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W. C. Williams Building Historic Marker dedication scheduled for July 30, 2016 in Palacios, TX

The historic W. C. Williams Building, built in 1909, will officially be recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) during a ceremony scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM on …

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W. C. Williams Building shared Texas Back Roads's post — at W. C. Williams Building.

2 days ago

Some history from Texas Back Roads on Wiley Post and his round the world flights... #texashistory #wileypost #savetexashistory #texashistoricalcommission #texasbackroads Texas Historical Commission Friends of the Texas Historical CommissionTiTH: A Texan Flew Solo Around the World First

June 23

On this day in 1931, Texas native Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off in an attempt to fly around the world. Post, born at Corinth in Van Zandt County, was one of the best-known fliers in the world

He and Gatty circled the globe in 8 days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes. Their route passed through the northern latitudes and was some 15,000 miles long.

Two years later, Post beat his earlier time by more than twenty-one hours. He is most famous, however, for piloting the plane in which he and humorist Will Rogers died at Point Barrow, Alaska, on August 15, 1935.

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Drawn from 30 years of research, Forgotten Eagle: Wiley Post, America's Heroic Aviation Pioneer is a fascinating portrait of Wiley Post, the pilot who circled the earth alone in a single-engine plane. The book recreates his life, from his poverty-stricken childhood in Texas to a brief career in armed robbery that sent him to jail in 1921, to his mysterious death, and details how he overcame many challenges and obstacles to become a parachute jumper, stunt pilot, barnstormer, and record-setting aviator.

Discover more about Wiley Post's adventurous life: amzn.to/2twqsX1

Image Caption: "Wiley Post with his Lockheed Model 5C Vega, NR105W, at Floyd Bennet Field, Long Island, New York, 15 July 1933. (Rudy Arnold)"

Image Source & Additional Info: bit.ly/28Z0vWo ... See MoreSee Less

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W. C. Williams Building shared Texas Historical Commission's post — at W. C. Williams Building.

3 days ago

Remembering a Texas original, Audie Murphy. #savingtexashistory #texasicons #texashistory #texashistoricalcommission #williamsbuildingpalacios #texasbackroads #audiemurphy Texas Historical Commission Friends of the Texas Historical Commission Save Texas History! Texas Back RoadsThe most decorated soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy was born on this day in 1925 near Kingston in Hunt County. Told by the Marines, Army Airborne, and Navy that he was too small, he went to the Greenville post office after turning 17 (he claimed he was 18) to join the Army as a private.

He fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany with the 3rd Infantry Division. During the course of the war, he received dozens of medals and citations and was wounded three times in combat.

On January 26, 1945, near Holtzwihr, France, 2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, 15th Infantry Regiment, when it was attacked by six tanks and about 250 German infantrymen. He ordered his men to fall back while he directed artillery fire over a field telephone. He also fired the machine gun atop a burning tank destroyer to halt advancing troops. Alone and exposed to enemy fire from three sides, he kept up the fight for an hour.

When Murphy joined up with his company, they and reinforcements made a counterattack and regained their original positions. For his actions that day, Murphy received the Medal of Honor. He returned to a hero’s welcome, which was the cover story of Life magazine.

Murphy later starred in 44 movies, including portraying himself in the 1955 film adaptation of his autobiography, “To Hell and Back.” The State of Texas has placed historical markers in Celeste and near Kingston to commemorate his birthplace, and another in Farmersville to mark his homecoming. ... See MoreSee Less

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W. C. Williams Building shared Texas Historical Commission's post — at W. C. Williams Building.

3 days ago

Some history on one of this generation’s greatest songwriters and artists. A Texas boy no doubt. Worked with Kris several times over the years including the 1989 live concert documentary, “Breakthrough”, shot in Boulder, CO and the 1992 The Highwaymen Concert Tour Network TV Special in Las Vegas. What a great talent. #musicicons #texashistory #kriskristofferson #williamsbuildingpalacios #texashistoricalcommission #texasbackroads Texas Historical Commission Friends of the Texas Historical Commission Texas Back Roads ... See MoreSee Less

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W. C. Williams Building shared Texas General Land Office's post — at W. C. Williams Building.

4 days ago

The story of Houston’s first suburb... #savingtexashistory #texashistory #houstonheights #houstonhistory #texasbackroads #texashistoricalcommission #williamsbuildingpalacios Texas Historical Commission Friends of the Texas Historical Commission Texas Back Roads ... See MoreSee Less

Texas General Land Office

Learn the story of the Houston Heights, the first suburb of Houston. How did this popular part of Houston come to be? Share this story with your friends and learn more about Houston’s first suburb!

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W. C. Williams Building shared Texas Back Roads's post — at W. C. Williams Building.

6 days ago

If you are from Texas, you know “Juneteenth.” #juneteenth #texashistory #texasbackroads #texashistoricalcommission #williamsbuildingpalacios Texas Historical Commission Friends of the Texas Historical Commission Texas Back RoadsTiTH: Juneteenth

June 19

On June 19 ("Juneteenth"), 1865, Union general Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, which read in part, "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor." The tidings of freedom reached the approximately 250,000 slaves in Texas gradually as individual plantation owners informed their bondsmen over the months following the end of the war. The news elicited an array of personal celebrations, some of which have been described in The Slave Narratives of Texas (1974). The first broader celebrations of Juneteenth were used as political rallies and to teach freed African American about their voting rights. Within a short time, however, Juneteenth was marked by festivities throughout the state, some of which were organized by official Juneteenth committees.

The day has been celebrated through formal thanksgiving ceremonies at which the hymn "Lift Every Voice" furnished the opening. In addition, public entertainment, picnics, and family reunions have often featured dramatic readings, pageants, parades, barbecues, and ball games. Blues festivals have also shaped the Juneteenth remembrance. In Limestone County, celebrants gather for a three-day reunion organized by the Nineteenth of June Organization. Some of the early emancipation festivities were relegated by city authorities to a town's outskirts; in time, however, black groups collected funds to purchase tracts of land for their celebrations, including Juneteenth. A common name for these sites was Emancipation Park. In Houston, for instance, a deed for a ten-acre site was signed in 1872, and in Austin the Travis County Emancipation Celebration Association acquired land for its Emancipation Park in the early 1900s; the Juneteenth event was later moved to Rosewood Park. In Limestone County the Nineteenth of June Association acquired thirty acres, which has since been reduced to twenty acres by the rising of Lake Mexia.

Particular celebrations of Juneteenth have had unique beginnings or aspects. In the state capital, Juneteenth was first celebrated in 1867 under the direction of the Freedmen's Bureau and became part of the calendar of public events by 1872. Juneteenth in Limestone County has gathered "thousands" to be with families and friends. At one time 30,000 blacks gathered at Booker T. Washington Park, known more popularly as Comanche Crossing, for the event. One of the most important parts of the Limestone celebration is the recollection of family history, both under slavery and since. Another of the state's memorable celebrations of Juneteenth occurred in Brenham, where large, racially mixed crowds witness the annual promenade through town. In Beeville, black, white, and brown residents have also joined together to commemorate the day with barbecue, picnics, and other festivities.

Juneteenth declined in popularity in the early 1960s, when the civil-rights movement, with its push for integration, diminished interest in the event. In the 1970s African Americans' renewed interest in celebrating their cultural heritage led to the revitalization of the holiday throughout the state. At the end of the decade Representative Al Edwards, a Democrat from Houston, introduced a bill calling for Juneteenth to become a state holiday. The legislature passed the act in 1979, and Governor William P. Clements, Jr., signed it into law. The first state-sponsored Juneteenth celebration took place in 1980.
Juneteenth has also had an impact outside the state. Black Texans who moved to Louisiana and Oklahoma have taken the celebration with them. In 1991 the Anacostia Museum of the Smithsonian Institution sponsored "Juneteenth '91, Freedom Revisited," featuring public speeches, African-American arts and crafts, and other cultural programs. There, as in Texas, the state of its origin, Juneteenth has provided the public the opportunity to recall the milestone in human rights the day represents for African Americans.

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Many defenders of slavery have maintained that the slaves in Texas were well-treated and happy, but as a former slave remarked, "Tisn't he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is—'tis he who has endured."

Here are the tales of those who have endured—a collection of the voices of the ex-slaves themselves, recalling what their lives were like under slavery. Over one hundred former slaves describe their slavemasters, their work, runaway slaves, their recollections of the Civil War and, finally, the coming of freedom.

The narratives were collected by WPA interviewers in the late 1930s and subsequently edited by Ron Tyler and Lawrence R. Murphy. The Slave Narratives of Texas is a highly informative and readable book that provides a valuable history of the institution of slavery in Texas. It is also a profoundly moving text which yields great insight into the full impact of slavery upon human lives: amzn.to/2JSyELm

Image Caption: On June 19, 1865, Major Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the news that the Civil War was over and all slaves were to be freed. An excerpt of General Order No. 3 was published in newspapers across Texas.

Image Source: bit.ly/1lMfwXn

If you're interested in this topic, we’ve included a book suggestion so you can find out more about what piques your curiosity. Please note: we are not affiliated with the author, publisher or seller, but should you decide to purchase one of the books we suggest, we will receive a small commission from Amazon. This commission is at no additional cost to you but helps support the work we do to provide you with interesting travel, history, and culture from across Texas. ... See MoreSee Less

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The W. C. Williams Building, built in 1909, has been a cornerstone and anchor to the commercial and cultural life of Palacios and Matagorda County Texas for 109 years.

In February 2015, the structure was designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) by the Texas Historical Commission.

In July 2016, the RTHL Marker was dedicated by the Matagorda County Historical Commission and the Texas Historical Commission.

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W. C. Williams Building Historic Marker Dedication ceremony was recently held in Palacios, TX
W. C. Williams Building Historic Marker dedication scheduled for July 30, 2016 in Palacios, TX