Fire destroys replica Burleson cabin at Aquarena Center

Date of Release: 06/19/2006

SAN MARCOS—San Marcos fire officials are investigating a Friday night fire that destroyed a replica home of one of the heroes of Texas independence.

The fire at the Aquarena Center on the campus of Texas State University-San Marcos was reported at approximately 9:30 p.m. and was extinguished by 11 p.m., but not before it had caused extensive damage to the Edward G. Burleson Cabin on the Aquarena property. No other structures were damaged and no one was injured in the fire.

Gen. Edward G. Burleson was a leading figure in the fight for Texas Independence and in the government of the Republic of Texas following the revolution. He, along with Eli T. Merriman and William Lindsey, were the founders of the City of San Marcos and Hays County.

In 1848, Burleson built the cabin that would become his home on the hillside above what is now the Aquarena Center. He died in 1851.
That original cabin fell in a storm in 1917. In 1960, what remained of the original cabin was dismantled and some materials were stored for the construction of the replica cabin in 1964.