Palacios Area Historical Association
"City by the Sea Museum"

The City By the Sea Museum - The R.J. Hill Building

In 1986, the Palacios Area Historical Association (PAHA) bought and saved from neglectful decay the R.J. Hill Building on Commerce Street in downtown Palacios. Built in 1910, this two-story, 6,000 square foot building is one of the oldest remaining structures within the city limits. By 1989, the generous support of Palacios area residents enabled PAHA to eliminate all debt incurred through the purchase. During the 1990s, the organization began a plan to preserve and stabilize the building, undertaking extensive work to secure the foundation and re-point areas of deteriorating masonry. Additional tasks included replacement of the roof, tie rods, new windows on the second floor, and some of the smaller windows on the first floor. According to the current project architects, Gregory Free and Associates, the work conducted on the building over the last twenty years has significantly reduced the cost of the current rehabilitation and allowed for the retention of more historic fabric. The exemplary stabilization work undertaken on this building, without encumbering long-term debt, remains one of PAHA's most successful achievements.

The mission of PAHA encourages visitors to experience and learn from the region's diverse cultures and history. Through educational outreach, and the collection, exhibition and interpretation of artifacts, the Palacios Area Historical Association and Museum, when completed, will operate as a functional resource center. This will serve to Preserve the past, Record the present and Provide Perspective for the future. The organization strongly believes that history can inform and educate society by providing the context and perspective that allows people to make thoughtful decisions today and for the future. To this end, PAHA and many of its members have developed partnerships with city, county, and state entities involved with the preservation of heritage, including Matagorda County heritage organizations, The Texas Independence Trail, The Texas Settlement Region, The La Salle Odyssey, and the Texas Historical Commission.

The organization's volunteers consider themselves the caretakers of Palacios' memories, preserving the history of the area by saving important artifacts and archival material. Without their efforts over the past 25 years, much of the city and region's material culture from the early settlement days would have been lost.

PAHA is an educational institution that understands the linkage between a strong sense of heritage and identity. Through programming and outreach, PAHA helps to build civic pride, and strengthen the community by educating residents and visitors about the influence of history and heritage on our daily lives. Approximately 5,200 residents live in the City of Palacios, but within this small number are four distinctive cultures forming one collective heritage. PAHA's work builds on this collective identity, increasing the quality of life for residents and a better experience for visitors.

A strong sense of collective heritage enables Palacios residents to successfully complete many projects that relate to civic pride and identity. The Palacios community made possible the Texas Historical Commission's La Salle Shipwreck Excavation: from the initial funding of the archaeological survey by the Trull Foundation; to the Navigation District #1 supplying dock and building space; to the Palacios Area Fund for coordinating volunteers to work along side professional archaeologists; to individual members of PAHA and the community for providing most of the 8,900 volunteer hours over a five month period of the excavation. The PAHA project to restore the R.J. Hill Building and rehabilitate the structure into high quality museum space will provide a more functional base for outreach and education serving to further strengthen the Palacios area community.

Issues Addressed by the PAHA

1. The restoration and rehabilitation the R.J. Hill Building, Palacios TX.
   1. Assume the leadership role in the revitalization of downtown Palacios
   2. Increase appreciation in the value of the region's historic places
2. An improved ability to preserve significant examples of the region's historic material culture.
3. Upgrade exhibit space to highlight community history and celebrate cultural diversities in the Palacios region.
   1. Development of a more culturally diverse membership and programs to further foster community building
   2. Permanently exhibit La Salle Odyssey artifacts
4. Creation of a functional base to increase education programming, outreach, and further strengthen the community of Palacios, TX
5. Encouragement of more heritage tourism.