Historical Marker
Central Square
Gonzales, Gonzales County · Texas
Erected 1966
The governor whose name went on the town was a soldier from San Antonio. Rafael Gonzales was born in San Fernando de Béxar in 1789 and began as a cadet in the presidial company of Nuestra Señora de Loreto, rising to captain by 1818 after a transfer to the presidio at Monclova. He joined the Mexican independence movement on July 3, 1821. He was governor of Coahuila and Texas from August 15, 1824, to March 15, 1826, the months when Kerr laid out the town. In 1834 he was secretary of the state's comandancia, and he died in 1857.
What the plaque says
Central Square James Kerr in 1825 was appointed to select and survey a capital for the Mexican land grant colony of Green DeWitt. Kerr named this Gonzales, for Don Rafael Gonzales, then governor of Coahuila and Texas. A 49-block square composed the inner town. This was Central Square. (1966)
Where it stands
29.50134, -97.45261 · Directions
More markers nearby
- James W. Robinson — steps away
- Andrew Ponton — steps away
- Battle of Gonzales — steps away
- Plaza — steps away