Honoring all of the people who fought and died for Texas’s independence, the San Jacinto Monument is the world’s tallest war memorial. Residing just outside of Houston, Texas, the monument is equal parts tribute and inspiration, allowing viewers to experience the history, culture and grandness that define the community and larger region.
Honoring Revolutionary Texas
The Battle of San Jacinto took place in 1836 and would become one of the defining moments of Texas. It proved to be a decisive encounter of the Texas Revolution, being the definitive place where Texas won its independence from Mexico. It led to a peace treaty that forced the Mexican army to leave the region, which enabled the Republic of Texas to become an independent country.
Efforts to commemorate the battle began a few decades later, but it wasn’t until the Texas Centennial Celebration that ground was broken for the creation of the San Jacinto Monument. Constructed between 1936 and 1939, it rises over 567 feet into the air and is the tallest monument column in the world, providing visitors with an incredible view of the surrounding area. Topped with a 220-ton star, the base of the monument features a museum that has a permanent exhibit displaying artifacts from Texas’s history along with rotating special exhibits.
The exterior of the monument features friezes depicting important moments in the War of Texas Independence as well as the Battle of San Jacinto itself. The walls of the base are inscribed with the story of the War of Texas Independence. However, these features are just a few of the many ways that audiences can engage with the space and the history it contains.
Additional Engagement and Revenue
Visitors are charged an admission price, allowing them to experience the museum as well as take an elevator to the top of the landmark. A gift shop features various items for sale that celebrate the monument as well as the history of the site and the Texas Revolution. A nonprofit organization, the San Jacinto Museum of History Association, has operated the monument and museum since it was founded.
A reflecting pool located just outside the San Jacinto Monument is connected to the Texas Camp, where a variety of other markers and memorials further showcase the history of the site. Those landmarks include the graves of soldiers who fought in the battle, a granite marker commemorating the commissioning of the USS San Jacinto, the Armillary Sphere, and many more.
The San Jacinto battlefield would represent a significant piece of regional and national history regardless of what other features were installed in the area, but the San Jacinto Monument highlights how such connections can be taken to another level. Designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1992, the San Jacinto Monument showcases what it can mean to enable engagement across space and with audiences from all eras.
The Legacy of the Texas Revolution
The San Jacinto Monument has been referred to as a Texas-sized tribute that few others could emulate at a similar size or scope, both of which are not connected to what it has meant to cultivate engagement across the site. Those connections are based on the experiences that audiences can have with the space, highlighting that similar types of engagement can be enabled at countless other places, no matter the size or scope of the landmark that is connected to this sort of history and legacy.
