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The San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, operated by the Texas Historical Commission, will host a fun day of history and learning activities on Saturday, Dec. 2. Staff and volunteer living historians will demonstrate the trades, crafts and jobs performed by residents of the historic town during its heyday between 1823 and 1836. The programs will be ideal for history lovers and families looking for engaging and hands-on activities to share with children.
In addition to the Historical Career Fair activities, the Gideon Lincecum Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists will be on-hand to celebrate natural history and the ways that our present engagement with nature can mimic and reflect on the experiences of the past. Because the town of San Felipe — both in its modern and historic eras — sits along the Brazos River, a significant migratory route for birds, much of the programming offered by the Naturalists will focus on birding in the area.
The Career Fair will be staged in the Villa de Austin outdoor exhibit space that represents one of the most important blocks of the historic town. Founded as the capital of Stephen F. Austin’s Colony in Mexican Texas, San Felipe de Austin was essentially a company town in the business of land distribution. As a result, surveyors and land agents, lawyers and other entrepreneurs chose to work in the town. A service industry emerged to support the population and the incoming settlers who generally passed through as part of their arrival.
These included tavern keepers, cooks/bakers, woodworkers and an assortment of merchants. In addition, one of the most important early print shops served Austin’s Colony between 1829 and 1832 — that story is a centerpiece of the outdoor exhibit.
The birding activities will be staged near the front of the modern visitor center at the indoor classroom space (the Old 300 Learning Hall) and the outdoor map plaza. Along with hands-on activities and informational games and presentations, visitors can participate in hikes focused on birding and bird habitats.
The day promises to offer fun and variety for visitors of all ages. For more information, contact the state historic site at 979-885-2181 or go to visitsanfelipedeaustin. com or #sanfelipedeaustin on Facebook.
WHAT: San Felipe de Austin Career Fair in the Villa de Austin; and activities focused on birding WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, 220 2nd Street in San Felipe, TX (exit 723 from Interstate 10, 2 miles north on FM 1458 to 2nd Street); programs staging in the outdoor exhibit — the Villa de Austin and the modern visitor center facility 2023 marks the bicentennial of the founding of San Felipe de Austin and, along with the activities scheduled for the Saturday event, visitors can also experience the current temporary gallery exhibition — “Settling Austin’s Colony: An Empresario Shapes Texas.”
The exhibition includes rarely seen documents and objects on loan from partner institutions and focuses on the town’s founding, the significant advances in surveying and mapping connected to Austin’s Colony, the formation of the first militia and the footprint of the Texas Rangers, and the bicentennial (summer 1824) of the first land grants issued by Austin to families that came to be known as the “Old 300.” The exhibit is open through Labor Day of 2024.
