DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand | |
Location | 100 blk. W. Constitution, Victoria, Texas |
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Coordinates | 28°47′57″N97°0′22″W / 28.79917°N 97.00611°W Coordinates: 28°47′57″N97°0′22″W / 28.79917°N 97.00611°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1839 |
Architect | Edward Linn, J.D. Mitchell |
Architectural style | Bandstand |
MPS | Victoria MRA |
NRHP reference No. | 86002584 [1] |
RTHL No. | 289 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | March 24, 1987 |
Designated RTHL | 1965 |
DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand is 1.77 acres originally platted as the center of the city of Victoria, county of Victoria, in the U.S. state of Texas. The bandstand stood nearby the plaza until it was moved to the center of the plaza in 1923. The William P. Rogers chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy contracted with sculptor Pompeo Coppini for the DeLeon Plaza's 1912 monument to the Confederacy The Last Stand (aka Firing Line).
On March 24, 1987, DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Victoria County, Texas. In 1965, the bandstand was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, Marker number 289. In 1998, the plaza was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, Marker number 12273. [2]
When Victoria, Texas was founded by empresario Martín De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza De León, they named it after Guadalupe Victoria, who had just become the first president of Mexico. [3] The town was platted by surveyor José María Jesús Carbajal [4] around a Market Square designed in 1839 by Edward Linn and known today as DeLeon Plaza. The bandstand at the center of the plaza was built prior to 1885. [5]
Sculptor Pompeo Coppini was paid $5,000, raised by the William P. Rogers chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to create the plaza's monument The Last Stand (aka Firing Line) in 1912. The unveiling was held on July 12 of that year. The celebratory event was the scene of a parade and a barbecue that was free to everyone. The ceremony included various dignitaries, two Union Army veterans, and twelve Confederate States Army veterans. [6]
In 1923, the "Memorial White Way" lighting was turned on at DeLeon Plaza. [7] That same year the bandstand was moved from a nearby location and placed over the site of the town's old water source. [8]
The landscaping was re-done in 1940 as a project of the Works Progress Administration under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose public works and welfare projects helped many people throughout the South. [9] Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Pickering completed a restoration of the bandstand in 1962. That same year, a Six Flags monument was placed on the plaza at the corner of Main and Constitution streets. The plaza today has twenty-three benches and forty-seven trees of live oak, elm, pecan, ash, magnolia, and redwood. [10]
On December 31, 1986, a time capsule was placed in DeLeon Plaza, to be opened at the 2036 Texas Bicentennial. [11]
Pompeo Luigi Coppini was an Italian born sculptor who emigrated to the United States. Although his works can be found in Italy, Mexico and a number of U.S. states, the majority of his work can be found in Texas. He is particularly famous for the Alamo Plaza work Spirit of Sacrifice a.k.a. The Alamo Cenotaph, as well as numerous statues honoring Texan figures.
Littlefield Fountain is a World War I memorial monument designed by Italian-born sculptor Pompeo Coppini on the main campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, at the entrance to the university's South Mall. Completed in 1933, the monument is named after university regent and benefactor George W. Littlefield, whose donation paid for its design and construction.
The Santa Fe Plaza is a National Historic Landmark in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico in the style of traditional Spanish-American colonial cities. The plaza, or city square, was originally, and is still to this day, the center gathering place in town. Many know it as "the heart of Santa Fe". The landmark has since grown into a playground for many tourists interested in Spanish, Native American, and Mexican cultures, and includes music, design, jewelry, art and dance. It is home to annual events including Fiestas de Santa Fe, the Spanish Market, the Santa Fe Bandstand, and the Santa Fe Indian Market.
The Confederate Memorial Fountain in Hopkinsville, Kentucky is a monument dedicated in October 1911. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Scottish Rite Cathedral of San Antonio, Texas is located at 308 Avenue E in San Antonio. Construction began on it in 1922 and was completed in 1924, at a cost of $1.5 million.
Adina Emilia De Zavala was an American teacher, historian and preservationist of Texas history. Her efforts led to saving the Alamo Long Barrack Fortress for future generations. She was born to Augustine De Zavala, son of Lorenzo de Zavala, the first Vice President of the Republic of Texas. Adina's mother Julia Tyrrell De Zavala was born in Ireland. In 1994, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Marker number 86 was placed at Alamo Plaza to honor De Zavala. In 2008, Texas Historical marker number 15124 was placed in St. Mary's Cemetery to honor De Zavala's contributions to Texas.
Plácido Benavides (1810–1837) was an early Mexican-born settler in De Leon's Colony, Victoria County, Texas. Benavides earned himself the sobriquet of the Paul Revere of Texas for his 1836 journey from San Patricio to Goliad to Victoria, warning residents of the approaching Mexican army. He was twice elected alcalde of Victoria, Texas. He married into the powerful De León family, and with his wife Agustina became the father of three daughters. Benavides fought against the dictatorship of Antonio López de Santa Anna, but did not feel Texas should be separated from Mexico.
Silvestre De León (1802–1842) was the second son born to the influential De León family in Victoria, Texas. He became the third alcalde of Victoria. De León joined his brother-in-law Plácido Benavides to fight with Stephen F. Austin at the 1835 Siege of Béxar. He joined the rest of the De León family in New Orleans in 1836 after Brigadier General Thomas Jefferson Rusk ordered the evacuation of Mexican families from Victoria. In 1842, he returned to Victoria and was murdered by persons unknown. Texas Historical Marker number 6544 placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1972 acknowledges Silvestre De León's contribution to Texas.
Fernando De León (1798–1853) was a co-founder of Victoria, Texas, and the first commissioner and colonization manager of De León's Colony. He fought against Antonio López de Santa Anna. De León was an aide-de-camp to provisional Texas governor James W. Robinson. In the war's confusion about Mexican loyalties, De León was first incarcerated by the Mexican army, only to be released and be incarcerated by the Texas army. When his brother Silvestre was murdered, he adopted Silvestre's sons. After the war, he legally recovered 50,000 acres of his land that had been redistributed to Texans. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 6541 placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1972 acknowledges Fernando De León's contribution to Texas.
Martín De León (1765–1833) was a rancher and wealthy Mexican empresario in Texas who was descended from Spanish aristocracy. He was the patriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza established De León's Colony, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas. They founded the town of Villa de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Victoria Nombre de Jesús on the Guadalupe River. The name referred both to the river and to Mexico's president Guadalupe Victoria.
Patricia de la Garza De León (1775–1849) was the matriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. Doña Patricia raised ten children, some of whom helped change the course of history. At age 49, she uprooted her life in 1824 to help her husband Martín De León establish the predominantly Mexican De León's Colony. She contributed her inherited assets to the founding of the colony, and helped establish a school and a church. From the onset, she worked to instill a sense of Mexican and Spanish culture in the colony. After the death of her husband, Doña Patricia assumed the role of head of the family. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 6539 placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1972 acknowledges Patricia de la Garza De León's contribution to Texas. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 6543 placed at Church and Bridge Streets in 1936 denotes the home of Patricia de la Garza De León and Don Martin De León's home in Victoria.
The Alamo Cenotaph, also known as The Spirit of Sacrifice, is a monument in San Antonio, Texas, United States, commemorating the Battle of the Alamo of the Texas Revolution, which was fought at the adjacent Alamo Mission. The monument was erected in celebration of the centenary of the battle, and bears the names of those known to have fought there on the Texas side.
Frank Teich was a German-born American sculptor, stone carver, and businessman, often referred to as the father of the Texas granite industry.
Jefferson Davis is a statue depicting the American-Confederate politician of the same name by Pompeo Coppini. The sculpture was commissioned in 1919 by George W. Littlefield to be included in the Littlefield Fountain on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It was installed on the university's South Mall from 1933 to 2015, when it was relocated to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History in Austin, Texas.
Woodrow Wilson is a sculpture depicting the American president of the same name by Pompeo Coppini. The sculpture was commissioned in 1919 by George W. Littlefield to be included in the Littlefield Fountain on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It was installed on the university's South Mall in Austin, Texas from 1933 until its removal in 2015.
Robert E. Lee is an outdoor bronze sculpture depicting the American general of the same name by Pompeo Coppini. The sculpture was commissioned in 1919 by George W. Littlefield to be included in the Littlefield Fountain on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It was installed on the university's South Mall in Austin, Texas from 1933 until its removal in 2017.
James Stephen Hogg is an outdoor sculpture depicting the American lawyer and statesman of the same name by Pompeo Coppini. The sculpture was commissioned in 1919 by George W. Littlefield to be included in the Littlefield Fountain on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It was installed on the university's South Mall in Austin, Texas from 1933 until its removal in 2017.
Albert Sidney Johnston is an outdoor sculpture depicting the general of the same name by Pompeo Coppini. The sculpture was commissioned in 1919 by George W. Littlefield to be included in the Littlefield Fountain on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It was installed on the university's South Mall in Austin, Texas from 1933 until its removal in 2017.
John H. Reagan is an outdoor sculpture depicting the American politician of the same name by Pompeo Coppini. The sculpture was commissioned in 1919 by George W. Littlefield to be included in the Littlefield Fountain on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It was installed on the university's South Mall in Austin, Texas from 1933 until its removal in 2017.
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