Everything Victoria is known for
Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Victoria.
In 2017, the Victoria Islamic Center mosque was destroyed by an arson attack. A 25-year-old Victoria man was convicted of the crime and sentenced to prison. The incident was documented in a film titled 'A Town Called Victoria'.
On the afternoon of August 6, 1840, Victoria looked up and found the prairie full of riders. Buffalo Hump had brought four to five hundred Penateka Comanche warriors down off the Edwards Plateau, with Kiowa allies and a train of families behind them, on the largest raid Native fighters ever mounted against towns in what is now the United States. It was revenge for the Council House Fight in San Antonio that spring, where Texas officials seized and killed Comanche chiefs who had come in under a flag of truce. Victoria itself never fell. Townspeople forted up in the stouter buildings, and rifle fire out of the windows made the streets too expensive to hold, so the war party took what was outside instead: people caught in the open, and roughly fifteen hundred horses, including a herd Mexican traders had just brought in. That night the raiders camped on Spring Creek. Two days later they burned the port of Linnville to the ground.
Victoria has always been a place where the past feels close, where the humid air carries whispers of history. You can feel it down by the Guadalupe River, where legend says La Llorona still wanders, mourning her lost children. But recently, the past has been colliding with the present in a new way, especially since Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017. It wasn't just the immediate devastation, the flooding that turned streets into tributaries of the Guadalupe, that shook things up. It was the slow, grinding recovery, the way it exposed existing inequalities and vulnerabilities within the community. The Astros winning the World Series that same year gave everyone a much-needed boost, a shared moment of joy amid the rebuilding. But the storm also forced a reckoning. The clay-rich soil, part of the Beaumont Formation that defines the coastal plain, became a constant reminder of the flood's reach. People started talking more openly about flood mitigation, about investing in infrastructure that could protect the most vulnerable neighborhoods. It's a conversation that continues today, a renewed focus on resilience, on ensuring that Victoria's future is as strong and enduring as the spirit of the people who call it home.
In this county the first European setlement in Texas, Fort St. Louis, was built by the French explorer La Salle in 1685. Between 1722 and 1726 a Spanish presidio and the Mission of Espiritu Santo were established. Settled by colonists under Martin De Leon in 1824 who named his capital later the county seat, Victoria. From it the county, created March 17, 1836, took its name. (1936)
René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle , established a French settlement on the Texas coast in summer 1685, the result of faulty geography that caused him to believe the Mississippi River emptied into the Gulf of Mexico in the Texas coastal bend. The settlement on the right bank of Garcitas Creek in southern Victoria County has been called Fort St. Louis, but in fact it had no name, only a description. La Salle himself referred to it as "the habitation on the riviére aux Boeufs [Buffalo River] near the baye Saint-Louis." The precise location, about five miles above the Garcitas creek mouth in Lavaca Bay, has long been in dispute, despite a preponderance of evidence favoring the actual site, presented by Eugene Herbert Bolton as early as 1908. The site was confirmed in June 1996 with the excavation of eight French cannons. Buried there more than three hundred years previously by Spanish general Alonso De León , the cannons provided the impetus for excavation of the Keeran Ranch site (1996–2002) by archeologists of the Texas Historical Commission . This project confirmed that the Spanish Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la Bahía Presidio was built on the La Salle settlement site early in 1722. Spanish soldiers led by Domingo Ramón had occupied the site the previous year. Of an astonishing total of 157,726 artifacts recovered from the site, approximately 10 percent are of French provenance, the remainder being of Spanish and Indian origins. In February 1685 La Salle had landed 180 colonists at Matagorda Bay in Spanish-claimed territory. That number included half a dozen young women, two families with a total of seven children, and several youths scarcely out of their teens. The first house to rise on the Garcitas creek bank was a two-story structure of four rooms, built of hewn logs and timbers salvaged from La Salle's wrecked supply ship, Aimable . The roof was of the ship's planking covered with buffalo hides. Although this "main house" served as a lookout post, it was never considered a fort. Recent artists' portrayal notwithstanding, it is nowhere described in the historical record as a blockhouse. Five other houses, quarters for the colonists, had walls of vertical stakes set side by side in the ground and plastered with mud. Roofs were of buffalo hides or thatch. One of these was a chapel, the scene of the first Catholic religious service held in Texas outside the El Paso area. The first European child of record born in Texas is believed to have been christened there. The grueling labor of establishing the colony, combined with exposure, disease, bad treatment, and poor diet, reduced the number of colonists by more than half within six months. From October 1685 to January 1687 La Salle left the colony on three occasions to explore his surroundings. During his first long absence—a journey to the west—his one remaining ship, Belle , was wrecked in Matagorda Bay, leaving the colony marooned. On his final departure, supposedly to seek rescue from his Fort-Saint-Louis-des-Illinois, he left twenty-three men, women, and children, in the colony of six crude structures. The expedition's historian, Henri Joutel , on leaving the settlement with La Salle, declared, "there was only the house . . . , having eight cannon at the four corners, unfortunately without cannonballs," and "when we left, there was nothing else in the nature of a fort." As Joutel reveals, there was never a palisade. "Fort St. Louis" does not appear in any of the accounts by participants in the Texas episode. The spurious journal of La Salle's brother, Abbé Jean Cavelier , as it was recast by the Marquis de Seignelay after Cavelier's return to France, referred once to "the Baye or fort St. Louis." Jean Michel, in his 1713 abridgement of Joutel (as it appears in English translation), seized this verbiage to assert that "the dwelling," like the neighboring bay, was given the name of "St. Louis." For two years those left at the settlement, now in the charge of Lieutenant G
Center front: 1528 Cabeza de Vaca 1685 Cavelier de la Salle Under the Mexican Government Victoria was a district in 1832, a Municipality in 1835. Under the Republic of Texas Victoria County was created March 17, 1836 with Victoria as the county seat. Its territory has since been materially reduced through the creation of other counties. The principal industry of the people of the region during the 19th century was cattle raising. Here that industry had its origin in Texas, and Victoria County continues to the present day to be the leading cattle county of the state. 1836 1936 Erected jointly by the government of the United States and the State of Texas Left Front: Victoria County early home of the Karankawa Indians. Region roamed by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1534-1535, the first white man and companions to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Site of the first French settlement in Texas attempted by Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle and companions who built Fort St.Louis on Garcitas Creek in 1685. Devastated by the Karankawa Indians burned by members of the Alonso De Leon expedition in 1689. On its remains the Spaniards constructed Presidio de Nuestra Senora de Loreto de la Bahia Del Espiritu Santo. Right Front: As a protection for the Mission de Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga both established by Joseph De Azlor, Marquis of Aguayo and Father Fray Agustin Patron, O.F.M. in 1722. Both moved to Mission Valley on the Guadalupe River in 1726. Moved finally to Santa Dorotea now Goliad near the San Antonio River in 1749. The area embraced by this county settled by the colony of Martin De Leon, empresario, in 1824 who named the seat of his colony Guadalupe Victoria in honor of the president of Mexico hero of its struggle for Independence
(Member of the first Railroad Commission of Texas) A Victoria lawyer. Elected from this county, 1861, to state legislature. In U.S. Congress, 1872-1874. Appointed by Gov. James S. Hogg to newly-formed Commission, created to regulate shipping rates and practices. In his term, 1891-1895, transportation of petroleum became important to Texas railways. Oil and gas regulation, a major responsibility, began in 1917 with jurisdiction over pipelines. The legislature made the Commission responsible in 1919 for oil and gas conservation. Proration began in the 1920's. Complete regulation came in 1930's with 1,700,000-barrel-a-day production in East Texas, and use of martial law to enforce Commission rules. Commission policies were acclaimed when in World War II Texas was able to supply the Allies with great stores of oil necessary for victory. The Commission's goal is to prevent waste and protect oil and gas reserves by orderly regulation of exploration, production and transportation. Such men as Commissioner McLean set high ethical standards that still prevail, causing the Commission to merit the confidence of the people and of the petroleum industry. (See other side for names of all Commission members) (1966) Plaque on reverse: MEMBERS OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS *John H. Reagan, 1890 - 1903 Wm. P. McLean, 1891 – 1894 L. L. Foster, 1891 – 1895 *L. J. Storey, 1894 – 1909 N. A. Stedman, 1895 – 1897 *Allison Mayfield, 1897 – 1923 O. B. Colquitt, 1903 – 1911 Wm. D. Williams, 1909 – 1916 John L. Wortham, 1911 – 1913 Earle B. Mayfield, 1913 – 1923 Charles H. Huddleston, 1916 – 1918 *Clarence E. Gilmore, 1919 – 1929 N. A. Nabors, 1923 – 1925 W. M. W. Splawn, 1923 – 1924 *C. V. Terrell, 1924 – 1939 *Lon A. Smith, 1925 – 1941 *Pat M. Neff, 1929 – 1932 *Ernest O. Thompson, 1932 – 1965 Jerry Sadler, 1939 – 1942 *Olin Culberson, 1941 – 1961 *Buford Jester, 1942 – 1947 *Wm. J. Murray, Jr., 1947 – 1963 *Ben Ramsey, 1961 – Jim C. Langdon, 1963 – Byron Tunnell, 1965 – *CHAIRMEN
Christia Adair, Black civil-rights activist and suffragist, was born on October 22, 1893, in Victoria, Texas, one of four children of Hardy and Ada (Crosby) Daniels. She attended a small school in Edna, then went to Austin with her brother in 1910 to attend high school at Samuel Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson College). She later went to Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University), then taught at Edna and later at Vanderbilt, Texas. In 1918 she married Elbert H. Adair, a brakeman for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The couple moved to Kingsville, where Christia Adair started a Sunday school and joined a biracial group of women opposed to gambling. She also became one of the few Black suffragists in the state. When she attempted to vote after passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, however, she learned that state law concerning primary elections prevented her ( see WOMAN SUFFRAGE ). Hurt that she could still be denied the vote, she began shifting her focus to racial issues. When presidential candidate Warren G. Harding appeared in Kingsville in 1920, she had carefully situated several Black children close to Harding, but when he finished speaking he reached over them to shake the hands of White listeners behind them. "I was offended and insulted and I made up my mind I wouldn't be a Republican ever," she later recalled. The Adairs moved in 1925 to Houston, where Mrs. Adair became an early member of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People . Elbert Adair died in 1943, and for the next sixteen years Christia Adair remained active in the NAACP, which she served as executive secretary for twelve years. The Houston branch brought suit against a local election judge in Smith v. Allwright for denying the vote to a local Black dentist, Dr. Lonnie Smith . The case, argued by NAACP special counsel Thurgood Marshall, was decided in favor of Smith by the United States Supreme Court in 1944. Smith was important in the history of civil rights law because it ended the use of race as a barrier to voting in Texas Democratic primaries ( see WHITE PRIMARY ). This and similar NAACP activities made the chapter a target for its opponents. Bomb threats were not uncommon. Although Christia Adair was sometimes frightened and told people she kept a gun in her home, she was remembered by others as unafraid. In 1957 Houston police attempted for three weeks to locate the chapter's membership list. While the official charge was barratry-the illegal solicitation of clients by attorneys-Adair believed the real purpose was to destroy the organization and its advocacy of civil rights. She testified for five hours in a three-week trial over the attempted seizure of NAACP records. Two years later, on appeal to the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall again won a decision for the organization. Adair never admitted having membership lists or having member's names. In 1959 the chapter disbanded and she resigned as executive secretary, though she later helped rebuild the group's rolls to 10,000 members. She also helped desegregate the Houston Public Library , airport, veterans' hospital, and city buses. Partly as a result of her work, Blacks became able to serve on juries, and the city's newspapers began referring to Blacks with the same titles they used for Whites; Blacks became able to be hired for county government jobs. Christia Adair successfully desegregated a department store's dressing rooms when she insisted on using a room reserved for White women only. With Frankie Randolph , she founded the Harris County Democrats, an integrated alternative to the county's segregated Democratic organization. She was precinct judge of the Third Ward, one of the first Blacks in Houston to serve as a judge. In 1960 a Harris County grand jury investigated the records of an election in her ward, and the process embittered her. In 1966 she was one of the first two Blacks elected to the state Democrati
Preston Rose Austin, cotton grower and land promoter, was born near Marshall, Texas, on November 11, 1872, the son of Hiram G. and Ann Elizabeth (Rose) Austin. His maternal grandfather was Preston Robinson Rose , and his maternal great-grandfather was William Pinckney Rose . His family moved in 1875 to Victoria, where he was raised. He attended college in Virginia but returned to Victoria to engage in the cattle business. Ruined by the "Big Freeze" of February 12, 1899, an infamous norther that killed 40,000 cattle overnight, Austin borrowed money from a friend and started afresh. Over the next few years Austin accumulated extensive farm and ranch interests. With business partner Jesse McDowell he owned some 20,000 acres, primarily in Refugio and Calhoun counties. After considerable experimentation with rice and alfalfa, which proved susceptible to the area's salt water, Austin successfully produced cotton on his plantations. He and McDowell platted the townsite of Tivoli in 1907 and that of Austwell in 1912. Austin built hotels, lumberyards, mercantile companies, and cotton gins, in which he maintained strong financial interests. He donated school and church facilities to communities and in 1912 granted the right-of-way as well as station grounds in Austwell and $20,000 in bonus money to induce the Frisco system to extend its lines from Tivoli and Austwell to Victoria. As president of the Black Land and Improvement Company and as a principal stockholder in the Refugio Land and Irrigation Company, he sold improved farms to buyers in the Tivoli and Austwell areas. He was largely responsible for the development of the cotton industry on the lower Guadalupe River. In 1910 he became a founding director of the Levi Bank and Trust Company, later the Victoria Bank and Trust Company; he directed the bank until his death. Austin married Mary Jane Traylor Morris on January 12, 1905. They had two daughters. Austin's death has been characterized as "the most baffling mystery in Victoria's history." On his annual vacation in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on September 27, 1929, he was strangled to death in his hotel room-apparently by three men and a woman seen leaving his floor at the approximate time of his death. A nationwide search and the offer of a $6,000 reward failed to turn up the killer or killers. Austin is buried beneath an imposing granite marker in Evergreen Cemetery, Victoria.
Three 13-foot moai replicas weighing seven tons each stand in a pasture on the northeast side of the Loop 463 Zac Lentz Parkway access road built by Victoria…
Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.
225 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
In 2017, the Victoria Islamic Center mosque was destroyed by an arson attack. A 25-year-old Victoria man was convicted of the crime and sentenced to prison. The incident was documented in a film titled 'A Town Called…
On the afternoon of August 6, 1840, Victoria looked up and found the prairie full of riders. Buffalo Hump had brought four to five hundred Penateka Comanche warriors down off the Edwards Plateau, with Kiowa allies and a…
You're driving past the former home of Abraham Levi, a banker and merchant who owned this grand house before and during the Civil War. Built before the war, it boasted eight fireplaces and ten rooms. But in <say-as…
You're driving through Victoria, and you're passing the site of the very first Protestant church in town. When Victoria was settled way back in 1824, Texas was part of Mexico, and there were no Protestant churches…
You're driving through Victoria, and you might catch a glimpse of this beautiful Colonial Revival home. Built around 1900 for Venable Bland Proctor, a local lawyer, this house was a landmark for his family. Proctor…
You're driving past the McNamara House, a beautiful example of Rural Victorian Gothic architecture right here in Victoria. It was built in the 1870s by W.J. McNamara, a prominent local businessman who dealt in cotton,…
You're driving past the site of Victoria's first English Evangelical Lutheran Church. German immigrants here first met in homes as early as 1846. The congregation officially organized with 38 members on October 12,…
Center front: 1528 Cabeza de Vaca 1685 Cavelier de la Salle Under the Mexican Government Victoria was a district in 1832, a Municipality in 1835. Under the Republic of Texas Victoria County was created March 17, 1836…
You're driving through Victoria County, a place with a history as deep as Texas itself. Long before it was a county, it was a brief stop for Cabeza de Vaca in the 1530s and La Salle in the 1680s. This land became the…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is Memorial Square, a place with a history as layered as the soil beneath it. Laid out in 1824 by town founder Martin de Leon, this was originally Victoria's oldest public…
You're driving past the home of James A. McFaddin, built in 1890, a fine example of Victorian architecture. But McFaddin was more than just a homeowner. He was a pioneer stockman who moved to Victoria County in 1876. He…
You're driving through Victoria, and you're passing the site of a remarkable educator and community leader, Viola Case. Born in Virginia in 1821, she arrived in Victoria in 1848 and took over her husband's female…
You're driving through Victoria, and just ahead is the final resting place of Peter Underhay Pridham. Born across the Atlantic on the Isle of Guernsey, Pridham came to Texas in 1834, settling near the San Jacinto River.…
You're driving through Victoria, and to your right, you might see the Robert H. and Pauline Clark House, built in 1877. Robert Clark, a Mexican War veteran who was severely wounded, first made his fortune in business…
You're driving past the Proctor-Vandenberge House, a landmark with a dramatic past. Its builder, Hamilton Ledbetter, fought off a Comanche raid in 1840 while his family escaped. Later owners, including a Texas Supreme…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is the site of the Mitchell School. Back in 1898, citizens voted to create an independent school district, planning eight schools—four for Anglos and four for African…
You're cruising through Victoria, and you might catch a glimpse of this historic Queen Anne home, built in 1910. It belonged to Harry G. Woodhouse, a former railroad conductor who settled here, became a successful…
As you drive through Victoria, look for the stately Classical Revival home at 402 North Bridge Street. This wasn't just any house; it was built for John W. Henderson, a prominent businessman who made his fortune in…
You're driving past the home of J. Meredith Tatton, a conservationist, composer, cattleman, and writer who came to Texas from England in 1930. Noted architect John F. Staub designed this colonial revival home for Tatton…
You're driving past First Baptist Church of Victoria. On May 15, 1852, eight men and women, including a slave, joined together to organize the First Baptist Church of Victoria. That evening they elected the Rev. D.B.…
When you think of Texas's early settlers, you might picture Anglo pioneers from Tennessee or Alabama. But Victoria's story is different. It was founded in 1824 by Martín De León, and his was the only colony in Texas…
How does an inland city, some thirty-five miles from the nearest bay, become a major shipping port? The answer is a massive feat of engineering: the Victoria Barge Canal. For decades, city leaders dreamed of a direct…
In this county the first European setlement in Texas, Fort St. Louis, was built by the French explorer La Salle in 1685. Between 1722 and 1726 a Spanish presidio and the Mission of Espiritu Santo were established.…
In the summer of 1840, Victoria was a small, vulnerable outpost on the Texas frontier, and that August it lived through one of the most terrifying events in its history. A Comanche war party — four to five hundred…
(Member of the first Railroad Commission of Texas) A Victoria lawyer. Elected from this county, 1861, to state legislature. In U.S. Congress, 1872-1874. Appointed by Gov. James S. Hogg to newly-formed Commission,…
After the Civil War, Victoria found its fortune in cattle. The surrounding prairies were thick with longhorns, and as the nation demanded beef, Victoria became the place to get it. By 1870 the county counted 61,651 head…
You're driving past the O'Connor-Proctor Building, a Romanesque Revival beauty built back in 1895. Designed by architect Paul Helwig, it first housed the offices of rancher Thomas M. O'Connor, a major businessman in the…
You're driving through Victoria, a vital hub for the Confederacy during the Civil War. This county was a key stop on the cotton road, sending valuable crops to Mexico in exchange for guns, medicine, and other essential…
You're driving through Victoria, where Victor M. Rose lived a life shaped by war and words. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1842</say-as>, he left college to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War.…
You're driving through Victoria, and look to your right - you're passing the former Victoria County Courthouse! This Romanesque Revival beauty was built in the early 1890s. Architect J. Riely Gordon, famous for his…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is De Leon Plaza, originally laid out by the founder of the city himself, Martin De Leon. <break time="400ms"/> Back in the early 1830s, his son-in-law surveyed this space…
You're driving past the Robert L. Dabney House, built in 1897 in the late Victorian style. This was home to Reverend Dabney, a Presbyterian theologian and author who served as Confederate General Stonewall Jackson's…
You're driving past the Phillips-Sale House, built in 1851 for Alexander Hamilton Phillips, a lawyer and Texas Republic politician. This brick home, made by slaves, became a social hub where Sam Houston himself gave a…
You're driving past Victoria, a city founded way back in 1824 by Martin de Leon. It was meant to be Mexico's buffer against the Comanches. This place was active in the Texas War for Independence in 1836 and supported…
You're driving past Victoria's historic bandstand, a hub for public life for over a century. Built before 1885, it originally hosted concerts and gatherings on Constitution Street. In 1923, it was moved to the center of…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here, you're passing the site of the Hauschild Opera House. Opened in 1894 by German immigrant George Herman Hauschild, this place was the heart of entertainment for decades.…
You're driving past the site of Mount Salem American Baptist Church. Imagine this congregation, founded in 1872 in Indianola. Two devastating hurricanes in 1875 and 1886 wiped out their church building. But the spirit…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas. This marker, the Victoria County Honor Roll, remembers the local men who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War. Over 30 names are listed here – men like Overton Abshier,…
You're driving past the Fleming-Welder House in Victoria. Built around 1911 for rancher Edward Fleming, this home saw several owners. The most significant changes came when Eliza Hughes Welder bought it in 1936. She…
You're driving past the Joe F. and Amelia Jecker House, a landmark in Victoria. Originally built by Dr. James B.P. January by 1860, it was later remodeled by the Jecker family in 1904. Noted architect Jules C. Leffland…
You're driving past the site of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Victoria. In 1872, Father Jean Baptiste Teitien saw the need for a separate parish for the area's German-speaking community. He traveled to Germany…
You're driving past the site associated with Agapito De Leon, born right here in Texas in 1808. He was the fourth son of Don Martin De Leon, the founder of this very colony and the city of Victoria. Agapito was a…
You're driving past the site of a man who lived a wild life right here in Texas. Felix de Leon, born in Texas in 1806, was the third son of Martin de Leon, the founder of this very colony. As a young man, around 1822,…
You're driving past the site associated with Fernando De Leon, a key figure in the early days of Texas. Born in Mexico around 1798, he came to Texas with his parents about 1800, helping them establish the De Leon Colony…
You're driving past the site of Victoria, founded by Don Martin De Leon. Born in Mexico in 1765, De Leon was a Spanish cavalier and Indian fighter. He became the first cattle baron of Texas, earning a colonial grant…
You're driving through Victoria, and it's time to talk about John Howland Wood. Born up in New York, Wood ended up in Texas in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>, fighting for Texas independence. After…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here you're passing the site of the very first bank in town. John Milton Brownson, a Confederate veteran, opened Brownson's Bank in 1867. It was a frame building on Main…
You're driving past the 1883 home of Alexander Lowe, a man who wore many hats in Victoria. He fought in the Mexican War, served as mayor, and was a prominent businessman. Lowe was also a pioneer in refrigerated…
You're driving past the site of a true Texas pioneer woman, Dona Patricia De La Garza De Leon. She arrived here from Mexico around 1800, leaving her home to join her husband, Don Martin de Leon, as he pursued a Spanish…
You're driving past the Victoria area, the stomping grounds of Silvestre de Leon. Born in 1802, he was the son of Martin de Leon, the founder of this very colony and city. Silvestre was more than just a founder's son;…
You're driving through Victoria, and we're passing the Evergreen Cemetery. This isn't just any graveyard; it's the first community cemetery in town. Back in the day, folks preferred burying loved ones at home, even…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is the birthplace of a Texas institution: The Victoria Advocate. This isn't just any old paper; it's the second oldest newspaper still running in the entire state! It…
You're driving past the birthplace of Victor Marion Rose, a true Renaissance man of Victoria. Born right here on January 1st, <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1844</say-as>, Rose became a poet, editor, historian,…
You're driving past the site of what was once the Continental Hotel, built way back in 1871. It served travelers for over twenty years before being bought by Professor O.E.H. Mundt. He transformed it into a classroom…
You're driving past the grand old Federal Building in Victoria, a real gem from 1911. Designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, it first housed the U.S. Post Office and Federal Courthouse. Imagine the bustling…
You're driving through Victoria, past the former home of Jacob Fox. Fox was a prominent businessman and community leader, a native of Alsace who came to Texas and established a cotton gin and grist mill right here on…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is a glimpse into the city's past social life. This grand home was built in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1898</say-as> for attorney Joe L. Hill. But just a few…
You're driving past the home of the Victoria Advocate, the second oldest newspaper still publishing in Texas! It was established way back on May 8, 1846, by Thomas Sterne and John D. Logan. Over the years, its editors…
You're driving past the site of Victoria's first Lutheran congregation, organized way back in 1851. German immigrants here held services in their homes starting in the 1840s. For decades, all services were in German,…
You're driving past the site of a true Texas Revolution survivor! John Van Bibber was right in the thick of it, serving in the fight for independence. But his story gets really dramatic in <say-as interpret-as="date"…
You're driving through Victoria, the town established by Martín De León. Born in Mexico in 1765, he was a Spanish Army captain by 1790, known for his bravery in Indian fighting. He received grants to bring over 190…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here we remember Edward Conrad. Born in Pennsylvania, he came to Texas in 1835 and was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2nd, 1836. Sadly, he died here…
You're driving past the site of John Joseph Linn's home in Victoria. Born in Ireland in 1798, Linn was a merchant, soldier, statesman, and historian. He served as Victoria's last alcalde and first mayor, and was a…
Pull over for a taste of history at Fossati's, the oldest deli in Texas! Italian immigrant Fraschio "Frank" Napoleon Fossati opened this place back in 1882. Fossati's started in a different location, moving around a bit…
You're driving through Victoria, and just off the road here is a marker for Abel Seymour Cunningham. He wasn't just any soldier; Cunningham fought in the Texas War for Independence, earning his stripes in the fight for…
You're driving past the site of a key figure in the Texas War for Independence, Darwin M. Stapp. He was right here, participating in the Siege of Bexar back in 1835. This pivotal event helped secure Texas's path to…
You're driving past the site of the Round Top House, built before 1836 by Placido Benavides. This house was known as The Citadel of Victoria. During the Comanche raid of 1840, it served as a place of refuge for the…
You're driving past Fossati's Delicatessen. In 1882, Italian immigrant Fraschio ("Frank") N. Fossati (1852-1939) opened his first delicatesssen in Victoria at Juan Linn and Main streets. He had this building constructed…
In 1882, Italian immigrant Fraschio ("Frank") N. Fossati (1852-1939) opened his first delicatesssen in Victoria at Juan Linn and Main streets. He had this building constructed in 1895 and moved the business to this…
You're driving past Victoria, and heading into the heart of Texas history. Remember Captain James P. January? He wasn't just a soldier; he was the Assistant Surgeon and later the Surgeon for the Republic of Texas!…
You're driving past the Lorenzo Dow Heaton House, a survivor from the 1870s. Built starting in 1875, it was the first large home on Market Square, originally featuring hand-hewn lumber and square nails. The Heaton…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is Saint Mary's Catholic Church. This is the third building this congregation has used as a church since settlers first arrived in Victoria in 1824. The current church you…
You're driving past the Pela House, a fascinating blend of architectural styles. Built in 1884, it sports a classic Greek Revival design with modern Victorian touches like its unique porch railings. This striking home…
You're driving past the Old L.D. Heaton Home, built way back in 1887. This place sports a Southern Colonial design, with tall porch pillars and a classic Georgian entrance. The original owner was part of a prominent…
You're driving past the Power Home, built in 1894 for Edward Power. Notice its distinctive columns, wide porches, and detailed wood trim. The house was gifted to patriotic organizations in 1960 by Mrs. James Power.
You're driving past the site of Victoria's very first church, established soon after the town's founder, Martin De Leon, arrived in 1824. It was later restored by the first Catholic Bishop of Texas, John Mary Odin, and…
You're driving past the birthplace of Sidney Roper Weisiger, a man who dedicated his later years to the very history you're passing through. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1906</say-as> to a pioneer…
You're driving past the Victoria area, where Robert S. Weisiger spent a remarkable career in law enforcement. He was just 19 when he became a Deputy Sheriff, and he went on to serve as County Sheriff for a total of 20…
You're driving through Victoria, and just ahead is Webster Chapel United Methodist Church. This fellowship was organized right after the Civil War, in 1871, to serve the newly freed slaves in the area. Many of its first…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here stood the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, a real hub of activity. The railroad first arrived in Victoria around 1860, but its big impact came after the Civil War. By…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is where we remember William Robert Smith. Smith was a Texas Ranger from 1927 to 1933, serving under Captains Sterling, Wright, and Mace. His duties were anything but…
You're driving past the site of the Regan House, a grand example of Italianate Victorian architecture. Dominick Regan, an Irish immigrant and Civil War veteran, was a successful merchant who expanded his businesses…
You're driving past the Victoria Pumping Station, a vital piece of the city's early infrastructure. In the 1880s, William Wheeler, an Englishman, arrived in Texas to install waterworks across the state. He landed in…
You're driving past the site of Victoria's first Black Baptist church. Twenty-one former slaves gathered here on June 27, 1868, to form the First Colored Baptist Church. Renamed Palestine Missionary Baptist just months…
You're cruising through Victoria, and to your right stands the home of Benjamin F. Williams, built in 1909. Williams was a businessman, mayor, and even a state legislator. Local architect Jules Leffland designed this…
You're driving through Victoria, and you're passing the site of the First Presbyterian Church. Organized way back on October 2nd, 1841, by Reverend William C. Blair and eight charter members, this congregation is one of…
You're driving past the Callender Home, a place with a surprising journey. It started life not here, but miles away as a hunting lodge on Green Lake, built from hand-hewn pine lumber all the way from New York! Then, in…
You're driving past the final resting place of John J. Linn, a true Texas pioneer who arrived here as an Irish immigrant. Born in Ireland in 1798, Linn became a prominent figure in Victoria. He served as a merchant,…
You're driving along the Guadalupe River, a waterway with a rich history. Spanish explorer Alonso de Leon first laid eyes on this area way back on April 14, 1689, naming it for Mexico's patron saint, Our Lady of…
As you drive through Victoria, look for the Thurmond Building, a landmark from 1898. C.L. Thurmond, Jr. built this place as a general store and home, right on Bridge Street when it was the heart of Victoria's commerce.…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is the site of the Goldman Ginnery. Adolph Goldman, a German immigrant who arrived in Texas in 1859, built this cotton gin operation in the late 1880s. By 1890, he…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is the site of a school that played a vital role in educating African American children for nearly a century. Education for Black students began here as early as 1868,…
You're driving through Victoria, and you're passing a spot that played a key role in the Spanish effort to secure Texas. After La Salle's French settlement was discovered abandoned, Spanish governor Alonso de Leon…
Christia Adair, Black civil-rights activist and suffragist, was born on October 22, 1893, in Victoria, Texas, one of four children of Hardy and Ada (Crosby) Daniels. She attended a small school in Edna, then went to…
Preston Rose Austin, cotton grower and land promoter, was born near Marshall, Texas, on November 11, 1872, the son of Hiram G. and Ann Elizabeth (Rose) Austin. His maternal grandfather was Preston Robinson Rose , and…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a town that owes much of its early existence to Plácido Benavides. Arriving in Texas in 1828, he was instrumental in surveying land and issuing titles for Martín De León's colony.…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a town that became famous for a unique piece of cowboy gear: the 'bottle-opener' spur. Right here, Joe Bianchi, an Italian immigrant blacksmith, didn't invent the spur, but he…
You're driving through Victoria County, the heart of cattle country, and right here is the story of Margaret Heffernan Borland. Born in Ireland, she came to Texas as a child and became a formidable rancher. After being…
You're driving through Victoria, the town laid out by José María Jesús Carbajal. He wasn't just a surveyor; Carbajal was a soldier and a leader who fought for Texas and later for Mexican independence. After studying in…
You're driving near Victoria, and right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>, a printer from Philadelphia named Edward Conrad made history. He arrived in Texas just months before, but quickly…
You're driving through Victoria, a town with a founding story unlike any other in Texas. Right here, in 1824, Patricia de la Garza De León and her husband Martín established Guadalupe Victoria, the only predominantly…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, the birthplace of David Owen Dodd, a young man who became a teenage Civil War spy. Born in 1847, Dodd's life took a dramatic turn in 1863. While trying to return to Confederate…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, the birthplace of William Henry Ellis. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1864</say-as> to recently freed slaves, Ellis would later reinvent himself, crafting a new…
You're driving through what was once Refugio County, and right here, in 1840, a young girl named Rebecca Gilleland experienced a brutal Comanche attack. Her parents were killed, and Rebecca, just nine years old, was…
You're driving through Victoria, a town that saw a brutal act of violence during Reconstruction. Right here, in 1866, Benjamin F. Hill, a veteran of the Republic of Texas and Confederate service, found himself in a…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, the hometown of a sailor who needs no introduction: Popeye! While Elzie Crisler Segar, Popeye's creator, was born in Illinois, he considered Victoria his "hometown" and the…
You're driving through Victoria County, deep in the heart of South Texas. Right here, Preston Robinson Rose built Buena Vista, a plantation so big it was the largest in the county. He arrived in Texas in 1840, and by…
You're driving through Victoria County, a place with roots stretching back to the very beginnings of Texas. Right here, in 1722, Spanish settlers established Mission Nuestra Señora de Loreto Presidio and Mission…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, and right here is where Margaret Theresa Robertson Wright made her mark. Arriving in Texas around 1825, she settled on a league of land on the Guadalupe River. But during the…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, the birthplace of John Dudley Bowles, a remarkable African-American physician and educator. Born in 1905, Bowles went on to achieve incredible academic and professional success.…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a town that owes part of its history to Joel Titus Case. Case, a teacher and writer from Ohio, arrived in Texas in 1838. He was involved with newspapers in Houston and Galveston,…
Right here in Victoria, Texas, you're passing through the birthplace of Connie Yerwood Conner, a true pioneer in public health. Born in 1908, she became the first Black physician appointed to the Texas Public Health…
You're driving near Victoria, the site of Texas's only predominantly Mexican colony. In 1824, Martín De León petitioned to settle forty-one Mexican families and found a town called Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Jesús…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is the site of a groundbreaking Texas business. In 1891, George Hauschild opened his music company, initially selling instruments. But Hauschild Music soon became one of…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a place that owes much of its modern development to the vision of Clarence St. Elmo Holland. Back in 1905, Holland, then president of Victoria's Business Men's Association, wasn't…
You're driving through Jackson County, Texas, where James Belvarde Pope January served as a physician and soldier. He arrived in Texas in 1836, initially falling ill, but returned to fight in the Texas Revolution. He…
You're driving through Victoria, a town with a rich architectural history thanks to Jules Carl Leffland. Born in Denmark in 1854, Leffland came to Texas in 1886, drawn by a friend from Bee County. His first work…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a town that owes its start to a newspaper and a bit of old-fashioned rivalry. In 1845, newspaper publisher John Davis Logan packed up his press and type, moved it all the way from…
You're driving through South Texas, maybe near Victoria or San Antonio, and you might be passing the site of a former stagecoach stop. Right here, William H. McCulloch and his partner John S. Harrison built a…
You're driving through Victoria County, and right here is the heart of a Texas ranching empire. James Alfred McFaddin wasn't just a rancher; he was an innovator. Born in 1840, his family had been in Texas since 1821. By…
You're driving through what is now Victoria County, and right here, in the late 1800s, Joseph Daniel Mitchell was a rancher who became a pioneer scientist. He introduced the first blooded stock to Calhoun County and…
You're driving through what was once the heart of a Texas cattle empire. Right here, Dennis Martin O'Connor inherited over half a million acres and a hundred thousand cattle from his father, the original 'Texas Cattle…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a city that owes much of its visual history to one man: Alfred Brown Peticolas. An attorney by trade, Peticolas was also a gifted artist who documented this town during the late…
You're driving near Victoria, Texas, where back on August 22, 1836, a young pioneer named John Hogue Pierson faced a fierce Comanche attack. Pierson, who had already served in the Texas Rangers and fought in the…
You're driving through Victoria County, Texas, a place that saw plenty of action during the Republic era. Right here, Richard Roman was a key player. He fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, helped win independence, and…
You're driving through Texas, and right here, in the summer of 1861, the Seventh Texas Cavalry Regiment was born in Victoria. Nearly a thousand men, recruited from across the state, formed ten companies. This unit…
You're driving through Victoria, a town that played a key role in forming the Sixth Texas Infantry back in November of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1861</say-as>. The ladies of Victoria, led by Elizabeth…
You're driving through Victoria, a city that owes a lot to Darwin Massey Stapp. He arrived in Texas way back in 1828, just a teenager, and quickly jumped into the fight for Texas independence. Stapp fought in the Siege…
You're driving through Victoria, a town that was once the stomping ground of Alfred Sturgis Thurmond. Arriving in Texas in 1836, just after the Revolution, Thurmond jumped right into the fray, serving with ranger…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here is the site of what was probably the first Presbyterian school for girls in Texas. Established in 1848 by Reverend John R. Shive and his wife, Viola, the Victoria Female…
You're driving through South Texas, and right here, you're passing through the heart of a ranching empire built by John James Welder. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="m">7</say-as>/14/1854 in San Patricio…
You're driving through Victoria, a town that owes a lot to Jesse Obadiah Wheeler. He arrived here in 1840, opening a mercantile store. Just months later, he was part of the fight against a Comanche raid, helping to…
You're driving through Victoria, a city with roots stretching back to 1824. It was founded by Martín De León and named Guadalupe Victoria, in honor of Mexico's first president. This settlement quickly became important,…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a place that saw its share of frontier challenges. In the spring of 1840, William Cochran Blair arrived here, a Presbyterian missionary sent to minister to the Mexican population.…
You're driving through Victoria, a town that owes much of its legal and cultural development to William Larrabee Callender. He arrived here in 1850, already a seasoned lawyer and editor from Kentucky. Though his heart…
You're driving near Victoria, Texas, right where Camp Henry E. McCulloch once stood. From September 1861 to May 1862, this was a Confederate camp of instruction, training recruits for the Sixth Texas Infantry. The…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a town that owes its early growth in part to Dr. Thomas Cocke. In 1845, Cocke traveled from Arkansas to explore this area. Impressed, he moved his family here in 1846 and was soon…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a place that was home to George James Hampton. He was elected sheriff here in 1858, but his real story took a turn during the Civil War. Hampton joined the Texas Rangers and then…
You're driving through Texas, and right here, you're passing through the heart of a battle against one of agriculture's most feared pests. Back in 1901, entomologist Walter David Hunter arrived in Texas, tasked by the…
You're driving through Victoria County, the birthplace of Edward Daniel Linn, a man who wore many hats. Born in 1848, Linn took over the Victoria Advocate newspaper after the Civil War, eventually becoming its sole…
You're driving through what was once Washington County, Kentucky, but John William Stayton made his mark here in Texas. After moving to La Grange in 1856, he eventually settled in Victoria, building a remarkable legal…
You're driving through Victoria, a town that was home to Columbus Lafayette "Zip" Thurmond. Born in Tennessee in 1833, Thurmond arrived in Texas and quickly became a major player in Victoria's business scene. By the…
You're driving through South Texas, and right here in Victoria, you're passing through the heart of a ranching revolution. James Francis Welder, born in San Patricio County in 1863, wasn't just a cattleman; he was a…
Charles A. (Doc) Dudley, Black physician, civic leader, and civil-rights worker, son of Charles Arthur and Nancy Elizabeth Dudley, was born in Waskom, Texas, on January 10, 1894. He graduated from high school at nearby…
You're driving through Refugio County, Texas, where in the late 1830s, a man named James C. Allen held a prominent position. He was appointed chief justice of Refugio County in November 1837, and arrived in mid-1838.…
You're driving through Victoria, a town that in July of 1865 was the destination for a federal army unit. Among them was Eugene Carlos Bartholomew, a civilian employee who'd served in the Quartermaster's Division. His…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, a place that saw a man named Thomas J. Johnston arrive just after secession in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1861</say-as>. He'd served in the U.S. State Department, even…
You're driving through Victoria, a town that once hosted Sam Houston himself at the home of Alexander H. Phillips. Phillips was a prominent lawyer and legislator here in the mid-1800s. He served in the Republic of Texas…
You're driving through what was once Spanish Texas, but did you know that Adam Stafford, one of Stephen F. Austin's original colonists, might have lost an arm right here? Stafford arrived in Texas in 1824, settling on…
You're driving through Victoria, Texas, home to Victoria College. Established in 1925 as Victoria Junior College, it began classes inside Patti Welder High School. By 1949, it had its own campus and an independent…
You're driving through Victoria, and right here, this city is the heart of a Catholic diocese established in 1982. Before this, the Archdiocese of San Antonio was HUGE, covering 32 counties. Imagine trying to manage…
You're driving through Victoria County, the heart of a man who loved this place deeply: Sidney Roper Weisiger. Though he worked as a plumber, Weisiger was a passionate historian and columnist for the Victoria Advocate.…
You're driving through Victoria County, Texas, where William Maynard Whitenton was born way back in 1867. Whitenton wasn't just born here, he spent his life building railroads across the country. He started as a section…
René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle , established a French settlement on the Texas coast in summer 1685, the result of faulty geography that caused him to believe the Mississippi River emptied into the Gulf of…
You're driving through Victoria County, near the Goliad County line, and right here is Coleto Creek. It might look peaceful now, but back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>, this was the site of a…
You're driving through Victoria County, near the site of old Guadalupe Victoria, a town co-founded by Silvestre De León. Born in 1802, De León was a key merchant and leader in his family's colony. He supported the Texas…
You're driving through Victoria County right now, near Garcitas Creek. This waterway might be the very spot where French explorer La Salle landed and built Fort St. Louis way back in 1685. Imagine that! The Spanish…
You're driving through Victoria County, a land shaped by cattle kings. Right here, John Newbanks Keeran, a man who'd already made a fortune in California gold and ranching, arrived in 1867. He bought a massive tract of…
You're driving through what used to be Linnville, Texas, but in August of 1840, it was anything but peaceful. Imagine this: a thousand Comanche warriors, led by Buffalo Hump, thundering down from the north, fresh from a…
You're driving through Victoria County, near where a crucial Spanish outpost once stood: Nuestra Señora de Loreto Presidio, better known as La Bahía. It was established in 1721, right on the heels of a failed French…
Carlos Rancho was a Mexican village on the north side of the San Antonio River in what is now Victoria County. It was located at Carlos Crossing, about twelve miles below Goliad on the old road from Victoria to Nuestra…
You're driving near Victoria, Texas, where you're passing over the site of Foster Army Air Field. This advanced flying school for fighter pilots was established in the summer of 1941, thanks to a local funding campaign…
You're driving through what is now Victoria County, but back in 1690, this was the site of a French settlement built by La Salle. Spain was nervous about it, so they sent an expedition led by Francisco de Llanos and…
You're driving through Victoria County, not far from the airport, and right here is Marcado Creek. This seemingly quiet stream was the site of a significant moment in Texas frontier history. Following the devastating…
You're driving through what was once the wild frontier of Texas, and the name John McHenry might ring a bell if you're a fan of early Texas history. Born in Ireland, McHenry saw action in the Battle of New Orleans in…
You're driving through Mission Valley, the oldest community in Victoria County. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1726</say-as>, Franciscan missionaries relocated their mission and presidio. For…
You're driving through Victoria County, Texas, where one of the earliest Spanish missions, Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, was established way back in 1722. Commonly called La Bahía, this mission was tasked…
You're driving through Victoria County, Texas, a region now famous for its fruit. But it wasn't always so. Back in the 1850s, it was widely believed that you couldn't grow fruit here. That all changed thanks to Gilbert…
You're driving through South Texas, and right here, you're passing through land that was once transformed by a single crop. In 1830, John Stryker and his partner arrived in Matamoros with a new kind of cotton seed and a…
Anaqua, possibly the first site in Texas to receive a name, is on the San Antonio River twenty miles south of Victoria in Victoria County. It is described by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca , as the habitat of the "Iguaces"…
DaCosta, on U.S. Highway 87 ten miles from Victoria in southeastern Victoria County, was established in 1860 when the San Antonio and Mexican Gulf Railway completed its route from Victoria to Port Lavaca. The railroad…
Kemper City is just west of U.S. Highway 77 twelve miles from Victoria in southwestern Victoria County. The town is named for Capt. John Frederick Kemper, who developed the original site, Kemper's Bluff, as a trading…
You're driving through Victoria County, a land once shaped by figures like John Washington Rose. Arriving in Texas around 1839, he quickly rose to prominence, serving as chief justice of Victoria and later representing…
McFaddin is near the San Antonio River two miles east of U.S. Highway 77 and eighteen miles southwest of Victoria in Victoria County. It was named for Capt. James A. McFaddin , a Civil War veteran and prominent Refugio…
You're driving through what was once Anaqua, Texas, a community on the San Antonio River, about twenty miles south of Victoria. This was the home of Truman Phelps, a lawyer who arrived in Texas in 1852. He settled here…
Coletoville is near Coleto Creek Reservoir ten miles west of Victoria in Victoria County. The site was known in its early days as Steiner's Settlement, after Carl Steiner, who arrived from Germany in 1850. It took its…
Fordtran, just west of U.S. Highway 77 and twenty miles north of Victoria in Victoria County, was named for Henry Fordtran, a Galveston real estate agent responsible for bringing settlers to the site from Tennessee and…
Raisin, on U.S. Highway 59 eight miles southwest of Victoria in Victoria County, was established in 1889 as a stop on the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway line from Victoria to Goliad and Beeville. The railway…
You're driving past the site of Camp Victoria, where the Texas Army made its largest stand after the Revolution. In June of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>, General Thomas J. Rusk set up camp here…
You're driving past the site of the Beck Ranch Headquarters, a testament to German immigrant enterprise in Texas. Charles Beck bought this land in 1862, and ten years later, built this Greek Revival home. It wasn't just…
You're driving past the site of Camp Henry E. McCulloch, a Confederate training ground established in 1861. Troops from ten different Texas counties converged here, north of Victoria, by that September. This camp became…
Victoria East (Victoria, TX) placed on the 5A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Bentley Blinka (0.465 avg, 12 HR); Deacon Chase (8 HR); Kason Kolle (7 HR); Blaine Heinold (5 HR); Ryan…
Three 13-foot moai replicas weighing seven tons each stand in a pasture on the northeast side of the Loop 463 Zac Lentz Parkway access road built by Victoria…
Victoria West (Victoria, TX) placed on the 5A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Evan Waters (3 HR).
You're driving past Victoria, Texas, where history took flight during World War II. Mexico, after German U-boats sank its oil tankers, declared war on the Axis powers. They partnered with the U.S. to train pilots here,…
You're driving past the site of Foster Army Air Field, a vital training ground during World War II. Construction began in 1941, just months before Pearl Harbor, to prepare pilots and gunners for aerial combat. Named for…
You're driving through Victoria County, following in the footsteps of history. This route you're on is part of the El Camino Real, the King's Highway, laid down by the Spanish starting in 1725. It was a vital supply…
You're driving through the site of Mission Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga. This Spanish mission was first established way back in 1722, on Garcitas Creek. Its goal? To Christianize and civilize the local…
You're driving past the site of what's traditionally recognized as the first great cattle ranch in Texas. Mission Espiritu Santo's ranching operation started near here in the 1720s, and by the late 1800s, one landowner…
You're driving past the Coletoville Cemetery, the final resting place for many German immigrants who settled this area. It began in 1872 when August and Thekla Spitzer buried two children here after a diphtheria…
You're driving past the Murphy Home, built way back in 1897. This place is a real architectural mashup, blending classic Southern plantation style with the clean lines of a New England Saltbox. It's been home to some…
You're driving through Victoria County, where the story of Shillerville begins. This quiet cemetery holds the memories of Czech immigrants who settled here starting in 1894. The community was named for Jan Shiller, one…
You're driving through Nursery, Texas, a town that owes its name and existence to a remarkable horticulturist, Gilbert Onderdonk. Born in New York, Onderdonk developed new potato varieties as a teen! Seeking a warmer…
You're driving past the historic home of W.H. "Uncle Billy" Kyle, built right here in 1872. Kyle was a true Texas pioneer: a trail driver, a cattleman, and a veteran of the Civil War. He lived here until his death in…
You're driving through South Texas, and right here near Bloomington, a star was born. Josephine Owaissa Cottle, who you probably know as Gale Storm, got her start right here. She won a radio talent contest that took her…
You're driving through Bloomington, a town that owes its existence to the railroad. It was laid out in 1910 as a station on the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. Many of the first settlers came from…
You're driving through Goliad County, heading towards Fannin. Look to your right for the site of Cologne, a community founded by former slaves after the Civil War. In 1877, freedmen Joseph Smith and George Washington…
You're driving by Lott Cemetery, a resting place with a story as varied as the markers themselves. It began in 1892 with the burial of Charity Johnson, and later became a refuge for victims of a devastating 1902 tornado…
Bloomington shares District fifteen, two-A Division One, with Ganado this fall — which puts one of the preseason players to watch on the district slate. Logan Bures played a big part in Ganado's state title team as a…
You're driving past the site of Fort St. Louis, the French colony that wasn't supposed to be in Texas. In 1685, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, sailed from France with four ships and three hundred colonists to…