San Jacinto Monument, San Jacinto Battleground. (original) (raw)

Texas Monuments

Top Ten Facts About The Construction ofTHE SAN JACINTO MONUMENT

by Johnny Stucco

	Aerial View of the San Jacinto Monument Photo Courtesy Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr.

The San Jacinto Monument was designed by the prolific Houston architect Alfred Finn to commemorate the Centennial of the Battle of San Jacinto. (See The San Jacinto Centennial Association and the Houston observances during the Texas Centennial of 1936 by Mark W. Lambert)

There is no particular order of importance to the entries - numbers are provided to save the reader the trouble of counting.

1. Despite what your uncle told you, no one was buried alive in wet concrete.

2. Only 35 of the 150 men hired had construction experience.

3. After completion, the mast and boom were removed by lowering them through the elevator shaft since the taper of the monument wouldn't allow lowering.

4. The shaft rose at the rate of 24 feet per week.

5. The working platform (which rose as the shaft was built) weighted 65 tons.

6. The star on the top weighs 220 tons.

7. The 3 dimensional star is 34 feet from point to point.

8. The sculpted stone panels immediately above the museum weigh 4 tons each.

9. The re-enforcement bars were 2 inches by 2 inches and 110 feet long.

10. The bars were easily bent, but were straightened by a railroad rail-straightening device that the contractor borrowed from a local railroad yard.

BONUS FACT:
(Bring this up quietly when you visit Washington D.C.)
The San Jacinto Monument IS taller than the Washington Monument.

Getting There:
22 miles East of downtown Houston
via Hwy 225 and 134

San Jacinto Monument Related History:

• San Jacinto Monument by Mike Cox ("Texas Tales")
  "Most people think the towering star-topped limestone monument, built during the Texas Centennial in 1936, is the only San Jacinto monument. Actually, it�s only the biggest."
• The San Jacinto Centennial Association and the Houston observances during the Texas Centennial of 1936 by Mark W. Lambert
• Alfonso (Alphonso) Steele, last Texas survivor of the battle of San Jacinto
• The Battle of San Jacinto by Jeffrey Robenalt
• The Battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836 by Murrary Montgomery
• The Last Hero by Bob Bowman
  The last surviving veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, lies in an almost forgotten cemetery in deep East Texas
• The Treaty of Velasco by Archie P. McDonald
  General Sam Houston, and later Interim President David G. Burnett, chose negotiation instead of revenge for the massacres at the Alamo and Goliad.

	Aerial View of the San Jacinto Monument Photo Courtesy Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr.

San Jacinto Monument
Photo courtesy Tom Wells

� John Troesser
First published June 2001
Our special thanks to Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr. for providing us with his photos of the San Jacinto Monument. - Editor