The Battle of San Jacinto was the culminating military event of the Texas Revolution. On April 21, 1836, Texan troops under General Sam Houston defeated a Mexican Army, led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The San Jacinto Battleground is of state, national and international significance and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Texas Parks and Wildlife s primary mission for the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site is to commemorate the battle and to preserve the battleground.

Landscape Architect's Role:

The Landscape Architect was the prime consultant that directed a project team of seven sub consultants including archaeologists, hydraulic engineers, civil engineers, historic architectural specialists, historians and graphic/exhibit designers. The goal of this project was to develop a master plan that provided an accurate depiction of the landscape and events that occurred in the most significant battle in the history of Texas. The documents that have been prepared establish the conceptual design of the project.. illustrating the scale and relationship of the project components and development of the interpretation plan. Funding for the project ($12,000,000) is being provided by the State of Texas.

Resolution:

The conceptual plan and schematic phase are complete and have been approved and submitted to the Client in preparation for the next phases of work. The project requirements for this historic landscape restoration included.

·         A discovery phase which included a compilation of existing cultural and physical data:

·         A Cultural Landscape Report and Discovery Report to respond to The Secretary or the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Special investigation went into the areas of topography (personal watercolor painting interpretation of Sam Houston Jr. and Army Corps of Engineers documents from the 1800' s, plant species and tree configurations that affected the Battle, aerial and other historic photographs. Land Grant survey documents, over 150 eye witness reports, historian interpretations, and archeological field investigations.

·         Conceptual Master Plan included a diagram of the proposed site layout including planning for the facilities layout, site   location, relation to circulation and support infrastructure and related parking

·         Schematic Plan included the following:

Demolition of elements that are not historic to 1836

Topographic reconstruction

Circulation: vehicular and pedestrian

Entry and approach development to the site

Battle line interpretation

Texan and Mexican Camp interpretation            

Monument treatment

Removal or relocation of non-contributing structures, memorials, and gravesites USS Texas Battleship interpretation

Interpretive Graphic and Signage Master Plan Sustainable design techniques to enhance the restoration

The Landscape Architect developed a project approach that addressed:

·         The historical significance. changes in ownership and physical evolution of the site since the Battle

·         History of the park's configuration, development and use since the Battle

·         Archeological verification of the battlefield configuration with particular emphasis on the Mexican camp, the location of the final battle. This investigation involved locating previous road locations and advanced metal detecting which yielded various artifacts from the Battle.

·         Historical research to recreate the cultural and physical conditions of the Battleground in April 1836 (topographic, vegetative, and cultural)

·         Studies and documentation of the site based on the knowledge of historians' and veterans' writings

·         Illustrating and interpreting the specific camp locations, the lines of battle, the actual battle locations where the fighting occurred, and locating the areas with the greatest loss of life.

Planning Design Philosophy:

The physical nature of the site during the time of the Battle tells a compelling narrative. This includes the location of the historic ferry crossing., New Washington Road, wetlands where the greatest loss of life occurred, the topographic character of the site which included a ridge that hid both camps, and the open tall grass prairie that blocked the view of the advancing troops. All of these natural elements have been destroyed or hidden overtime . Our approach was to recreate this landscape to the greatest extent possible so we could begin to tell the story of the Battle, its' participants and those that lost their lives. Our goal was to take the visitor back to April 1836 and allow them experience the Battle as the participants did by following the advance lines in real time, while understanding the physical characteristics of the site that had a tremendous impact on the outcome.

Impact and Significance:

As to the Battle and the story we are interpreting the significance is best stated on the base of the great monument that marks its site: "Measured by its results, San Jacinto was one of the decisive battles of the world. The freedom of Texas from Mexico won here led to the annexation and the other Mexican War, resulting in the acquisition by the United States of the states of Texas, New Mexico., Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming. Kansas and Oklahoma. Almost one-third of the present area of the American nation, nearly a million square miles, changed sovereignty."

Special or Unique Solutions:

The site and its context have dramatically changed over the last 169 years. The area is surrounded by the largest petrochemical industry in the U.S. Special visual analysis studies were used to insure that the visitor's experience would not be interrupted by off site views. The plan also calls for aggressive measures that include removal of a formal reflection pool and axial roadway that were part of the 1936 memorial. The roads, buildings, parking and unrelated memorials and gravesites that confuse the interpretation of this Historic Site., will be removed or relocated. A new Visitor's Center and museum site have been located on the current levee to act as an interpretation point for the visitor. The Visitor's Center will provide an introduction to the site and will act as a starting point for the visitor to begin his or her journey across the Battleground.