DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1903, the Palacios townsite company made a deal with the Southern Pacific Railroad — extend the line, bring the people, build a city. And sure enough, on June 29 of that year, the first train pulled in, carrying prospective settlers all the way from the Midwestern states.
A new city was taking shape right there on the Texas Gulf Coast, and it needed something to give it a heartbeat. So in June of 1904, the company broke ground on a pavilion right there on South Bay. Now, this wasn't any modest little shed.
Victoria architect Jules Leffland designed the thing, and it was built on a pier that stretched four hundred feet out into the bay. Four hundred feet. They called it the Pleasure Pavilion, and the name fit.
At its center stood a round, two-story, open-air pavilion — and running out along that pier were boat docks and bathers' dressing rooms. Swimming, boating, dancing, skating, basketball games — if Palacios had a social center, this was it, and everybody knew it. But the Gulf of Mexico has a long memory and a short temper.
Hurricane damage came in 1915. Then again in 1919. Then again in 1934.
Three times that pavilion took a beating, and the third time, well, that was enough. Under the direction of a local seawall commission, with funding from the federal public works administration, the Pleasure Pavilion was razed in 1935. Gone.
What rose in its place they called the roundhouse pavilion, and it carried the torch. Through the war years of the 1940s, through the early 1950s, the roundhouse was the focal point of community life — the place where Palacios gathered itself together. Then came Hurricane Carla in 1961, and the roundhouse was destroyed.
The city eventually put up a smaller open-air pavilion in its place. Three incarnations, three storms, one stubborn little city that kept building something to dance in. That's Palacios.
What the marker says
In 1903 the Palacios townsite company arranged with the Southern Pacific Railroad to extend its line to the new city. The first train arrived on June 29, bringing prospective settlers from Midwestern states. The company began construction of a pavilion on the South Bay in June 1904. Designed by Victoria Architect Jules Leffland, it was built on a pier extending 400 feet into the bay. Called the Pleasure Pavilion, it consisted of a central round two-story open-air pavilion with boat docks and bathers' dressing rooms extending along the pier. It quickly became the social center of the town, offering such activities as swimming, boating, dancing, skating, and basketball games. The Pleasure Pavilion sustained hurricane damage in 1915, 1919, and 1934. Under the direction of a local seawall commission and with funding from the federal public works administration, it was razed in 1935 and replaced with a new pavilion, called the roundhouse. The roundhouse pavilion continued to be the focal point of community activities, especially during the war year of the 1940's and the early 1950's. It was destroyed by hurricane Carla in 1961, and eventually the city erected a smaller open-air pavilion in its place. (1991)