Capitol of Texas Park - a Walk Through the Birth of Texas
West Columbia
Preserving History in Texas
At the corner of Brazos St. and 17th street in West Columbia, Texas you will
find a Walgreens Pharmacy. If you are ever passing through West
Columbia, you need to be sure and stop in
at this Walgreens. Not
because it is any different than any one of the hundreds of other Walgreens that
you can find all across, the state of Texas, but because it is located on the same town lot
as the First Capitol of the Republic of Texas.
If
it were not for a group of West Columbia citizens concerned with the
preservation of Texas history this
would just be a Walgreens parking
lot. Through their efforts you will find a 30 feet wide by 337 feet
long linear park that runs parallel to Brazos St. in front of
Walgreens. It has 21 historical markers, each giving a
short narrative of a person, place or thing that had a significant
impact on the birth of the Republic of Texas.
The Walk
Starting at the West end (Right at the northeast corner of 17th and Brazos Street.) walk down the 10 foot wide sidewalk that ties all the Historical Markers together. Read each marker, and in a about 20 to 30 minutes you will learn a lot about the Republic of Texas. The park is landscaped in native plants and grasses. All indigenous to Brazoria County.
There are also several benches along the way. When I was there I went into Walgreens and bought a pint of Blue Bell ice cream, sat on a bench, looked at the wild flowers and ate my Rocky Road.
