Texas

Iconic Alamo site celebrates special 189th anniversary: ‘Fabric of who we are as Texans’

Published

12 months ago

March 6, 2025

Iconic Alamo site celebrates special 189th anniversary: ‘Fabric of who we are as Texans’

Thursday marks the 189th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo, where the Mexican army’s rout of Texas revolutionaries would later inspire the fateful defeat of Mexican forces under the battle cry “Remember the Alamo.”

The Spanish mission-turned-battleground is one of Texas’s most iconic locations, symbolizing state pride and independence and one of its most popular tourist attractions. Established in 1718 as Mission San Antonio de Valero and relocated to its current location six years later, the site that came to be known as the Alamo was one of five Spanish missions built along the San Antonio River in what is now South Texas.

“The Alamo battle is part of the fabric of who we are as Texans,” said Kolby Lanham, the Alamo’s senior researcher and historian.

But it’s also a source of debate over how history is recalled and by whom, as some strive to offer perspectives that counter the mythology surrounding the event.

The buildup to the battle

Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Texas was a contested territory, and by 1836 the Alamo had become a military outpost as Texans fought to win independence.

That February, 189 Texan soldiers commanded by James Bowie and William Travis had locked themselves inside the mission walls as Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s Mexican army approached, intent on a siege. Among those inside taking up arms against the Mexican forces were folk legend Davy Crockett, a Tennessee congressman, and Texans of Mexican descent, or Tejanos.

On Feb. 24, as Mexican troops amassed to several thousand strong and the two sides traded sporadic gunfire, Travis wrote a now-famous missive “to the people of Texas and all Americans in the world” pleading for reinforcements.

“I shall never surrender or retreat,” he wrote. “…. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country.”

Travis signed off, “Victory or Death.”

Why was the Battle of the Alamo significant?

By the morning of March 6, Santa Anna’s troops, numbering nearly 5,000, attacked at dawn. They quickly breached the mission’s north walls, overwhelming the occupants and killing nearly all of them.

“It becomes a rallying call for the Texas Revolution,” Lanham said. “Many people who maybe weren’t involved or who had sat on the fence joined the cause.”

Six weeks later on April 21, led by Sam Houston’s army and shouting “Remember the Alamo,” the Texans defeated Mexican forces at the Battle of San Jacinto, capturing Santa Anna and forcing the withdrawal of his troops.

The victory earned Texas independence. The territory would remain independent until 1845, when its Legislature approved United States annexation.

“With that final battle, Texas becomes a nation,” said Lanham, whose ancestors fought in the conflict. “When it joined the union, Texas already had this big, bold identity that came along with it, and people haven’t lost sight of that.”

Three years later, after the Mexican-American War, the U.S. would obtain most of what is now the American Southwest with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Why has the site ignited controversy?

The Battle of the Alamo has been depicted in film and pop culture for over a century, most notably in the 1960 John Wayne vehicle “The Alamo.” But such retellings have been criticized for oversimplifying the conflict with racial overtones and the myth of martyred white heroes, with damaging reverberations.

“The Mexican army won the battle of the Alamo, so you would think that would make it a point of pride for people of Mexican descent, but that’s not the case,” said Sarah Zenaida Gould, executive director of San Antonio’s Mexican American Civil Rights Institute. “Instead, over time the Alamo becomes this symbol of Texas greatness. … Many Mexican Americans have stories of growing up in Texas and feeling shame about the Alamo and their ancestors defending their own country.”

Scholars such as University of Texas anthropology professor Richard Flores have recently examined how characterizations of the site have both reflected the state’s struggle with its Anglo and Mexican identity and distorted the reality of what occurred. Such reexaminations have drawn scorn in recent years amid ongoing culture wars.

“History changes and adapts over time,” Lanham said. “Some people don’t really want the story to change. They love the way the story was told, and as things are added to the story they get uncomfortable.”

In 2021, authors Bryan Burrough, Jason Stanford, and Chris Tomlinson released “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth,” exploring how racism and the desire to practice slavery played roles in Texas history. That July, an event promoting the book was set for Austin’s Bullock Texas State History Museum until Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a member of the State Preservation Board, pressured museum directors to call off the event just hours before it was to take place.

“This fact-free rewriting of TX history has no place @BullockMuseum,” Patrick posted on social media. The move was criticized as censorship.

Gould said research bears out the book’s premise.

“A lot of Anglos who were at the battle were pushing to expand slavery,” Gould said. “That wasn’t the sole reason why it happened, but it was a complaint they had against the Mexican government, which had outlawed slavery in 1821.”

Historic site nearly lost to development

Following the Texans’ victory, Lanham said, the mission was vacated, its cannon disabled, and the outer walls torn down. As noted on the Alamo website, the site fell into disrepair until the U.S. Army took it over in the 1840s as a supply hub, only to be abandoned again with the building of a more permanent military garrison at Fort Sam Houston.

According to Gould, San Antonio experienced a power shift in the aftermath of the battle, with the site roughly marking an east-west divide between white residents and those of Mexican descent, who had become marginalized as the city grew.

“Until 1836, every mayor of San Antonio had a Spanish surname,” she said. “Not until 1980 would there be another.”

San Antonio expanded across the river as German immigrants moved into the area, and many mission buildings were lost. The chapel and long barrack are all that remain of the original compound, Lanham said, thanks to early 20^th-century preservationists who fought to save them from development.

How is The Alamo remembered today?

At 6 a.m. Thursday, the Alamo was set to host an annual ceremony commemorating those who lost their lives in the historic battle. Jonathan Huhn, the site’s senior communications director, said this year’s 189^th anniversary is special given that it marks the number of soldiers who fought to defend the site in 1836.

Today, the Alamo is one of Texas’ most popular tourist sites, visited by 1.6 million people annually. In March 2023, the 24,000-square-foot Ralston Family Collections Center opened at the site, part of a $550 million project to restore and revitalize the historic location that site leaders predict will raise annual visitor figures to 2.5 million.

The collections center houses Alamo artifacts, including items donated by rock legend Phil Collins, who became enthralled by Alamo lore as a child. The items will eventually move to a new visitor center and museum, expected to open in 2027, with the collection center available for traveling exhibits.

The future museum will feature eight galleries chronicling the 300 years of history encompassing the Alamo and the surrounding area, from the Indigenous inhabitants who settled along the San Antonio River thousands of years before European arrival, to the role adjacent businesses played in civil rights struggles.

It’s a step toward acknowledging the complex history around one of Texas’ most iconic structures.

Gould said the shame once felt by Texans of Mexican descent “has evolved into an understanding that the myth of the Alamo as a cradle of liberty was created for particular ideological purposes, and we shouldn’t just accept it at face value. These days people are more attuned to the idea that history has multiple perspectives and that it’s not a single narrative.”

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Texas

Big top, bigger mission: Inclusive Omnium Circus makes Texas debut in Garland

Published

6 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Big top, bigger mission: Inclusive Omnium Circus makes Texas debut in Garland

Garland is about to witness a different kind of big top spectacle when Omnium Circus’ new show “I’m Possible” rolls into town for its first Texas performance on March 16 and 17 at the Atrium in Garland.

This inclusive circus was founded in 2020 by founder and executive director Lisa B. Lewis. She is no stranger to the circus world. Lewis grew up attending the circus with her grandfather, who was a Shriner. She would then later begin her own circus career at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Clown College.

A performer in a black suit rides inside a cyr wheel
against a stage lit in red. The letters of the OMNIUM
sign are in the background.

The idea for an inclusive circus came to her during one of her first experiences working as a clown. Lewis says that during her performance, she saw a row of grumpy teenagers.

“They had their arms folded like they were mad and grumpy, and then my partner, whom I was working with, began telling jokes in sign language,” Lewis said. “How he knew they were deaf, I don’t know. The group of teenagers immediately started laughing, and the energy of the entire section shifted.”

Lewis said that in that moment, something clicked in her head, and she realized the power of inclusion.

She would then go on to spread joy through the art of circus to special-needs kids. And then later, she created Omnium Circus.

“Circus elevates our belief in ourselves; it allows us to see the best of what humanity has to offer,” Lewis said.

A female with blue hair facing a man with a red hat
between them is a large bubble with... — A female with blue hair facing a man with a red hat
between them is a large bubble with smaller bubbles
inside of it. There is a golden light coming from
behind the bubbles.
Maike Schulz

Omnium is a Latin word meaning of all and belonging to all. The circus’ mission is to create joy and entertainment for all no matter the body you inhabit or the skin that you’re in.

The hour-long show in Garland will feature many inclusive acts, such as deaf singer-songwriter Mandy Harvey, an America’s Got Talent finalist and Golden Buzzer winner.

The show will feature two ringmasters: deaf ringmaster Malik Paris will conduct the sign-language portion of the show, while ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson will handle the vocal portion. Iverson is the first Black ringmaster for a major U.S. circus, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

A juggler wearing red and black gazes at his pins in
the air while cast members around him... — A juggler wearing red and black gazes at his pins in
the air while cast members around him look on in
amazement. The letters of the OMNIUM sign are in
the background behind the performers.

The show will also feature the six-time Paraclimbing World Cup champion, the world’s fastest female juggler, clowns from Dallas, plus more.

Details: March 16 at 7 p.m. and March 17 at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.at the Atrium, 300 N. 5th Street, Garland. Tickets are $21.99 for youth and $27.19 for adults.

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Texas GOP Sen. Cornyn tries to hold his seat for a 5th term while Democrats Crockett, Talarico face off

Published

18 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Texas GOP Sen. Cornyn tries to hold his seat for a 5th term while Democrats Crockett, Talarico face off

DALLAS (AP) — Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn is trying to hold on for a fifth term in Tuesday’s GOP primary, while Democrats will choose whether to send Rep. Jasmine Crockett or state Rep. James Talarico to a November general election where the party once again hopes it has a chance.

Texas is one of three states kicking off this year’s midterm elections, a slate of primaries that come as the U.S. and Israel are at war with Iran. The war, which began over the weekend, has killed at least six U.S. service members, spiraled into a regional confrontation as Iran retaliated and sent oil and natural gas prices soaring. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on an isolationist “America First” agenda and went to war without authorization from Congress, faces mounting questions over its rationale and an exit strategy.

Tuesday also is the final day of voting in North Carolina and Arkansas in primaries that mark the start of the 2026 midterms, as Democrats look to break the GOP’s hold on Washington and derail Trump.

Cornyn faces a challenge from MAGA favorite Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, and Rep. Wesley Hunt in a contest that’s expected to advance to a May runoff between the top two vote-getters. The three Republicans have campaigned on their ties to Trump, who has not endorsed in the race.

Crockett and Talarico each argue that they are the stronger general election candidate in a state that backed Trump by almost 14 percentage points in 2024 and where a Democrat hasn’t won a statewide race in over 30 years.

Voters also are choosing House candidates using new congressional district boundaries that GOP lawmakers — urged on by Trump — redrew to help elect more Republicans.

Cornyn fights to hold seat, Crockett and Talarico race for Democrats

Cornyn hopes to avoid becoming the first Republican senator in Texas history not to be renominated.

His cool relationship with Trump is part of why Cornyn is vulnerable. He and allied groups have spent $64 million in television advertising alone since July to try stabilize his support.

Paxton began campaigning in earnest only last month but has made national headlines for filing lawsuits against Democratic initiatives. He has remained popular in Texas despite a 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges, of which he was acquitted, and accusations of marital infidelity by his wife.

Senate GOP leaders, who are backing Cornyn, worry that Paxton’s liabilities would require the party to spend substantially to defend the seat if he is the nominee — money that could be better used elsewhere.

READ MORE: Lawsuit by Trump ally Paxton asserts unproven claim of autism risk from acetaminophen

Paxton has run ads touting his support from Turning Point USA, the group founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as well as Kirk’s praise for Paxton before he was assassinated in September.

Hunt’s entry into the race in October made it trickier for any primary candidate to win at least 50%, the threshold needed to avoid a May 26 runoff.

All three Republicans have run ads boasting of their coziness with Trump.

On the Democratic side, the party’s first major contest of 2026 offers a choice between stylistic opposites as it hungers for its first Senate win in Texas since 1988.

Talarico, a seminarian who often references the Bible, has held rallies across the state including in heavily Republican areas. Crockett, who has built a national profile for zinger attacks on Republicans, has focused on turning out Black voters in the Dallas and Houston areas.

Talarico had outspent Crockett on television advertising by more than four to one as of late February. He got a burst of attention last month from CBS’ decision not to air his interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert. Colbert said the network pulled the interview for fear of running afoul of Trump’s FCC. Talarico’s campaign announced it raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after the interview — which was streamed online — was pulled from TV.

Key House primaries

Texas Republicans’ unusual, mid-decade redistricting was aimed at helping Trump’s party pick up five Democratic-held seats in an effort to avoid losing control of the House. It set up some intraparty conflicts between Democratic incumbents, and what are expected to be some of November’s most competitive races.

In the 34th District, former Rep. Mayra Flores is attempting a comeback. Flores made history in a 2022 special election as the first Republican to win in the Rio Grande Valley in 150 years, but she lost her bid for a full term later that year. She faces Eric Flores, a lawyer endorsed by Trump, for the nomination to run against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez.

In the 23rd District, Rep. Tony Gonzales is considered vulnerable after fellow Republicans called on him to resign over an affair with a staffer who killed herself. He is being challenged by gun manufacturer and YouTube influencer Brandon Herrera, who calls himself “the AK guy.” The district includes Uvalde, site of a deadly 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School.

Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw is challenged in the 2nd District by GOP state Rep. Steve Toth, who was endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz.

Former Major League Baseball star Mark Teixeira is running in District 21, in southwest Texas, for the seat held by Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who is running for state attorney general. Teixeira, a Republican, played for four MLB teams, including the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees when they won the 2009 World Series.

Democrat Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy winner, is running in South Texas’ 15th District against physician Ada Cuellar. The nominee will face two-term Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.

In the 33rd District, Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson faces former Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL linebacker and 2024 Senate nominee. Johnson, a first-term congresswoman, is seen as vulnerable partly because Allred previously represented part of the district, which weaves through the Dallas and Fort Worth areas. He also retains a national fundraising network from his Senate campaign.

And Democratic Rep. Al Green also is fighting to stay in office after his Houston-based 9th District was drawn to be lean Republican. Green, 78, is now running in a newly drawn 18th District against Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, 37, who won a January special election for the current 18th District. The new one includes two-thirds of Green’s old district.

Abbott and Hinojosa seem bound to face off for governor, while Roy seeks Paxton’s office

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is running for reelection and faces a likely matchup with Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa.

Four-term U.S. Rep. Chip Roy is seeking the GOP nomination for state attorney general, with Paxton running for Senate. Roy has been a prominent member of the conservative Freedom Caucus.

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Texas

North Texas voters flood polls early, boosting turnout in both parties

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

North Texas voters flood polls early, boosting turnout in both parties

North Texans showed up in greater numbers for early voting in the 2026 midterm primary compared to recent election cycles, with the number of early voters surging across the region’s four largest counties: Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton.

A look at voter turnout from 2018, 2022 and 2026 showed the same pattern each time: more people are taking part, and both parties are seeing increases in turnout.

Data showed that Democrats are making noticeable progress in counties that have traditionally leaned Republican. At the same time, voter registration has grown significantly, giving both sides a larger pool of potential voters.

Data from the Texas Secretary of State were used to compile Election Day totals for 2018 and 2022. For the remaining dates, Early Voting totals were derived from the county websites themselves, including Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton.

What do the numbers show?

The bigger picture

Across all four counties, the numbers point to a clear trend: voter participation is growing on both sides of the political divide. Early voting is especially strong in 2026, driven by population growth, competitive primaries and heightened political interest.

Although Republicans still dominate turnout in Collin and Denton, Democrats’ early‑voting surges, including taking the lead in Tarrant, suggest that the region’s electoral map continues to evolve.

The full impact will come into focus once Election Day results are final, but for now, 2026 is shaping up to be the most energized North Texas primary in at least a decade.

Primary turnout surges as 2.8 million vote early statewide

Ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Texas is already seeing what voter data experts are calling a historic primary turnout.

During the 10 days of early voting, roughly 2.8 million people have voted so far in either the Republican or Democratic primary. More people have cast ballots than in any other recent midterm primary, and voter data experts say they expect about the same number of people to show up on Election Day.

The surge appears to be tied, in part, to a highly competitive Democratic primary that voter data analysts say is too close to call based on early vote numbers alone.

Garrett Herrin, CEO of Votehub, said the contest remains exceptionally tight.

“I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, right? But the race is razor thin,” Herrin said.

Herrin said early vote patterns do not show one side dominating geographically, making the outcome difficult to predict.

“There isn’t any sort of dramatic geographic imbalance that clearly signals that one side is running away with it. Instead, turnout looks broad and competitive, and that’s what makes it difficult to call based on early vote data alone,” Herrin said.

County-by-county data compiled by Ryan Data suggested the jump in turnout is not being driven mainly by first-time voters. Instead, analysts said it is coming from voters who typically only participate in November elections but now want a say in the primary.

The data shows 13% of GOP primary voters have only voted in November elections. On the Democratic side, that share is much higher — 28% of early voters in the Democratic primary have only voted in November elections.

Derek Ryan, who compiled the data, said that shift is the defining feature of the race so far.

“Now they’ve decided that, ‘Hey, there’s a contested Senate race in the Democratic primary. Maybe now is the time for me to make my voice heard in that race,’” said Ryan.

Ryan’s data also suggests the age breakdown of early voters has not changed much this year. Just 17% of Republican primary voters are under 50. The Democratic primary electorate is younger, with 41% of early voters so far under the age of 50.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.

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