“We have visitors from all 50 states and from more than 60 nations each year,” says San Jacinto Museum of History Association (SJMHA) president Larry Spasic. “One of the first questions almost everyone asks is, Who built this monument and why is it so big? Then we explain the importance of this site.”

With troops commanded by General Sam Houston, Texas won its independence from Mexico in the pivotal San Jacinto battle that was fought at the site in 1836, leading to Texas statehood and to the eventual expansion of United States boundaries west to the Pacific Ocean. Texas Centennial Commission chairman Jesse Jones (also Houston Endowment’s benefactor) laid the cornerstone for the monument at a 1937 ceremony, saying, “There would be no United States as we know it today had it not been for San Jacinto.” The monument was one of many permanent shrines established across the state by the Commission to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Texas Revolution.

Today the San Jacinto monument, the battleground site and the Battleship Texas that served in World Wars I and II are part of a 1,200-acre state park operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The SJMHA is located at the base of the monument, which, Spasic says, “may be the tallest memorial stone column in the world.” He adds, “The SJMHA interprets the importance of the battle and shows how it affects people today.”

The SJMHA houses an extensive collection that covers 400 years of Texas history. It offers exhibitions, a surround-sound movie about the Texas Revolution screened in the Jesse H. Jones Theatre for Texas Studies and an unobstructed view of the battleground from the top of the monument, where explanatory signs and a video presentation bring the ground-level experiences together. Each April the museum stages a reenactment of the momentous battle, and volunteer organizations replicate the Mexican and Texian camps, immersing some 30,000 visitors in experiences from that time. The museum also provides certified in-service training so teachers can take information about Texas and U.S. history back to the classroom.

Spasic says, “People leave the museum understanding why the Battle of San Jacinto was so important and how it influences our world today.” He adds, “It’s nice that people can come here and walk on the ground that is so special and sacred to Texas.”