History

Step through the doors of historic homes and inns, and imagine the lives of the people who inhabited these places. Explore the frontier forts that protected early Texans, and walk along the paths where the Buffalo Soldiers served. Or visit the birthplace of Texas liberty, and imagine what Texas soldiers must have felt as they fought for and won independence.

Archeological Sites

• Caprock Canyons - Site of Lake Theo Paleoindian archeological excavation.
• Dinosaur Valley - Home to some of the best preserved dinosaur tracks in the world.

Pictograph Sites

• Big Bend Ranch - Remote examples of transitional-style pictographs.
• Devils River - Remote examples of Lower Pecos style rock painting.
• Hueco Tanks - Unique masks and figures within a massive rock labyrinth.
• Seminole Canyon - World renown rock painting shelters of the Lower Pecos.

Historic Houses and Structures

• Fanthorp Inn - A stagecoach inn during the Republic and Early Statehood.
• Fort Leaton - Adobe fortress built in 1848, by scalphunter Ben Leaton.
• Goliad - Site of restored Spanish mission, Espiritu Santo de Zuniga.
• Kreische Brewery - Ruins of a unique 1870s German brewery.
• Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery - Ruins of a unique 1870s German brewery.
• Sebastopol House - An 1850s Greek Revival house, built of concrete!
• Washington-on-the-Brazos - Independence Hall is the birthplace of the Republic of Texas.

Historic Missions

• Mission Espiritu Santo - Located at Goliad State Park and Historic Site
• Mission Rosario State Historic Site - In Goliad, Texas.

Military History Frontier Forts

• Fort Richardson - Home of Colonel Ranald Mackenzie's 4th Cavalry.

More information on frontier forts from www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts.

Battlegrounds:

• San Jacinto Battleground - Where Texas won independence from Mexico.

20th Century

• Battleship TEXAS - Restored dreadnought, veteran of two World Wars.

Commemorative Sites

• Lipantitlan - Near the sites of an 1835 battle during the Texas Revolution and a Mexican fort of the same name.
• Lyndon B. Johnson - Established in honor of our 36th President, located across the Pedernales River from the Texas White House and LBJ's gravesite in the National Historical Park.
• Monument Hill - The tomb of Texas martyrs, victims of the Battle of Salado (1842) and the notorious "Black Bean Incident" (1843).
• San Jacinto Monument - Tallest monument in US, on site of the famous battle.
• Zaragoza Birthplace - Birthplace of Mexican hero, General Ignacio Zaragoza, who defeated the French at Puebla, Mexico, May 5, 1862.

Living History Sites:

• Sauer-Beckmann Farm at Lyndon B. Johnson - A restored 1918 German farmstead.
• Penn Farm at Cedar Hill - A restored 1950's farm.
• Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos - A Reconstructed 1850's farmstead.

Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)

Below is a listing of TPWD parks that were built or improved by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal "make work" program, during the Great Depression in the 1930s and early 1940s.