Texas Historical Commission

The Texas Historical Commission is an agency that works to protect important historic places in the state of Texas. Its job is to help save buildings, sites, and landmarks that tell the story of Texas' past. The commission takes care of the National Register of Historic Places for all the special places in Texas.

It also gives special awards to important places called Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks and puts up signs to tell people about their history. The commission shares news and ideas about saving historic places in a magazine called The Medallion and keeps an online map with information about more than 300,000 historic sites in Texas.

The main office of the Texas Historical Commission is located in the Capitol Complex in downtown Austin. This area includes important buildings such as the Carrington-Covert House, Luther Hall, Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Elrose Building, and the Christianson-Leberman Building.

History of the Commission

The Texas Historical Commission began in 1953 when the state legislature created the Texas State Historical Survey Committee. This group was in charge of overseeing historical programs in the state. Later, the legislature updated the group's rules to give it more protection powers, a bigger leadership role, and more educational duties. It also changed the group's name to the Texas Historical Commission. In 2007, the legislature moved the care of 20 state historic sites from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to the Texas Historical Commission.

Personnel

The Texas Historical Commission has around 350 workers. Its leaders are 15 people chosen by the governor and approved by the senate. They serve for six years and must live in Texas, representing different parts of the state.

Workers at the commission come from many areas, like archeology, architecture, and history. They work with people and groups to protect important buildings, places, and traditions in Texas. The agency has several groups to help manage its work, including Administration, Archeology, Architecture, and more. There are also boards that help guide the commission's activities.

Texas Heritage Trails Program

The Texas Historical Commission runs a special travel program called the Texas Heritage Trails. It started in 1998 and uses ten beautiful driving areas across Texas. These areas were first chosen in 1968 by the Texas Department of Transportation and Governor John Connally for a big fair in San Antonio, Texas called HemisFair '68. The program aims to help people visit important historic places and learn about Texas’s past.

The ten heritage regions are:

• Texas Brazos Trail
• Texas Forest Trail
• Texas Forts Trail
• Texas Hill Country Trail
• Texas Independence Trail
• Texas Lakes Trail
• Texas Mountain Trail
• Texas Pecos Trail
• Texas Plains Trail
• Texas Tropical Trail

In 2005, this program received a special award called the Preserve America Presidential Award for doing a great job in saving and using Texas’s historic places.

State Historic Sites

Main article: List of Texas State Historic Sites

The Texas Historical Commission takes care of and runs 41 special historic places all over Texas. These places help us learn about the past and what it means to live in Texas. They include sites where American Indians lived, old forts, simple and fancy homes, and places important to leaders and important people. These sites make history come alive for everyone.

One of these sites, Fort Griffin, is home to the official State of Texas Longhorn Herd.

Historical Markers

People and groups can ask to put up special signs called historical markers through their local historical groups. These signs come in different types and sizes and are meant to help people learn about important places and stories. To get a marker, they need to fill out an application that follows certain rules.

In November 2006, the Texas Historical Commission changed how these markers are given out. Now, all applications must be sent online, there is a certain time of year to apply, a small fee is needed, and the way the signs are made has changed. By 2007, more than 13,000 of these special signs had been placed all around Texas, making Texas have the most historical markers of any state in the United States.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark

Main article: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark

The Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is the most important title given by the Texas Historic Commission for special buildings in Texas. It shows that these places have a big history and are important to keep safe.

State Antiquities Landmark

The Texas Historical Commission can name special places as State Antiquities Landmarks if they are not on federal land. These places can be historic buildings that are also on the National Register of Historic Places and are open to the public, or they can be archaeological sites whose locations are kept secret to protect them.

Having this special name does not stop someone from changing or destroying these places. But, before any changes can be made, a permit is needed, and the public gets to share their thoughts about it with the Texas Historical Commission.

Headquarters complex

The Texas Historical Commission has its main offices in the Austin Complex in downtown Austin. This area includes important buildings such as the Carrington-Covert House at 1511 Colorado Street, Luther Hall, the Gethsemane Lutheran Church, the Elrose Building, and the Christianson-Leberman Building.

The Carrington-Covert House became the agency's headquarters in 1971. The Gethsemane Lutheran Church was restored and started being used for offices in 1970 and 1971.

Friends of the Texas Historical Commission

The Friends of the Texas Historical Commission is a nonprofit group created in 1996. It helps the Texas Historical Commission by finding private money to support its work in saving and protecting history. This includes projects like digging up old ships and battle sites, and restoring important buildings and flags.

Over the past twenty years, this group has helped bring in more than $10 million for many important history projects in Texas.