The Alamo Mission Museum of Franklin County

04/30/2026

01/19/2026

Long before Popeye ever flexed his muscles on the silver screen, he put down roots deep in Texas soil. In 1934, creator E. C. Segar tipped his sailor hat to Victoria, officially naming it Popeye’s hometown after The Victoria Advocate became the very first newspaper in America to run the Thimble Theatre comic strip. Segar even sealed it in ink when Popeye himself declared, “Victoria is me ol’ home town on account of tha’s where I got born’d at.” In Texas terms, that’s about as official as a handshake and a nod.

A couple hundred miles south sits Crystal City, a town that didn’t just cheer Popeye on, it rode his spinach-fueled strength straight through the Great Depression. Known proudly as the Spinach Capital of the World, Crystal City credited Popeye with boosting spinach consumption nationwide by more than 30%, helping keep local farms alive when times were tough. In true Texas fashion, the town didn’t just say thanks, they poured concrete, erecting a Popeye statue in 1937. It became the first monument on Earth dedicated to a cartoon character and still stands tall as the centerpiece of the annual Spinach Festival.

From Victoria’s newspaper ink to Crystal City’s farm fields, Popeye didn’t just pass through Texas. Texas claimed him. With grit, humor, and a whole lot of spinach, the Sailor Man earned his place as an honorary native son of the Lone Star State.

01/19/2026

The Killough Massacre

On October 5, 1838, one of the deadliest frontier attacks in East Texas history unfolded near present day Old Larissa in Cherokee County. Eighteen settlers, including Isaac Killough Sr. and members of his extended family who had arrived from Alabama just a year earlier, were killed or taken during a sudden assault on their homestead.

The Killough family had settled along what became known as Killough Creek after land once promised to the Cherokee was opened to settlers, fueling deep resentment and unrest. After briefly fleeing the area amid rising tensions, the group returned in early October to harvest their crops, believing it was safe. That belief proved fatal. A hostile band struck without warning, wiping out most of the settlement. Survivors escaped south to Lacy’s Fort, and militia forces soon retaliated, ending the threat. The massacre marked the violent close of the Córdova Rebellion and helped ignite the Cherokee War that followed, leaving a lasting scar on Texas frontier history.

01/19/2026

On January 10, 1901, Spindletop oilfield was discovered, leading to a production boom that ushered in the modern oil era in Texas.

Petroleum engineer Anthony Lucas struck black gold while drilling into the salt domes in Southeast Texas, forever changing the global economy.

Read more:
https://www.tshaonline.org/texas-day-by-day/entry/212

01/19/2026

On this day in 1840, leaders of the Mexican Federalist party met in Laredo to declare the independence of the ill-fated Republic of the Rio Grande. Since 1835, with the ascension of Antonio López de Santa Anna to the presidency of Mexico, Federalist leaders had attempted to force a return to the Constitution of 1824. The Federalists claimed the areas of Tamaulipas and Coahuila north to the Nueces and Medina rivers, respectively, and Nuevo León, Zacatecas, Durango, Chihuahua, and New Mexico. Antonio Canales Rosillo, commander-in-chief of the new republic's army, took the field against Centralist general Mariano Arista at Morales, Coahuila, in March 1840 and was disastrously defeated. Canales with his few remaining troops retreated to San Antonio, while the provisional government fled to Victoria, Texas. Canales then toured Texas in an effort to raise interest and aid for the continuance of his campaign. About 140 Americans joined his army under Col. Samuel W. Jordan, who led a successful expedition to capture Ciudad Victoria before being forced to retreat to Texas in October. Canales capitulated at Camargo in November 1840. He was taken into the Centralist army as an officer, and Federalism was dead for the time being.

📸The Republic of the Rio Grande Museum building in Laredo is believed to have been used as the republic’s capitol.

01/19/2026

The Alamo Parapet was built by the U.S. Army in the 1850s.

The 1849 daguerreotype is the earliest datable photograph taken of the Alamo. It shows the front of the Alamo Church. It is the only known photograph of the Alamo taken before the 1850 reconstruction that added the distinctive curved gable to the top of the church façade.

📷: Briscoe Center for American History

01/19/2026

01/19/2026

They say you should try to die without regrets, but I'm going to regret never having had a beer at Club Schmitz in Dallas. Traces of Texas reader Bridget Harris Lewis graciously shared this circa 1950 photo of the bar, which was in her family for decades. Bridget says it was a sad day when Club Schmitz was sold in 2014. One waitress, Sylvia, was an employee for about 55 years.

The bar opened when original owners Lawrence “Bigun” and Leonard Schmitz started Club Schmitz shortly after returning from World War II. The cousins, from the tiny Texas town of Lindsay, opened the bar in an old farmhouse.

The beer came first. Food — including burgers, fries and chili — was added to the menu later. After a kitchen fire destroyed the first incarnation of Club Schmitz in 1953, Bigun and Leonard rebuilt much of it themselves. It expanded in 1969. From then on, Club Schmitz barely changed. “We tried not to make a lot of changes,” owner Bob Schmitz told the Dallas Morning News. “Our philosophy, I think, was to keep reasonable prices and make it a comfortable place for anybody to come in to.”

Y'all see why I regret not having darkened its doorway Sigh....

Thank you, Bridget. What a great snapshot.

01/19/2026

In January 1836, James "Jim" Bowie arrived at the Alamo under orders from General Sam Houston to evaluate its defenses and potentially demolish the fort. Houston believed the site was indefensible with the limited troops available and wanted the artillery removed to safer locations. However, after inspecting the compound and conferring with Colonel James C. Neill, Bowie became convinced of its strategic importance as a "frontier picquet guard" for the Texas Revolution. Rather than following his original orders, he famously resolved to stay and defend the post, writing to Governor Henry Smith that he and Neill would "rather die in these ditches" than surrender it to General Santa Anna. Bowie subsequently took command of the volunteer forces, sharing leadership with William B. Travis until he was bedridden by a severe illness shortly before the final Mexican assault on March 6, 1836.