Last month, when I gave a talk about the Cos House — where the articles of capitulation in the December 1835 Siege of Bexar were signed by Mexican Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos — one of the questions I was asked was whether the plaque seen in a 1941 photograph was still there.
This was one of the markers placed by the Texas Historical and Landmark Association, or THLA, a preservation group founded by Adina De Zavala, better known for her work in saving the Alamo.
Before there were Texas Centennial monuments (discussed here May 3, 2025, and May 10, 2025) put up for the 1936 observance of Texas independence and before the Texas Historical Commission started its historical marker program in 1962, there were THLA markers. Usually off-white marble or bronze plaques, there were eventually 38 of them statewide, with 28 identifying some of San Antonio’s most historic places…