The San Jacinto Museum of History Association is pleased to announce its participation in the Blue Star Museums program in 2017, offering free entrance to all active duty military personnel, including National Guard and Reserve, and their families from Monday, May 30, 2017, (Memorial Day) through Monday, September 5, 2017, (Labor Day). Up to five family members will also be admitted free of charge.
The museum association will give qualifying personnel free access to the Texas Forever!! The Battle of San Jacinto digital presentation; the nearly 500-foot elevator ride to the Observation Deck atop the San Jacinto Monument with views of the historic battleground of San Jacinto and many square miles of surrounding area; and the museum’s special exhibit, A Destined Conflict: The U.S. – Mexican War, which looks at the events following the Texas Revolution that led to the United States’ first foreign war.
Beyond these attractions there is plenty to do at the Monument or the Museum: the San Jacinto Museum’s permanent gallery exhibiting books to bayonets, swords to six shooters; the San Jacinto Battleground; picnic tables, grills and water faucets; and the 1,210-foot long marsh trail and boardwalk that provides views of the native prairie, tidal marsh and bottomland forest.
The museum and its attractions are open daily year-round 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.—including Independence Day, Labor Day and nearly all holidays. All attractions are wheel-chair accessible.
The program is open to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card, a DD Form 1173 ID card or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, which includes active U.S. military as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the NOAA Commissioned Corps. Family members can enter for free without the serving person, based on the spouse’s dependent ID.
Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums throughout the U.S. to offer free admission to the nation’s 1.4 million active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
More on the San Jacinto Museum of History: The San Jacinto Museum of History Association is a non-profit organization which manages and operates all aspects of the San Jacinto Museum, which is housed in the San Jacinto Monument on the grounds of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site. More than 20,000 students visit the Museum each year on field trips. The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site attracts more than 1,500,000 people to the park annually.
The San Jacinto Monument and battlegrounds complex is located at One Monument Circle, La Porte, Texas 77571-9585; contact 281.479.2421 or visit sanjacinto-museum.org for more information. NOTE: the Battleship TEXAS floating museum is not included in this program.