The Stone Fort Museum is housed in a 1936 replica, built on a new site, of Don Antonio Gil Y'Barbo's stone house. Y'Barbo, the founder of the present day Nacogdoches, built the stone house as the formal portals to the Spanish District of Texas sometime between the years 1788 and 1791. The original site of Y'Barbo's house, torn down in 1902, is the corner of Fredonia and Main Streets in downtown Nacogdoches. During its history, the original house served variously as a public building, grocery store, candy store, saloon, and as a temporary fortification during the Magee-Gutierrez, Dr. James Long and Fredonia Rebellion filibusters.

Don Antonio Gil Y'Barbo (pronounced ebarvo) built a home that reflects Spanish Colonial residential architecture, but the building acquired a nickname in the mid-1800's when the owner of the building named his saloon the, "Old Stone Fort Saloon." Prior to that, the building is always referred to in records as the stone house. The house changed hands six times before the Perkins brothers bought the building for $12,000 in 1901 with the intention of demolishing the structure to erect a modern building. This news attracted the attention of the Cum Concilio Club, a local women's study group. The Club conducted fundraising projects for one year in hopes of purchasing the aging structure. Unable to prevent the demolition of the building, the Cum Concilio Club purchased the building stones that were later incorporated in a small memorial structure and museum. Before the house was torn down in 1902 it was one of the oldest stone structures in the State, and its porch one of the earliest examples of the galerie style porch in Texas.

In 1936, the same stones were in turn used to build the present replica structure, authorized by the Texas Centennial Commission and the State Board of Control, which stands on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University. Now over seventy years old, the replica structure is an important landmark which reflects the historical zeal of the Texas Centennial.

THE MUSEUM

One of the first objects acquired by the museum is a cienture fleche, or beaded sash, made by Indians from unraveled Spanish uniforms. The sash, donated in 1908, is believed to have been worn by Encarnacion Chireno, the Mexican Alcalde of Nacogdoches, in the 1832 Battle of Nacogdoches. In keeping with this early focus, the Stone Fort Museum interprets the history of East Texas and Nacogdoches prior to 1900; placing special emphasis on the Spanish and Mexican periods beginning in 1690 with the establishment of the Spanish Mission Tejas and ending with the overthrow of the Mexican government in 1836 by Texas revolutionists.

The Stone Fort Museum is a non-profit educational organization supported by the State of Texas and Stephen F. Austin State University.

ADMISSIONS

The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.; closed Monday and holidays.

Admission for individuals is free of charge. Educational programs for groups are available by reservation only. Call (936) 468-2408 for group rates and more information.

DIRECTIONS

From North Street, Business Highway 59, enter Stephen F. Austin State University at Griffith Boulevard. The Museum will be on your left at the intersection of Griffith and Clarke Boulevards. Free parking for visitors is available only on the front and south sides of the Museum. Paid parking is available in the covered garage across from the Museum.