Texas Historical Commission

Often called the “Father of Texas,” Stephen F. Austin played a central role in the region’s early settlement and its path to independence through his leadership and persistence.

Born into a politically engaged family, Austin carried forward his father Moses Austin’s plan to establish an Anglo colony in Texas. After Moses’s death in 1821, Stephen secured approval from the Mexican government and, by 1825, successfully settled the group known as the “Old Three Hundred.”

To support and govern this growing colony, Austin founded San Felipe de Austin in 1823 as its capital. The town quickly became the social, economic, and political center, with a small but diverse population, local businesses, postal routes, and early newspapers. By 1835, it was a प्रमुख commercial hub and hosted important conventions and the provisional government during the Texas Revolution.

After the fall of the Alamo, the town was evacuated and burned during the Runaway Scrape in 1836. Although residents returned and San Felipe was incorporated in 1837, it never regained its former stature; the county seat moved to Bellville in 1846, and much of the original townsite was later donated to the state in 1940.

Visitors today can explore San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site , which includes a townsite and museum that tells the story of early settlers and the early days of the revolution. You’ll find such artifacts as Stephen F. Austin’s field desk and an 1830s printing press.

Plan your visit: visitsanfelipedeaustin.com

The story of the Johnson family in Brazoria County reveals how the legacy of slavery is not distant in history, but how it lives in the descendants who continue to shape Texas.

Samuel Collins III, Levi Jordan Plantation State Historic Site Advisory Committee Co-Chair, tells a story of a family rooted in the Mims Community since the 1830s. Their land, first purchased after emancipation by Solomon Johnson and passed down through generations, stands as a powerful symbol of pride and progress.

Just two generations removed from slavery, living descendants like 105-year-old Carrie Thomas and her relatives carry forward that legacy through lives of service, hard work, and community leadership. From military service and careers in industry to active roles in local churches and Juneteenth celebrations, their story offers a vivid reminder that Texas history is still unfolding in communities today.

This Juneteenth, we invite you to reflect and honor the resilience carried forward by families like the Johnsons, whose lives and legacies embody what it means to be Texan.

Read more about the Johnson family on our blog: https://thc.texas.gov/blog/grandchildren-enslaved

In 1876, veteran Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight entered Palo Duro Canyon by way of an old Comanche Indian trail to establish the first ranch in the area. The following year, Goodnight partnered with Englishman John Adair, and together they founded the JA Ranch, which would become one of the largest and most prominent cattle operations in Texas history.

Goodnight managed the ranch while Adair provided financing, and their partnership marked the start of a legendary ranching empire. At its height, the JA Ranch spanned nearly a million acres and grazed over 100,000 cattle, with the upper division reserved for purebred herds and the lower ranges gradually improved by better blood.

Goodnight’s experience as a scout and guide for Texas Rangers during the Civil War helped him recognize the canyon’s natural advantages for ranching, including water, shelter, and ideal grazing land.

Through their innovative breeding and ranching methods, Goodnight and Adair helped pave the way for permanent settlement in the Texas Panhandle.

The JA Ranch headquarters area was later designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. In 1887, the Goodnight-Adair partnership ended, with Adair retaining the JA Ranch, which remains one of Texas’ great ranches in the hands of his heirs.

That same year, Goodnight established the Goodnight-Thayer Cattle Company in Armstrong County and built a spacious, two-story, Folk-Victorian-style ranch house. Visitors can tour the historic Charles and Mary Ann Goodnight Ranch State Historic Site and learn more about the legacy of these cattlemen: visitgoodnightranch.com

📸: JA Cowboy / Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Bequest of Mary Alice Pettis

Each year, County Historical Commissions across Texas submit reports to the Texas Historical Commission highlighting their most impactful work. One standout story this year comes from the Cherokee County Historical Commission.

When local high school students expressed interest in a cemetery-focused service project, a Cherokee County Historical Commission appointee stepped in to help. She developed hands-on curriculum to teach proper, preservation-minded techniques for cleaning gravestones in a local cemetery.

After securing the necessary permissions, the students began their work forming a deeper connection to local history through the lives represented on each stone. Inspired by the experience, they even presented to their city council to expand the effort and encourage broader community participation. Since then, multiple cleaning sessions have been organized, continuing the work of preserving and honoring local heritage.

Great work to everyone involved in Cherokee County for fostering the next generation of preservationists! 👏

The Magnolia Petroleum Company’s Pegasus, a forty-foot long and thirty-foot high red neon horse, was placed atop a 50-foot tower anchored to the roof of the Magnolia Building in 1934. At the time, the Pegasus and its 1,000 feet of neon tubing rotated every minute and a half.

It was the city’s tallest point for almost a decade and remains one of its most famous landmarks. Soon after its installation, Dallas citizens could claim that the city, still considered a provincial outpost of cowboys and cattle by the rest of the nation, was no longer a one-horse town.

The Magnolia Building was completed in 1922, at the time the 16th-tallest building in the country, and housed the offices of the Magnolia Petroleum Company.

The building’s architect, Sir Alfred Charles Bossom, British royal baron and member of Parliament, created a blend of Beaux-Arts classicism and modern 20th-century high rise in his design for the building.

Today, the building serves guests as the Magnolia Hotel in the heart of downtown Dallas. The building and its red Pegasus are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is considered a Texas Historic Landmark.

📸: Dallas Public Library

In 1877, while most homes along the Texas Gulf Coast lacked indoor plumbing, Fulton Mansion featured running water in every room.

Rainwater was collected from the roof and directed into underground cisterns constructed of shellcrete, a durable material made from oyster shells and concrete. This locally sourced solution supported sustainability and helped keep the water cool in the coastal climate. A pump then carried the water to a rooftop cistern, where gravity distributed it throughout the home.

This system reflects both ingenuity and a deep understanding of the local environment. Fulton Mansion State Historic Site was an innovation well beyond the time.

See it for yourself! Plan your own visit at visitfultonmansion.com

For 50 years, The Seven Dutchmen Orchestra has been a cornerstone of Central Texas music traditions, delighting audiences with polkas, waltzes, big band classics, and country favorites. Formed in 1975 by former members of the New Braunfels High School Polka Band, the group debuted at Bavarian Village on May 24, 1975. The orchestra has played everywhere from small dance halls to major festivals, including every Wurstfest since 1975 and Fredericksburg Oktoberfest since 1984, helping preserve German folk traditions in Texas.

Their history includes memorable moments, like a performance for an audience of cattle when a Seguin auction crowd never arrived. From those humble beginnings to crowds of thousands, the band estimates more than 1,500 performances and over one million attendees. In May 2025, they marked their 50th anniversary with a special performance at Anhalt Hall’s Maifest, celebrating decades of music, friendship, and community across Texas.

The Seven Dutchmen Orchestra are 2025 recipients of a Texas Treasure Business Award, a program that pays tribute to the state’s well-established businesses and their exceptional contributions to communities across Texas. Texas Treasure Business Awards are given quarterly, and the next round of nominations will be processed on August 1.

Learn more about how to submit your local favorite at thc.texas.gov/ttba

Today is National Flag Day. Across Texas, you’ll often see six flags displayed, but the six flags at the San Jacinto Monument stand apart. Rather than the traditional six flags of Texas history, the Monument features six banners that symbolize pivotal moments from the fight for Texas independence: the Come and Take It Flag, Austin’s Flag, Dodson’s Lone Star Flag, the 1824 Flag, the Bloody Arm Flag, and the Liberty Flag.

In November 1835, the provisional Texas government sent Stephen F. Austin to the United States to gather support for the Revolution. While in New Orleans in January, he wrote to Gail Borden proposing a symbolic national flag that reflected Texas’s Anglo-American roots, Mexican ties, and identity through a single star. The design also marked Austin’s shift from advocating reform within Mexico to promoting full independence.

Although the flag was never produced, his original sketch is preserved at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.

Discover more about the stories behind these historic flags on our blog: https://thc.texas.gov/blog/flags-texas-revolution-0

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Mexico severed diplomatic ties with the Axis powers. By May 1942, after German U-boats sank several Mexican oil tankers, the country declared war against Japan, Germany, and Italy.

In a bold move to combine military capabilities, Mexico accepted the United States' invitation to train the 201st Fighter Squadron, known as "The Aztec Eagles," in Texas. Arriving in Laredo in July 1944, these 300 Mexican pilots and ground crew underwent a rigorous training regimen at Randolph Field in San Antonio and Foster Field in Victoria.

In April 1945, the Aztec Eagles made their way to the Philippines, joining forces with the U.S. 58th Fighter Group of the Fifth Air Force. Over their deployment, they flew an impressive 96 combat missions, successfully attacking Japanese forces.

Mexico's President Manuel Ávila Camacho pushed for the squadron's deployment to the Pacific, partly for his admiration of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, but also because he felt it could help liberate what he termed a people with "a continuity of idiom, history and traditions."

In recognition of their valor and contributions during World War II, the THC honored The Aztec Eagles with a historical marker at Victoria Regional Airport in 2007. This marker is recognizes the only Mexican military unit to see overseas combat during the war and remains a source of pride for two neighboring nations.

📸: 1. Republic P-47 Thunderbolt that Mexican pilots used in training / National Archives 2. Some of The Aztec Eagles / Getty Images by Bettmann