"Come And Take It" Gonzales fired the first shot for Texas Independence in the shadow of a homemade battle flag. Gonzales mustered the only volunteers to answer Colonel William Travis' call for help from the besieged Alamo. The Immortal 32 as the brave men and boys that responded will be forever remembered in Texas history.
Gonzales was the rallying point for volunteers after the fall of the Alamo. In the face of Santa Anna's advancing Army, General Sam Houston torched the town as the women and children followed him on the Runaway Scrape from ashes to victory at San Jacinto. Gonzales rebuilt a city that immortalizes freedom and has stood the test of time.
At our tour of the Old Jailhouse, we picked up a guide to tour the city. Actually, you can hook up with a gentleman through the Old Jailhouse who will do the driving tour with you and provide all kinds of historical information as well as taking you to each stop. He doesn't charge but a donation would be nice as it will take an hour and a half. We didn't have time to wait until he finished the tour he was just starting then and didn't plan to do the tour this trip but we saw a site or two and got hooked. I don't think we saw them all but it was a fun tour anyway with Mary Jane navigating and following the guide while I drove. We did stop to take pictures.
Gonzales County Courthouse, 1896, designed by J. Riely Gordon on Courthouse Square.
Texas Heroes Square
Andrew Ponton
First Baptist Church of Gonzales
Red brick house built in 1913 by banker O.B. Robertson. Looks remarkably like the courthouse.
The Eggleston House built by Horace Eggleston in 1845. It is the oldest standing structure in Gonzales. Dogtrot style log cabin. The Egglestons, their 5 children, and her mother lived in this house.
Frank Vrazel hous, 1925.
S.H. Hopkins House, 1911, designed by architect Atlee B. Ayres.
Charles Hoskins House, 1911. Designed by Atlee B. Ayres.
C.T. Rather house, 1892.
J.P. Randall house, 1898
Paul Levyson house, 1877.
The Alcalde Hotel, built in 1926 by Aref Droupy. Legend tells of visit by Bonnie & Clyde who escaped through second floor window as police approached. Elvis also stayed here in the early years of his career.
Belle Oaks
C.A.Burchard house, 1897
Everett Lawley house, 1921
Milton Eastland house, 1896
J.C Bright house, 1911. Originally built in the middle of the block, it was moved to the corner to make room for his daughter's house when she married.
James Patek house, 1926
J.J. Fouts house, 1902
1885, T.N. Matthews house, better known as the J.B. Wells residence. Barns and servant's quarters on grounds. Built of Florida long-leaf pine shipped through Indianola.
W.J. Bright house, 1885. Walls of the original log cabin are contained within the walls of this house.
J.C. Bright house, 1898. Built by parents while bride and groom were on their honeymoon.
Dr. J.C. Jones house, 1885, remodeled in 1950.
R.S. Dilworth hous, 1893
J.W. Bailey house, 1897
H.W. Matthews house, 1911
1910 built by lumber-man George Ewing
J.F. Miller house, 1901, in process of restoration. This house and property take up a block.
Solomon Joseph house, 1893
E.S. Atkinson house, 1884
T.J. Pilgrim house, 1877. Pilgrim was one of the pioneers of Gonzales, starting the first Sunday School in Texas.
Solomon Joseph house, 1900, Original location of Suzann & Almaron Dickinson house.
29 September 1835, the "Come and Take It" cannon was buried in the George Davis fruit orchard to hide it from the Mexican army. Two days later it was dug up, mounted on a cart, and fired at the Mexican Army....the first shot of the revolution.
Mary Jane and I did this driving tour with me driving and taking pictures while she navigated. We definitely didn't get all the historic sites on the driving tour. Hopefully, I got the pictures properly labeled. They do have a guide for this driving tour and I'm sure you would get a lot more historic information. Check at the Jailhouse. I would take advantage of the free tour guide if you have the time.
