miles due east of downtown Houston. The octagonal Art Deco spire is topped with a , 220-ton Lone Star – the symbol of Texas. The memorial commemorates the site of the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive engagement of the Texas Revolution.

Part of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, it is 12 feet taller than the tall Washington Monument, the tallest stone monument in the world. Visitors can take an elevator to the monument's observation deck for a view of Houston and the San Jacinto battlefield.

The San Jacinto Museum of History is located inside the base of the monument and focuses on the history of the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas culture and heritage. The San Jacinto Battlefield, of which the monument is a part, was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960, and is therefore also automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1992.

History

In 1856, the Texas Veterans Association began lobbying the state legislature to create a memorial to the men who died during the Texas Revolution. The legislature commemorated the final battle of the revolution in the 1890s, when funds were appropriated to purchase the land where the battle took place. After a careful survey to determine the boundaries of the original battle site, land was purchased for a new state park east of Houston, in 1897. This became San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site.

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas began pressuring the legislature to provide an official monument at the site of the Battle of San Jacinto. In March 1936, as part of the Texas Centennial Celebration, ground was broken for the San Jacinto Monument. Construction began on April 21, 1936, the centennial anniversary date of the Battle of San Jacinto. The cornerstone was set one year later on April 21, 1937, and two years later construction ended, also on the anniversary date, April 21, 1939. Jesse H. Jones was in attendance along with the commencement ceremony in 1939 when he and Sam Houston's last surviving son, Andrew Jackson Houston, and others officially dedicated the monument. The project was completed in exactly three years costing $1.5 million.

Description

The San Jacinto monument is an eight-sided tapering spire, square in cross-section with chamfered corners. At the point where the shaft rises from the base, it is square (). The shaft narrows to square () at the observation deck.

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File:USS TexasSan Jacinto Park in Fog.jpg| and the Monument seen at sunrise in late 2007

File:Base of San Jacinto Monument (2001-05).jpg|The base of the monument

File:San Jacinto Monument at San Jacinto Battle Field.jpg| The spire seen from the shipping canal

File:San Jacinto Battle Ground.jpg|San Jacinto Battle Ground (postcard, c. 1898)

File:San Jacinto Monument engraved panel depicting the history of Texas.jpg|Engraved panel depicting the history of Texas on the San Jacinto Monument

</gallery>

See also

  • San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site
  • San Jacinto Day

Notes

  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Official San Jacinto Monument webpage
  • San Jacinto Museum of History
  • The Portal to Texas History: Images of the San Jacinto Monument
  • American Society of Civil Engineers, Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks: San Jacinto Monument