Fort Velasco Replica

Surfside Beach is the home of the Fort Velasco Replica. Stephen F. Austin and his colonists first arrived here in Texas in 1821. Eleven years later, in 1832, the first battle of Texas’ war for independence was fought between the colonists and the Mexican Army at Fort Velasco. The inner walls are covered with murals that tell the story of the Karankawa, the first people; the early days of the colony created by Moses Austin and later led by Stephen F. Austin; the 1832 Battle of Velasco; and the signing of the Treaties of Velasco. The actual fort was destroyed by the Hurricane of 1900.