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The
Top Ten Facts About The Construction of THE SAN JACINTO MONUMENTby
Johnny Stucco
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| | Aerial
View of the San Jacinto Monument
Photo Courtesy Captain Robert L. Sadler,
Jr. |
| The
San Jacinto Monument was designed by the prolific Houston architect Alfred
Finn to commemorate the Centennial of the Battle of San Jacinto.
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. |
| | Aerial
View of the San Jacinto Monument Photo Courtesy Captain Robert L. Sadler,
Jr. |
BONUS
FACT: (Bring
this up quietly when you visit Washington D.C.) The San Jacinto Monument IS
taller than the Washington Monument. |
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Related
Articles: 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."Alfonso
(Alphonso) Steele, last Texas survivor of the battle of San Jacinto 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. |
©
John Troesser Our
special thanks to Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr. for providing us with his
photos of the San Jacinto Monument. - Editor
June 2001
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