12
Grandeur of Gonzales
On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston's Texas army attacked and defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto. Texas'
independence was won. Even though Santa Anna had been defeated, settlers were concerned about the return of
Mexican troops and threat of Indian attacks. Because of these concerns they did not return to Gonzales until 1837.
TEXAS HEROES MONUMENT
With the encouragement of the Gonzales
Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of
Texas, the State of Texas erected this
monument in 1920. The monument, created
by famed sculptor Pompeo Coppini, shows a
bronze statue of a Texas frontierman atop a
pedestal of Llano granite. The inscription
reads:
"ERECTED BY THE STATE OF
TEXAS IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF
THOSE HEROES WHO MADE THIS SPOT
HISTORIC AS THE BIRTH-PLACE OF
TEXAS INDEPENDENCE GONZALES,
TEXAS 1910."
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT
Less than thirty years later, the men of Gonzales were
called upon again. This action, the Civil War, claimed
many lives of the citizens of Gonzales. The monument
which now stands on Confederate Square honors
those men.
The statue of the Confederate soldier was sculpted by
Frank Teich and erected by the United Daughters of
the Confederacy, Number 545 in 1910.
Following the close of the war the town began to
grow. The strong economy was driven by huge cattle
and cotton interests resulting in the community's most
prolific building period. Because the town was totally
burned during "The Runaway Scrape" in 1836, the
oldest house still in existence is the Horace Eggleston
House built about 1845.
Photograph by Leslie Jannsen, Gonzales Camera Club
Photographs on this page by Leslie Jannsen, Gonzales Camera Club
