Palacios Tourist Attractions
"Shrimp Capital of Texas"
- approximately 400 vessels call Palacios their home port. There are 4 turning basins under the direction of the Matagorda County Navigation District No.1.
"Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail "
lists several sites in the Palacios region. Palacios had the #1 species count in the Christmas Bird Count most years since 1998.
Palacios Area Historical Association operates the Palacios Museum in the Hill Building, a 1910 mercantile building. Ph: 361-972-5241. It is presently being remodeled, but is scheduled to reopen by July 3rd.
Palacios Public Library
was founded in 1910 by twenty women. The present location is 326 Main.
Palacios Seawall
provides about 1 ½ miles of concrete seawall which is a favorite spot for many walkers. There are also free boat ramps and numerous lighted jetties and piers for fishing.
The Texas State Marine Education Center
houses college programs from Wharton Junior College, Texas A& M and Texas State Technical College. It is located at the former Camp Hulen region.
Fishing Piers
There are 3 free lighted fishing piers in town, as well as lighted groins. The Pavilion pier is a t-head which is wheelchair accessible.
A nine-hole golf course
Located on the Municipal Airport grounds on Hwy. 35 west of Palacios. For information, call 361-972-5947.
Palacios Municipal Airport has three 150x5,000-foot concrete runways.
Home of the Texas Historical Commission Shipwreck Project in 1996
The building has since been torn down, but the memories of that  year will not soon disappear. The ship the "Belle," belonging to French explorer Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle, which sunk in 1686, was excavated from Sept. 1996 to April 1997, and all of the artifacts as well as the hull of the ship, were brought into the headquarters in Palacios before being taken to Texas A&M for conservation. A replica of the "Belle", "la Petite Belle" will soon become a part of the 7 county LaSalle Odyssey.The Texas Historical Commission has a good history of the LaSalle shipwreck excavation.
by artist Dayton Wodrich adorn many buildings around Palacios.
Historical Markers:
Palacios has several historical markers within the city limits. These include:
Palacios Cemetery: 12th St. Started in 1902.
The Luther Hotel: 408 South Bay Boulevard completed in 1905. It was originally built on East Bay in 1903, and was moved to the present site in 1905.
Texas Baptist Encampment: 110 First St. First summer encampment on the site was in 1906. Numerous camps are held there every year.
The Palacios Pavilion: Commerce and Fourth St. The first pavilion was built in 1904. It was a 2-story structure called the Pleasure Pier, and had boat docks and bath houses extending down the pier. It offered swimming, boating, dancing, skating, and basketball parties. It received hurricane damage in 1914, 1915 and 1934 . A new pavilion, "The Round House," was dedicated late in 1935 and was the site for many dances and included some famous "Big Bands." The Round House was destroyed by Hurricane Carla in 1961. It was replaced with a smaller open-air pavilion in 1991and is still a site for an occasional dance and receptions.
Camp Hulen : Business Hwy 35, near Marine Education Center.
Palacios Preparation School: 307 Bayshore Dr., built in 1910.
Cates-Price Home: 506 South Bay Blvd., built in 1910.
Pybus-Koerber House (now Main Inn Bed & Breakfast) Main St. - Built in 1915.
R.J. Hill Building - site of the City by the Sea Museum. Built in 1910.
First United Methodist Church of Palacios - Organized in 1903. Parishoners built Pioneer Hall in 1905 and a sanctuary was added in 1912.
St. John's Episcopal Church - First built in 1911.
First Presbyterian Church of Palacios - Organized in 1907 and initially met in the Methodist Church Pioneer Hall. The first church building was built in 1910.
Site of Camp Hulen - Camp Palacios was established in 1925 as a summer camp for the 36th Infantry of the Texas National Guard.
OUR HERITAGE
Palacios is located in Matagorda County, nestled along the Tres Palacios Bay, an inland bay of Matagorda Bay, on the southern coast of Texas. Houston is approximately 110 miles to the northeast and Corpus Christi is approximately 110 miles to the southwest.
There is a legend that a Spanish ship was wrecked off the coast near Palacios. The sailors saw a mirage of three palaces, and swam toward the shore where the palaces seemed to be. Of course the palaces disappeared, but the name, Three Palaces (Tres Palacios in Spanish), did not disappear.
Matagorda County was organized in 1837 when Texas became a Republic. The area was ranch land and continued so until cotton began to be farmed. At the turn of the century, land developers moved into South Texas touting the climate, the access to navigable streams and the Gulf of Mexico, the land, and the network railroads available.
A real estate agent named W. C. Moore and others formed a corporation called The Texas Rice Development Company and developed an area in West Matagorda County, 19,400 acres, on Tres Palacios Bay. The area, called Bull Pasture, had been part of the famous Shanghai Pierce Ranch. A town was laid out at Hamilton Point in 1902 and named Tres Palacios (the Tres was later dropped).
Palacios can boast of a fantastic coastal setting, with wonderful temperatures, but there is more to the "City by the Sea" than that. A paradise for hunters and fishermen with guides available for those new to the area. Alligator, early teal, dove, goose, duck, hog and deer hunting expeditions may be arranged in season. The birding trails here are second to none. Palacios is home to the Nature Conservancy of Texas' Mad Island Marsh Preserve. How about a romantic honeymoon getaway, or a relaxing evening walk on the lighted seawall or just watching the shrimp fleets return. There is golf, sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and more. The list of activities goes on and on. Maybe what you are looking for is a place just to kick back and relax. We've got that too.
Accommodations range from simple to luxurious and include such historic locations as the Luther Hotel , The Main Inn Bed and Breakfast or the Peaceful Pelican B&B. The newly remodeled Delux Inn Motel is available in Palacios, or if you just want to rent a house for a family vacation, Pelican House, Sea Scape I,II, III, the Bay Houseor many others listed here, is for you. Many R.V. parks are also available.
What is there to do in Palacios?
Here are a few of many things to do in Palacios. Palacios events for 2009 are listed here. These include the Palacios Centennial events. For details on the Centennial Events, visit www.palacioscentennial.com.
Click here for a listing of Palacios Churches.
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