Article taken from The Sealy News Online website at http://www.sealynews.com/articles/2003/12/23/news/news01.txt
By JIM WEBRE, Staff Writer, December 23, 2003
SAN FELIPE - The hearths that once were a part of Peyton's Inn and Tavern in San Felipe during the Texas revolution have been unearthed behind the statue of Stephen F. Austin south of the Brazos River.
The inn and tavern are considered important because it is likely the foremost meeting place for the Texan insurgents during the days leading up to the arrival of the Mexican force; and for several years before that the inn was the equivalent of Tony's Restaurant in what was the only significant settlement in the area.
Earlier digging has produced a myriad of small items, including lead shot, pipes, English dinnerware, buttons and other objects. But locating both fireplaces of the town's tavern is a significant development, the project's archeologist says.
The first structure appears to be some 30 to 40 feet apart north to south. Flooding, erosion and soil shifting may have covered or removed the floor of the tavern, or it may have simply have been dirt floor.
"This is the lot that belonged to the Peytons, so we believe this was Peyton's Inn. This shows something was here," said archeologist Marianne Marek, who heads the archeological recovery effort on behalf of the county and several sponsoring organizations interested in preserving and documenting the site that was the first capital of the Republic of Texas.
An iron hook, much like a hook for a modern day tow chain, rest atop bricks comprising the foundation of a hearth at the site of Peyton's tavern in San Felipe. The Sealy News/JIM WEBRE
Most of the population of San Felipe in 1836 had fled, some going to San Jacinto, others to Washington on the Brazos farther to the north by the time the Mexican army closed in on San Felipe.
Gen. Sam Houston or his subordinates had ordered settlers to burn the town if the Mexican army showed up, and virtually all of the buildings in the town were torched and smoldering when what remained of the militia forded the river and began taking pot shots at Mexicans on the south bank. The Mexicans fired back, but other than a single casualty on a Texan from a cannon shot, the "battle" was unimpressive.
Still, Gen. Santa Ana's army took the path of least resistance, crossing the Brazos further downstream before camping at San Jacinto, where Houston's militia routed the Mexican force and captured its leader.
The Texas Historical Commission has told Marek it will not issue another grant for calendar 2004 to help fund the project. However, with the actual finding of Peyton's tavern and the likelihood that other structures can be firmly mapped and located based on work so far, the commission could renew its grant funding in calendar 2005, Marek said.
"We are continuing to look for foundation and other grants to help us through the next year," Marek said. "There is still a lot of work to do, but we will lose access to this private property at the end of December. Perhaps we will be able to come back and continue next year," she said.
Austin County Historical Society, Austin County and Town of San Felipe have wanted to develop the site as a tourist draw and more of a end destination for its historic value.
Somewhere in the periphery of San Felipe is the floor of Stephen F. Austin's home, as well as other buildings that were the heart of Texas government before all the records and material of the republic were carried away to safer quarters.
Marek will begin writing a final report on the archeological and anthropological findings of the work over the past year, a report that will be considered by THC and the various sponsors of the work to date.
That report should be complete by the end of this coming summer when grant funds expire.
