LOCAL
yon d e r
HANDS-ON Multimedia interactive displays, customs murals and replicas bring the story of San Felipe de Austin to life and intrigue visitors of all ages. | All Photos Courtesy THC
A Site To Behold
The provisional capital of the Austin Colony
by Bob McCullough
O
f all the places to put down roots, the “Father of Texas” Stephen F. Austin chose a site on the Brazos River as the starting point for what was to become the Lone Star State. Today, almost 200 years later, the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site – just a couple of miles north of IH 10 near Sealy, west of Houston – marks the unofficial capital of Austin’s colony. A 10,000-squarefoot visitor center and museum that opened 24
AUTHENTIC TEXAS
in 2018 vividly tell the story of Texas before it became a nation and ultimately the 28th state of the United States of America. San Felipe de Austin served as the economic, social and political center of American immigration to Texas before independence, according to Bryan McAuley, manager of the site. However, it didn’t survive because residents torched the town as they fled the Mexican army in the Runaway Scrape of 1836. Yet San Felipe’s significance lives on thanks to the Texas
SEALY
INDEPENDENCE TRAIL REGION
