DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand

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DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand
DeLeonPlazaBanstandVictoria (1 of 1).jpg
DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand in 2015
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DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand
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DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand
Location100 blk. W. Constitution,
Victoria, Texas
Coordinates 28°47′57″N97°0′22″W / 28.79917°N 97.00611°W / 28.79917; -97.00611 Coordinates: 28°47′57″N97°0′22″W / 28.79917°N 97.00611°W / 28.79917; -97.00611
Arealess than one acre
Built1839 (1839)
ArchitectEdward Linn, J.D. Mitchell
Architectural style Bandstand
MPS Victoria MRA
NRHP reference No. 86002584 [1]
RTHL No. 289
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 24, 1987
Designated RTHL1965

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).

Contents

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]

Plaza

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]

Confederate Monument at DeLeon Plaza created by Pompeo Coppini Confederate Momument, Victoria, TX IMG 1006.JPG
Confederate Monument at DeLeon Plaza created by Pompeo Coppini

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]

See also

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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.

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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.

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References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "THC DeLeon Plaza". Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  3. Shook, Robert W. "Victoria, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  4. "José Maria Jesus Carbajal". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  5. "De Leon Plaza and Bandstand - Victoria". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  6. Wolff Jr., Henry (10 July 2002). "Day of Southern, U.S. Pride in Victoria". The Victoria Advocate. p. 5.
  7. United Daughters of the Confederacy (1999). United Daughters of the Confederacy. Turner Publishing Company, United Daughters of the Confederacy. p. 113. ISBN   978-1-56311-530-1.
  8. Simons, Helen; Perry, Ann; Smith, Deborah; Hoyt, Cathryn A (1996). A Guide to Hispanic Texas. University of Texas Press. p. 65. ISBN   978-0-292-77709-5.
  9. "Waymarker-DeLeon Plaza". Groundspeak, Inc. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  10. "CV-DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand". City of Victoria. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  11. "Time Capsule Slated for Burial". The Victoria Advocate. 7 December 1986.