A marine blowing into a trumpet at the San Jacinto Monument

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Calendar

Museum Hours Today
9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Site Hours Today
9 a.m.-6 p.m.

LocationOne Monument Circle
La Porte (Houston), Texas 77571

Featured Events

EventCycling Saturdays

EventFamily Day

EventPicture Yourself at San Jacinto

Living history reenactor demonstrating spinning.

EventSpinning and Weaving

EventBird Watching at the Battleground

The top of the monument beside the head of Linda English.

EventLecture: Gender and the Runaway Scrape

A row of 5 reenactors fire muskets or rifles.

EventFire! Arms Demo

EventExperience San Jacinto

EventFlag Day Flag Making

EventFrontier Toy Touch Table

A quill pen rests against a glass ink bottle topped with a cork.

EventQuill and Ink

EventLecture: The Texas Navy and San Jacinto

July 11, 2022

EventTales from the Tombstone: Candlelight Graveyard Tours

ClosureMuseum and Site Closed to Prepare for Fields of Honor

The Museum and Site will be closed on December 2 as volunteers and staff work to prepare and set up for Fields of Honor: A Luminous Tribute at San Jacinto.

ClosureMuseum Closed for Thanksgiving

The San Jacinto Museum and the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Both will be open on the following Friday.

EventScenes From San Jacinto

Bring the San Jacinto of 1836 back to life by making your own homemade diorama. We’ll provide the materials; you just need to bring your imagination.

EventDemonstration Day - Butter Churning

Join us for a butter-churning demonstration and make your own butter! Yum!

EventDemonstration Day - Haversack Packing

Recurring EventPicture Yourself at San Jacinto

Receive a complimentary instant photograph of yourself or your group in front of the historic San Jacinto Monument. Learn about its rich history and explore a pop-up gallery showcasing visitors’ photos throughout the years.

Recurring EventSpinning and Weaving

Learn more about traditional spinning and weaving at a demonstration from the Bay Area Weavers and Spinners every third Saturday at the San Jacinto Museum.

EventCareer Day - Educator

Explore the fascinating world behind the exhibits and discover the diverse career opportunities within the museum industry.

EventSan Jacinto Day Celebration

Join us for a day of fun, history, and reenactments celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. Reenactors dressed in period clothing make the epic events of April 1836 come alive, and reenactments throughout the day will recreate the dramatic events that led to the battle.

LectureLecture: Myths, Mistakes, and Misunderstandings

What are some of our popular misconceptions about the Battle of San Jacinto? Find out from James E. Crisp in this History Under the Stars talk on March 16, 2024.

EventWho Was the Yellow Rose?

Learn more about the real story of Emily West and make your own yellow rose out of tissue paper in her honor.

EventCareer Day: Curator

Learn what a curator does and ask questions about artifact handling, exhibit design, and more.

EventButter Churning

Try your hand at churning butter using both a dash churn and a shake jar. You’ll even get to take your butter home with you!

EventThe Threads of Revolution

Learn more about the clothes worn by the soldiers fighting in the Texas Revolution and the civilians fleeing in the Runaway Scrape and make your own Texas Revolution paper doll.

EventCome and Give It!

Did you know that Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center needs 1000 donations a day to meet the needs of our community? Carry on the Texan spirit of friendship and camaraderie by donating blood!

EventQuill and Ink

Writing two hundred years ago required tools very different from the pens and pencils we use today - quills and ink! Come try your hand at writing with a quill and ink.

EventCamp Life: Laundry

Learn how laundry was done in the 1830s and help us clean some bandanas with an old-fashioned washtub and washboard. You might even get to take your bandana home with you once it’s dry!

EventFlags of the Texas Revolution

The Texians created and used multiple flags throughout the Texan Revolution. Discover what our six flags represent and learn about the study of vexillology while creating your own flag.

EventDemo Day: Tortilla Making

Women, at home and following the Mexican army, made tortillas every morning. Come and see how tortillas would have been made in the 1830s.

EventSpring Break Programs

Head to the San Jacinto Battleground March 13th through 16th for family fun outdoors.

LectureLecture: Gender and the Runaway Scrape

In the waning moments of the rebellion, fear of defeat prompted larger questions of what it meant to be a man and woman in a period of war and retreat.

EventFire! Arms Demo

Experience some of the thunderous sounds of battle as staff demonstrate how to fire a musket and rifle, weapons both the Mexican and Texian armies utilized.

EventCandle Making

See a demonstration of the candle-making process frontiersmen and women used to create light for their homes.

EventExperience San Jacinto

Experience San Jacinto is a three-day summer camp program that immerses the participant in history through a variety of living history activities and demonstrations.

EventLa Porte Free Thursdays

Free admission to La Porte residents with proof of residency on Thursdays in June and July.

EventFrontier Toy Touch Table

Have fun with toys of the past and learn about frontier childhood.

EventFlag Day Flag Making

Learn something new about the United States and Texas Revolution flags and the symbols that show their country's ideals, values, and features.

EventPicnic at the Park Day

Enjoy picnicking at one of the numerous beautiful spots at San Jacinto on International Picnic Day.

EventDemo Day: Drop Spindle Spinning

Hardworking frontierswomen spun cotton, flax, or wool into thread. Learn about the history of textile spinning and witness a live demonstration of thread spinning on a drop spindle.

EventDemo Day: Ink Making

Frontier settlers could create their own ink, using oak galls, berries, cloves, bark, and more - learn how some real 19th century ink recipes were made.

EventTalk in an Elevator Day

Strike up a conversation and share knowledge in the elevator to the observation deck 489 feet in the air on Elevator Day.

Recurring EventFire! Arms Demo

Experience some of the thunderous sounds of battle as San Jacinto Battleground staff demonstrate how to fire a cannon and a musket, weapons both armies used on the fateful day that won Texan independence.

LectureLecture: The Texas Navy and San Jacinto

One factor that shaped the victory on April 21, 1836, wasn’t anywhere near San Jacinto that day: the officers and crews of the Texian Navy.

Recurring EventCycling Saturdays

Every second Saturday of the month, the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic site opens two hours early just for bicyclists. Free, and open to all ages.

Recurring EventBird Watching at the Battleground

The native prairie, tidal marsh, and bottomland forest are home to more than 200 species of birds. The grounds open two hours early so birders and photographers can enjoy early morning at the site, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

EventThank You, Veterans

Exhibit Opening - After the Battle of San Jacinto

EventSan Jacinto Ceremony

The official celebration of the Battle of San Jacinto, complete with the reading of General Houston's report of the battle and a black powder salute.

Recurring EventFamily Day

Family Day takes place on the first Saturday of every month. Children enter for free when accompanied by an adult family member who purchases a ticket. Living history programs make the day fun and educational for all.

Recurring EventCandy Cartridges

Recurring EventBattleground Bike Tour

EventSan Jacinto Celebration 2023

Join us for a day of fun, food, history, and reenactments celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. Reenactors dressed in period clothing make the epic events of April 1836 come alive, and reenactments throughout the day will recreate the dramatic events that led to the battle.

Recurring EventBattleground Van Tour

Discover the San Jacinto Battleground as you've never seen it before on a staff-led van tour of the battlefield.

EventFeeding an Army

It's said that an army travels on it’s stomach, and that was no less true for the Texian revolutionaries in 1836. Try making your own campfire bread, just like the rebel soldiers did 187 years ago!

Recurring EventMusket and Cannon Demo

Recurring EventBoom: Cannon Demonstration

Learn how to load a cannon and watch regular cannon firing demonstrations.

EventMake a Cup & Ball Toy

Perfect your technique with your own homemade cup and ball. Join us this Saturday to make your own. We’ll provide the materials; you just need to bring your imagination!

EventKnit in Public Day

EventLecture: San Jacinto - The Experience of Battle

EventTexas Revolution Touch Table

Come play with replicas of 19th-century toys, weapons, tools, food, clothing, and much more. Learn all about the battle of San Jacinto and life on the Texas frontier, and imagine yourself in the shoes of a soldier or pioneer.

EventMake a Buzzsaw Toy

EventLecture: The Yellow Rose of Texas

The lyrics of “The Yellow Rose of Texas” are familiar to all Texans, but the true story behind the song is lost in myth and legend. Learn how the “Yellow Rose of Texas” became the unofficial state anthem and how grit and determination brought a free Black woman from the abolitionist riots of Connecticut to the thick of a bloody Texas revolution.

EventAmmo of the Texas Revolution

Learn how bullets were made and how ammunition worked during the Texas Revolution. Kids can also help make a wax bullet to take home. Suitable for kids aged 5 and up, this activity is free and takes place outside.

EventJoin the Texian Army!

At the Join the Texian Army spring break program, you can watch cannon demonstrations, participate in living history demonstrations, and enjoy some arts and crafts activities. It’s fun for the whole family!

EventThe Past, Present, and Future of San Jacinto

EventForaging San Jacinto

EventSan Jacinto Texas Independence Fun Run

Are you ready for the annual San Jacinto Texas Independence Fun Run? There will be 10- and 5K runs, a 5K walk, and a 1K Kids run.

EventLife on the Frontier: Butter Churning

Join us this Family Day for a butter-churning demonstration and make your own butter! You even get to take your homemade butter home with you! Yum!

EventLecture: Houston Deco

EventSurviving the Runaway Scrape

Join us in the San Jacinto Family Day program to hear real stories of the Runaway Scrape and see if you can make it to safety in the “Surviving the Runaway Scrape” game!

EventCelebrating the Lone Star

Celebrate the Lone Star flag of Texas by learning more about how it came to be and some of the Revolutionary flags that pre-dated it. Kids (and crafty adults) can try their hand at making a flag, either from history or their own imagination

ClosedMuseum Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday

EventMake Your Own Corn Husk Doll

EventLecture: Houston, Military Traditions, and San Jacinto

EventFall Fandango - Cancelled

Special ExhibitSpecial Exhibit: A Monumental Experience

Lobby ExhibitLobby Exhibit: The Texas Navy

Lobby ExhibitLobby Exhibit: The French in Texas

ExhibitAfter the Battle of San Jacinto

The nearly ten year period when Texas was a Republic brought conflict, challenges, and growth to the new nation.

EventLife on the Frontier: Spinning and Weaving

Learn more about traditional spinning and weaving at a demonstration from the Bay Area Weavers and Spinners every third Saturday at the San Jacinto Museum.

EventTexas Revolution Hats

During the Battle of San Jacinto, the Tejano soldiers tucked cards into their hatbands to distinguish them from the Mexican soldados. Join us and make your own hat from the Texas Revolution!

EventLife on the Frontier: Medicine Making

Learn about historic medicine and try making your own by grinding cinnamon bark in a mortar and pestle at our September life on the frontier program.

EventMake a Cartridge Box

Mexican soldiers and U.S. soldiers who deserted their regiment to join the Texas cause carried premade ammunition in a special container called a cartridge box. This Sunday, make your own cartridge box at the San Jacinto Museum.

EventA Yellow Rose in Texas

EventDirt Detectives

In honor of Texas Archeology Mont, we’ve created puzzles using images of real artifacts found during archeological excavations at the San Jacinto Battleground. See if you can put them back together, and figure out what the object is and what it was used for, just like a real archeologist!

EventSan Jacinto Fall Fandango

Experience the vibrant spirit of the 1830s at the San Jacinto Fall Fandango. In a frontier world where neighbors lived miles apart, social gatherings like fandangos were essential to tight-knit communities. This event is free.

LectureLecture: The Road to San Jacinto

The often-unpopular decisions Houston made on the road to San Jacinto eventually led to his victory at San Jacinto. Without knowing how the Texas Army reached the fields at San Jacinto, Houston’s true skill as a military leader cannot be understood. In “The Road to San Jacinto,” author Dave Dyer retraces Houston’s route east based on extensive primary and secondary research, bringing each one back to life.

EventFields of Honor: A Luminous Tribute at San Jacinto

Fields of Honor: A Luminous Tribute at San Jacinto will take place on Saturday, December 2, 2023, to commemorate the sacrifice of the over 21,500 Texans who have given their lives in armed conflict. Volunteer groups are being sought to participate by placing and picking up 21,500 candles on the San Jacinto Battlefield to visually depict what President Abraham Lincoln called “the last full measure of devotion.”

Texas Revolution Paper Dolls

Jesse H. Jones TheatreTexas Forever!! The Battle of San Jacinto

Watch this award-winning, 35-minute multimedia production vividly depicting the events of the Texas Revolution and Battle of San Jacinto. Showtimes: Every hour, on the hour.