Finally, after the World War, when a number of new teachers colleges were authorized by the Legislature, the enterprising spirit of the citizens secured the location of that one named for Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, and the promise of cultured prosperity evinced in the days of the Republic, but sadly interrupted by war, was at length realized. Nacogdoches had now become one of the fairest of the little cities of Texas and bids a hearty welcome to all comers within her borders.
And so we close the story of Nacogdoches under nine flags: The Lilies of France with LaSalle in 1685; the Flag of Castile and Aragon of Spain in 1716; the green flag of the Magee-Guitierrez Expedition in 1813; Long’s flag of the First Republic of Texas in 1819; the white and red flag of the Republic of Fredonia in 1826; the flag of the Mexican Republic—1821-1836; the Lone Star Flag of the Republic of Texas; the Stars and Bars of the Southern Confederacy—1861-1865; and finally the Stars and Stripes forever.
Historical Sites in Nacogdoches County
THE OLD STONE FORT
The above drawing was made from the earliest photograph of the Old Stone Fort. The original picture has been re-photographed and the reproduction forms a treasured scene in many homes of the city.
For one hundred fifty years tradition has thrown a veil of romance around the old building that formerly stood at the corner of Main and Fredonia streets, facing the northeast corner of the Plaza Principal in Nacogdoches, where the two main branches of El Camino Real merged.
Even as early as Revolutionary days it was regarded by many as being one of the old mission buildings, and later years this belief was strengthened when a wandering sign painter, with the permission of John S. Roberts, painted a sign for the front of his saloon in the old structure: “The Old Stone Fort, erected in 1719”.
The Stone House, as it was called in the early records, has a history more intriguing, more romantic, than any other building in the state of Texas, not even excluding the Alamo. Over its walls all but one of the nine flags of Nacogdoches have flown.
Built as a private enterprise by Antonio Gil Ybarbo in 1779, as a trading post, it soon became the most important building in the New Philippines. In 1801 Lieut. Musquiz brought Peter Ellis Bean and the remainder of Philip Nolan’s expedition and placed them in the Old Stone Fort, where they remained for thirty days.
Cordero, governor of the Province of Texas, together with General Herrera and 1300 Spanish troops, had his headquarters in the stone house when the treaty creating the “Neutral Ground” was agreed upon on November 6, 1806. For three months it was the seat of government of the Eastern Provinces of Spain, when Governor Manuel de Salcedo was here in the summer of 1810.