Salado Museum and College Park will host a presentation by renowned historian, Keith George, in the Lucile A. Robertson Center at 10:00am on Saturday, March 1 st. Mr. George is a member of the Bell County Historical Commission as Vice Chair and Chairs its Preservation and Grants Committees. His talk will focus on the Stillhouse Hollow Dam project which necessitated the relocation of “lost cemeteries” from the valley along the Lampasas River where many of Salado’s early settlers were buried. The event is free and open to the public with donations welcome at the door.
“Following George’s presentation, museum staff members will hold a tour of our historic Salado Museum building and the Salado College ruins on College Hill,” says Lynette Jones, Museum Executive Director. “The tour will include a brief history of Texas Independence Day and the significant role Empresario Sterling Robertson played in establishing the Republic of Texas on March 2, 1836.”
In 1825, Robertson acquired lands grants from Mexico and is credited with bringing 600 families to this area, mostly of Scottish ancestry, to form the first large colony in Central Texas. In 1859 his son Col. Elijah Sterling C. Robertson donated land to a corporation formed to build a college and lay out and sell lots for a town to be called Salado. “During the tour on College Hill, attendees will view the statue of Colonel Robertson in which he is depicted in his Republic of Texas uniform,” Jones adds. Texas Independence Day is the celebration of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836. With this document, signed by 59 delegates, settlers in Mexican Texas officially declared independence from Mexico and created the Republic of Texas.
Today, the mission of the Salado Museum is to promote and preserve the pioneer history of Salado through educational and literary programs and exhibits that document the settlement and heritage of the area. The museum maintains the ruins and grounds of Salado College built in 1860 by visionary pioneers who established a co-educational facility for students grade one through two years of college based on the then unconventional belief that both men and women deserved equal access to higher
education in a nondenominational setting.
Registration is not necessary for this free event. Please wear comfortable shoes for the tour, after the lecture.
The Salado Museum and College Park is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in a historic stone building at 423 South Main Street in Salado across from the Stagecoach Inn. College Park is located just south of the museum. Donations are always welcome and volunteers are always needed to help maintain this important part of Salado’s history.