DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and friend, this one earns every word. Right here on Main Plaza in Bexar County, there's a piece of ground that has seen more history than most places dare to dream about. The story starts on July 2, 1731, when the people of San Fernando de Bexar — including a fresh wave of settlers just arrived all the way from the Canary Islands — chose this very site for what they called their government houses, the Casas Reales.
Now they didn't build right away. The structure didn't go up until 1742, and even then it couldn't hold itself together forever. By 1779, Don Jose Antonio Curbelo, alcalde of the Villa San Fernando de Bexar, had to rebuild the whole thing.
A jail went up just to the south in 1783. So from the start, this was a place of authority — and everybody in town knew it. Official proclamations were read from here, from that commanding position right on Main Plaza, to the roll of drums.
You didn't miss the announcement. The drums made sure of it. In 1807, a notable visitor passed through — Lieutenant Zebulon M.
Pike, who had been freed after his arrest up on the upper Rio Grande while he was out exploring the Louisiana Purchase for the United States. He came through these doors. He stood on this ground.
Then 1813 rolled in, and for a brief, charged moment, a green flag flew over the Casas Reales — the flag of the rebel Republican Army of the North, the outfit formed to free Mexico from Spain's rule. Briefly. The marker is careful to say briefly.
But it happened. Now here's where the story shifts into something that shaped the future of an entire territory. In December of 1820, a man named Moses Austin walked into these halls, aided by the Baron de Bastrop, and filed his petition and plans with the governor and the cabildo — that's the council — right here in the Casas Reales.
That petition was the move that initiated the Anglo-American colonization of Texas. The whole chain of events that follows — it threads back to this building, this room, that December. And then February 23, 1836.
Santa Anna arrived here to press the siege of the Alamo. Whatever you feel about what followed, this is where part of it began. Four years later, March 19, 1840, the Casas Reales witnessed something that ended in blood.
The Council House Fight — between Texian leaders and Comanche chiefs — broke out right here. The marker calls it bloody, and it does not flinch from that word. This building served as municipal headquarters under four separate regimes: Spanish, Mexican, Republic of Texas, and American.
Four flags. Four governments. Decades of proclamations and petitions and sieges and fights.
And then, in 1850, the city simply vacated it. Some buildings hold history. The Casas Reales didn't just hold it — it was the room where history kept showing up, century after century, demanding to be heard.
What the marker says
On site chosen July 2, 1731, for "government houses" by people of San Fernando de Bexar, including newly-arrived settlers from the Canary Islands. Structure, erected 1742, had to be rebuilt in 1779 by Don Jose Antonio Curbelo, alcalde of the Villa San Fernando de Bexar. A jail was erected to the south in 1783. From commanding position of Casas Reales on Main Plaza were read official proclamations, to the roll of drums. A noted visitor in 1807 was Lt. Zebulon M. Pike, freed after arrest on upper Rio Grande while exploring Louisiana Purchase for the United States. Briefly in 1813 over the Cases Reales flew the green flag of the rebel Republican Army of the North, formed to free Mexico from Spain's rule. Aided by the Baron de Bastrop, Moses Austin in December 1820 initiated the Anglo-American colonization of Texas by filing his petition and plans with the governor and cabildo (council) in Casas Reales. Santa Anna arrived here February 23, 1836, to press the siege of the Alamo. The bloody "Council House Fight" between Texian leaders and Comanche chiefs occurred here on March 19, 1840. The building served as municipal headquarters under Spanish, Mexican, Republic of Texas, and American regimes, but were vacated in 1850 by the city. (1971)