Site of Old Customhouse

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm tellin' it to you. Out here on El Camino Real, the Old Spanish Road, there stood a building that carried a whole lot of weight for a whole lot of years. This was the site of the old Customhouse in San Augustine, and if you think a customhouse is a quiet sort of place, well, let me disabuse you of that notion right now.

When the Republic of Texas was its own sovereign nation, from 1836 to 1845, this spot was one of only three ports of entry in the entire republic. Three. For that whole eastern border, every duty collected, every transaction tallied, it all ran through right here.

One building, one border, the whole eastern edge of a young and ornery country. Now, the duties were just the beginning. For many years, this was the only public building in town.

You needed something done official, this was your only address. And so it did double duty, serving as the courthouse as well. Cases were tried within these walls by many famous lawyers.

The marker doesn't name them, and maybe that's just as well. Let the imagination work a little. Then, in 1855, a new building replaced it, and just like that, the old Customhouse stepped aside.

But you don't forget a place that once held up an entire republic's eastern border all by itself. That's not a building. That's a cornerstone.

What the marker says

On El Camino Real - Old Spanish Road. One of 3 ports of entry in Republic of Texas, 1836-1845; here duties were collected for entire eastern border. For many years, only public building in town. Served as courthouse; site of cases tried by many famous lawyers. Replaced by new building in 1855. (1966)