Remembering San Felipe de Austin

Remembering San Felipe de Austin. . , Beginning in the 1920s local leaders looked for ways to commemorate this important colonial Texas history site. After 15 years planning and developing the property for its transition to the State in 1940, local supporters created a Friends organization that continues to provide volunteers and financial assistance for the site., 1928 marked the completion of the first memorials at the site - the obelisk and the preservation of the colonial well. In 1934 the first replica log cabin was built in preparation for the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration. A local letter-writing campaign succeeded in bringing the Centennial bronze statue of Austin to San Felipe, the only town where he ever owned a home in Texas. The Josey Store mercantile building (circa 1847) moved onto the state site in the early 1970s, after its conversion to a local museum just a few years before., Captions , Celebrating the Memorial effort , Betty Moore in 2008 and 1938, In November of 2008, Moses Austin descendant Betty Moore indulged attendees at the annual Father of Texas celebration by re-creating the unveiling of the Austin statue, as she'd done 70 years before for the statue's dedication., In 1928, community leaders installed the central obelisk commemorating Austin and his colonists. County school children collected coins to support the project and these buttons promoted the effort., In 2008, descendants of Austin's original settlers, known as the "Old 300", met at San Felipe and came to honor their ancestors and show support for the site's development. Genealogical groups like this help provide a direct link to the past and to keep this history in the public eye., In 1983, the site was designated as a State Archeological Landmark. This one-bit section of a Spanish 8 reales coin (minted sometime between 1731 and 1770 in Mexico City - note the "M" mint mark) was discovered during archeological investigations in 2009. It was common in the 17th and 18th centuries for users to "make change" by cutting the coins into smaller denominations. One bit would be valued at 1/8th of a dollar, or 12.5 cents., This snapshot from the summer of 1938 shows Austin County residents Doris Schier with her father Elmore and grandmother Mrs. John C. Schier. The Austin state was awaiting installation.