The Stone Fort Museum

El Camino Real de los Tejas

Join us on a trek across Texas as we explore the origins of the first established road in Texas. Check out the Museum’s new video, El Camino Real de los Tejas. More information.

Camino Real Teacher Training Workshop

Join the Stone Fort Museum and the National Park Service as we explore the Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail in a workshop planned exclusively for teachers. More Information.

The campus of Stephen F. Austin State University is home to a fort, and not just any fort. A fort that was a trading post, private home, church, jail, and saloon - but never a fort. A fort that was built three times, and a fort that was torn down by men to be re-erected by women. Read more about the history of the Stone Fort.

News

El Camino Real de los Tejas Heritage Education Project

Photograph by Chris Talbot

East Texans wanting to learn more about the Camino Real and current research are invited to attend one of four public lectures offered by the Stone Fort Museum. Jeffery Williams, Landscape Geographer and GIS Systems Administrator in the Arthur Temple College of Forestry & Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University, will outline his ongoing research on the historic trace and the new mapping efforts related to identifying trail resources.

Thursday, May 7th, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.. Chireno Methodist Church
851 Main Street, Chireno. In cooperation with the Chireno Historical Society.

Friday, June 12th, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., First United Methodist Church
701 Goliad, Crockett
In cooperation with the Houston County Historical Society as they celebrate the anniversary of the 1837 formation of Houston County.

Saturday, July 4th, 2:30 – 4:00 p.m., Cole Art Center @ the Old Opera House
329 East Main Street, Nacogdoches. Mr. Williams will be joined by photographer, Christopher Talbot, SFA School of Art Faculty. Mr. Talbot’s 2008 exhibition of student work, “Now and Then,” combines historic photographs of downtown Nacogdoches with modern images and has led to a trail-wide project documenting communities. Scheduled just prior to the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitor Bureau’s Freedom Fest that starts at 5:00 p.m. Come early and stay late!

Thursday, August 13th, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site
1649 State Hwy 21W, Alto. The locus of trail activity, the mound complex in Alto will be a fitting backdrop for the final lecture on el Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail.

The series of lectures are part of the Camino Real Heritage Education Project funded by the National Park Service – Intermountain Region. The Project recently completed the first of two workshops with El Camino Real de los Tejas Heritage Tourism Workshop. Traveling from as far away as Castroville, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, thirty heritage resource managers and independent researchers gained new information and insights on the newly designated National Historic Trail. Held on Saturday, March 7th and Sunday, March 8th, the workshop group traveled to Mission Dolores Visitor Center in San Augustine and toured a section of the trace near Geneva, Texas.

The workshop for heritage resource professionals will be followed this summer with a workshop exclusively for teachers. To learn more about the serier of public lectures or about participating in the summer workshop, contact Museum staff at 936-468-2408.

Google Public Map of Host Sites: El Camino Real Public Lecture

Preservation Award Established in Honor of Cum Concilio Club

Cum Concilio Club members Peggy Wright (right) and Ster Dubberly (left) present a $200 donation to Carolyn Spears of the Stone Fort Museum at Stephen F. Austin State University, for the establishment of a preservation award in the club’s honor. The new Cum Concilio Club Preservation Award will be presented biannually to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to the preservation of eastern Texas history and Nacogdoches County.

A women’s club in Nacogdoches, the Cum Concilio Club, was at the forefront of the effort to preserve the Y’Barbo’s stone house but, in the end, was able to save only the building’s stones. The last of February 1902, the stone house was torn down and the stones hauled to an empty lot where they sat for five years. Possibly the first preservation effort in Texas, the Cum Concilio Club’s battle to save the stone house served to warn others of the dangers of ‘progress’ in Texas’ rapidly changing cultural landscape.

Admissions & Hours

Admission for individuals is free of charge. Educational programs are by reservation only. Call 936-468-2408 for group rates and more information.

Open Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays and University Holidays.

Directions

From North Street, Business Highway 59, enter Stephen F. Austin State University at Griffith Boulevard. The Museum will be on your left at the intersection of Griffith and Clarke Boulevards. Free parking for visitors is available only on the front and the south sides of the Museum. Paid parking is available in the covered garage across from the Museum.

Contact

Phone: 936-468-2408
Fax: 936-468-7084
email: stonefort@sfasu.edu

Stephen F. Austin State University
Stone Fort Museum
Post Office Box 6075
Nacogdoches, TX 75962

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