The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

The San Jacinto Museum of History Association is pleased to announce its participation in the 2013 season of the Blue Star Museums program, offering free entrance to all active duty, National Guard and Reserve military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

The museum will give qualifying personnel free access to the Texas Forever!! The Battle of San Jacinto movie; the nearly 500-foot elevator ride to the Observation Deck atop the San Jacinto Monument with views of the historic battleground of San Jacinto and many square miles of surrounding area; and the museum’s Making a Mark, Leaving a Legacy special exhibit. The museum and its attractions are open daily year-round 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.—including Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and nearly all holidays. All attractions are wheel-chair accessible.

Blue Star Museums is a partnership among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, Joining Forces, MetLife FoundationMetLife Foundation and hundreds of museums across the country.

“A partnership with the Blue Star Families program is a natural for us because the San Jacinto Museum has always been very supportive of our military by offering discounted prices to active or retired military and their children, as well as admitting active and retired military personnel and their accompanying family members and guests to all its attractions free of charge the entire week of Veteran’s Day,” says Larry Spasic, San Jacinto Museum of History President.

“And, we mustn’t forget: the men who fought at San Jacinto were soldiers ranging in age from 16 to 64 who came from different nations to fight to establish a free country whose government would obey the rule of law, just as all U.S. veterans have fought to keep our nation free.

The San Jacinto Monument—the tallest stone column monument in the world that is 15’ taller than the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.—is dedicated to those who fought for Texas’ independence.

Giving the military and their families free admission is our way of honoring those who have fought for our nation’s independence.”

Beyond these attractions there is plenty to do free on the grounds of the Monument: the San Jacinto Museum’s permanent gallery exhibiting books to bayonets, swords to sketches; parking; the San Jacinto Battleground; picnic tables, grills and water faucets; and the 1,210-foot long marsh trail and boardwalk that provides views of the native prairie, tidal marsh and bottomland forest as it appeared at the time of the historic 1836 Battle of San Jacinto.

The San Jacinto Museum of History Association is a non-profit organization which manages and operates all aspects of the San Jacinto Museum, which is housed in the San Jacinto Monument on the grounds of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site.

More than 30,000 students visit the Museum each year on field trips.

The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site attracts more than 1,500,000 people to the park annually, making it the largest, most visited historic park in Texas.

The San Jacinto Monument and battlegrounds complex is located at One Monument Circle, in La Porte. For more information, contact 281-479-2421, or visit sanjacinto-museum.org for more information.

Follow the museum on Facebook for more specials, history trivia and news updates all year.