San Jacinto Battleground no longer free

Texas history just got a little more expensive. Beginning yesterday, visitors to the San Jacinto Battleground will have to pay a dollar to get in — the first entry fee in the park's 123-year history. The fee comes because maintenance and operation costs are rising and the state park system's burget was cut 5 percent for 2006-07, leaving officials with no other way to pay the bills.

The good news is that improvements are under way at the park — fire and safety improvements funded by the state Legislature are being carried out at the San Jacinto Monument and Museum of History, built between 1936 and 1939. To Houstonist's great relief, chunks of stone are no longer falling off the outside of the monument and the ancient elevator is being upgraded. It should all be finished by the summer.

It just leaves the museum itself, which has apparently been pretty neglected — and we have to admit, even though we're interested in the topic, we never found much there to excite us. But we didn't realize only a tiny fraction of the collection is on display:

"We are only able to display 2 percent of our artifacts because we don't have a large enough 3-D case or it won't protect it sufficiently," [interim museum President Larry Spasic] said.

For instance, the museum is unable to display the last rocking chair used by Lorenzo de Zavala, the first vice president of Texas in 1836, the year he died.

De Zavala's rocking chair? Better start saving your dollars!