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May 2006
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At the most recent Greater Houston Coin Club meeting our good friend Jim Bevill brought along a great program on Texas currency. His knowledge of the intricacies of the history of the Texas Republic is as impressive as the collection of documents his PowerPoint displayed. He did an excellent job covering the interesting world of the Republic of Texas. Of course, I found the program most inspirational because I too enjoy a quality piece of Texana and the stories that any such item will tell.
One of the areas Jim called us to examine was a small spot on the Eastern Texas coast line called Velasco. In 1836 Velasco was for a brief while the capital of the new Republic of Texas. Today what was a relocated Velasco is a geographic region which is part of Freeport. A few old institutions such as the Velasco Methodist Church are around to tell the story and point to the history.
The original Velasco, in the insight offered by Jim, was located near where the little town of Surfside Beach is today. I know this to be true in a real way. Some years back, twenty three or more to be nearly exact, I lived in Lake Jackson, a city of some consequence population-wise just north of the Gulf, Freeport and Dow Chemical. Surfside was up the coast and quite easy to get to. At the same time I hooked on to the Brazoria County Historical Society and helped share a little labor to set up the Brazoria County museum in the old county court house building in Angleton.
One of the meetings of the Society was near Surfside in the salt grass between the road and the water. At the time of our visit, Surfside was basically deserted. It was mid-winter and not conducive to water related activities, even though the “Jesus is Lord Surf Shop,” my personal favorite, remained open all year. That is another story for a later time.
Our purpose for being at Surfside Beach on that day was to explore a recently “discovered” area. Along with a map and some “recollecting,” one of the local historians had stumbled upon what he was sure to be the foundation of old Fort Velasco where a military skirmish took place back in 1832. We were led to the spot and certainly saw something in the ground. The discovery was fairly large, round, and buried several feet below the surface. To an inexperienced eye it looked like the large circle in which we were standing was of more primitive material than we use today. It just might have been the foundation of Fort Velasco and the very center of the town by the same name which surrounded the fort over one hundred and seventy years ago.
Shortly after the event just spoken of we moved out of the area. As I recall the historical folk had made the decision to keep the site quiet until more research and excavation could be done. I haven’t heard anything of it since, nor do I believe I could find the place even if I wanted to. The sand and underbrush has long since reclaimed the location.
The point of all of this is simple; the things of history are here to be found. I’d certainly put numismatic treasures of all kinds on the list. With coins, paper money, tokens, exonumia of all forms and types, we can “hold history in our hands.”
Jim told us briefly about Velasco at the April 20th Greater Houston Coin Club meeting. Honestly, until he mentioned the community I hadn’t given much thought to Velasco in some years. Today it is back in my head and all the memories of my time in Brazosport are floating around again.
I trust that all of us can share like memories and experiences; times when the past was within grasp, when one could look at what has been and be thankful because that time and our time have come together, even if just for a brief moment. At the very least, looking at signs of the past will help us understand where we have come from and perhaps help us to appreciate even more where we are and what significant legacies we will be able to leave for the future.
Have a great week, see you on the 18th of May, if not before
Regards and God Bless,
Richard
