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Top Ten Facts
About The Construction of
THE SAN JACINTO MONUMENT
by Johnny Stucco |
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Aerial
View of the San Jacinto Monument
Photo Courtesy Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr. |
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The San Jacinto
Monument was designed by the prolific Houston
architect Alfred Finn to commemorate the Centennial of
the Battle
of San Jacinto. (See The
San Jacinto Centennial Association and the Houston observances during
the Texas Centennial of 1936 by Mark W. Lambert)
There is no particular order of importance to the entries - numbers
are provided to save the reader the trouble of counting.
1. Despite what your uncle told you, no one was buried alive
in wet concrete.
2. Only 35 of the 150 men hired had construction experience.
3. After completion, the mast and boom were removed by lowering
them through the elevator shaft since the taper of the monument
wouldn't allow lowering.
4. The shaft rose at the rate of 24 feet per week.
5. The working platform (which rose as the shaft was built)
weighted 65 tons.
6. The star on the top weighs 220 tons.
7. The 3 dimensional star is 34 feet from point to point.
8. The sculpted stone panels immediately above the museum
weigh 4 tons each.
9. The re-enforcement bars were 2 inches by 2 inches and
110 feet long.
10. The bars were easily bent, but were straightened by a
railroad rail-straightening device that the contractor borrowed
from a local railroad yard.
BONUS FACT:
(Bring this up quietly when you visit Washington D.C.)
The San Jacinto Monument IS taller than the Washington Monument.
Getting There:
22 miles East of downtown Houston
via Hwy 225 and 134 |
San Jacinto
Monument Related History:
San
Jacinto Monument by Mike Cox ("Texas Tales")
"Most people think the towering star-topped limestone monument,
built during the Texas Centennial in 1936, is the only San Jacinto
monument. Actually, it’s only the biggest."
The
San Jacinto Centennial Association and the Houston observances during
the Texas Centennial of 1936 by Mark W. Lambert
Alfonso
(Alphonso) Steele, last Texas survivor of the battle of San Jacinto
The
Battle of San Jacinto by Jeffrey Robenalt
The
Battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836 by Murrary Montgomery
The
Last Hero by Bob Bowman
The last surviving veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto on April
21, 1836, lies in an almost forgotten cemetery in deep East Texas
The
Treaty of Velasco by Archie P. McDonald
General Sam Houston, and later Interim President David G. Burnett,
chose negotiation instead of revenge for the massacres at the Alamo
and Goliad.
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Aerial
View of the San Jacinto Monument
Photo Courtesy Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr. |
San Jacinto Monument
Photo courtesy Tom Wells |
©
John Troesser
First published June 2001
Our special thanks to Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr. for providing
us with his photos of the San Jacinto Monument. - Editor |
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