Juan Seguin Historic Park - LaPorte, TX
N 29° 45.677 W 095° 04.876
15R E 298765 N 3294148
Juan Seguin park is located just outside of the Lynchburg Ferry landing on Independence Parkway. It is part of Harris Co. Commissioner Garcia's efforts to more fully tell the story of this historic area.
Waymark Code: WMG356
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/06/2013
Views: 10
From the Harris County parks website: (
visit link)
"Juan Seguin Park is 4.9 acres of undeveloped green space. The park was named after Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, a Commander who fought in the Battle of San Jacinto and a Tejano hero of the Texas Revolution."
The most striking feature of this small park is the series of panels along Independence Parkway (the road to the San Jacinto state historic site) that tells the dramatic story of the Runaway Scrape, when thousands of Texan civilians loaded up what they could carry and fled in a panic before the Mexican Army, led by the ruthless dictator Santa Anna, could catch and destroy them.
The Runaway Scrape ended when Gen. Sam Houston and the Texian Army defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto on 21 Apr 1836.
From the handbook of Texas online: (
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RUNAWAY SCRAPE. The term Runaway Scrape was the name Texans applied to the flight from their homes when Antonio López de Santa Anna began his attempted conquest of Texas in February 1836. The first communities to be affected were those in the south central portions of Texas around San Patricio, Refugio, and San Antonio. The people began to leave that area as early as January 14, 1836, when the Mexicans were reported gathering on the Rio Grande. When Sam Houston arrived in Gonzales on March 11 and was informed of the fall of the Alamo, he decided upon retreat to the Colorado River and ordered all inhabitants to accompany him. Couriers were dispatched from Gonzales to carry the news of the fall of the Alamo, and when they received that news, people all over Texas began to leave everything and make their way to safety. Houston's retreat marked the beginning of the Runaway Scrape on a really large scale. Washington-on-the-Brazos was deserted by March 17, and about April 1 Richmond was evacuated, as were the settlements on both sides of the Brazos River. The further retreat of Houston toward the Sabine left all of the settlements between the Colorado and the Brazos unprotected, and the settlers in that area at once began making their way toward Louisiana or Galveston Island. The section of East Texas around Nacogdoches and San Augustine was abandoned a little prior to April 13. The flight was marked by lack of preparation and by panic caused by fear both of the Mexican Army and of the Indians. The people used any means of transportation or none at all. Added to the discomforts of travel were all kinds of diseases, intensified by cold, rain, and hunger. Many persons died and were buried where they fell. The flight continued until news came of the victory in the battle of San Jacinto. At first no credence was put in this news because so many false rumors had been circulated, but gradually the refugees began to reverse their steps and turn back toward home, many toward homes that no longer existed." [end]