COUNTY LIFE

Historic canons returned to Alamo grounds

Published

6 years ago

01/26/2018

SAN ANTONIO – Tuesday the Alamo welcomed the return of two historic cannons used during the 1836 Siege and Battle of the Alamo back to the Alamo grounds. The battle cannons revealed some surprising secrets during their conservation at the Texas A&M Conservation Research Lab in College Station, Texas. The cannons were sent to the lab in October as part of a larger effort to preserve all seven of the Alamo’s existing 1836 battle cannons, and returned with several exciting new discoveries about their origins.

“In October, we shared our commitment to ensuring long-term, extensive preservation and conservation plans for the Alamo’s historic buildings and artifacts,” said Texas General Land Office Commissioner George P. Bush. “The 1836 battle cannons are among Texas’ most treasured artifacts, and we are ensuring they receive the care and honor they deserve. Fortunately, in doing this preservation work, we were able to discover more about the cannon’s history than we knew before. We can’t wait to share those exciting discoveries with all visitors and Texans.”


	Photo credit: Texas General Land Office

Those discoveries include finding previously unknown 3 and 5 pound cannonballs which may have been loaded during the battle on March 6, 1836 but never fired.

Video and sound from the cannons’ return to the Alamo may be downloaded in high resolution for television broadcast or lower resolution for social media:

All seven of the known Alamo battle cannons will be restored during this process. The cannon restoration is part of the much larger Alamo restoration Commissioner Bush launched in 2015. This project aims to protect and preserve the Alamo Church and Long Barrack, restore reverence to the Alamo battlefield by recapturing it from the streets and plaza, and build the visitors center and museum the Alamo deserves but does not have, to display the amazing Phil Collins artifact collection – all to bring 1836 to life every day at the Shrine of Texas Liberty.

History lovers can contribute to the cannon preservation project by visiting GoFundMe.com/AlamoBattleCannon. More information about the cannon unveiling and other upcoming events can be found at TheAlamo.org, or on social media @OfficialAlamo. For more information about preservation and restoration efforts ongoing at the Alamo, visit SaveTheAlamo.com.

COUNTY LIFE

Bowie, Nocona libraries wrap up summer reading this week

Published

2 days ago

07/20/2024

bowienews

Local libraries wrap up their children’s summer reading programs this week.
The Bowie Public Library brings the popular Creature Teacher with all their spectacular animals for the final event on July 23 at the Bowie Community Center.
The program begins at 10 am. The children also will receive their prize books for their summer logs.
The Nocona Public Library ends its program at 10 a.m. on July 24 at the H.J. Justin Building at 100 Clay Street. The program will be “Our Own Action Heroes -” Nocona fire, police and EMTs.

Top photo – Smokey Bear visiting Bowie last week at summer reading.

COUNTY LIFE

Color added to outside kennels at Bowie Animal Shelter

Published

2 days ago

07/20/2024

bowienews

Rachel and Roger Whitaker gave this metal storage container a fresh look with this colorful mural at the Bowie Animal Shelter. (Photo by Barbara Green)

COUNTY LIFE

Youngsters attend swimming lessons this week

Published

2 days ago

07/20/2024

bowienews

Swim lessons for youngsters of all ages were conducted the past two weeks at the city pool. It was a good place to be during this summer heat. See more photos in the weekend News. (Photos by Barbara Green)