This Houston Seafood Restaurant located on the San Jacinto State Historical Site brings regular visitors that know the perfect way to top off a day of exploring Texas history is by enjoying the great food served up at that legendary local seafood restaurant, the Monument Inn. Located at 4406 Independence Parkway South, right down the street from the San Jacinto State Park, the Monument Inn is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the scenic views of the Houston Ship Channel and San Jacinto State Park while dining on some of the most delicious seafood to be found anywhere on the Gulf Coast.
There are many attractions to be found at the San Jacinto State Historical Site. Besides the San Jacinto Monument and Battlefield Museum there’s also the Battleship Texas Memorial and of course Houston’s best seafood restaurant, the Monument Inn.
The USS Texas is the oldest surviving representative of the Dreadnought Class of battleship that ruled the seas during the first decades of the Twentieth Century. She was launched on May 18, 1912 and commissioned on March 12, 1914. At the time of her commission, the USS Texas was one of the most powerful ships in the US fleet.
During World War One, the USS Texas provided escort for supply ships and helped lay mines in the North Sea. In World War Two the USS Texas saw action in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the Atlantic she escorted convoys (often stalked by German U-boats) and participated in many important battles, including shelling Axis positions during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. In the Pacific theater, the USS Texas provided support during the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
The USS Texas was awarded five battle stars and is one of only a handful of battleships that saw action in both world wars. The USS Texas was distinguished by many “firsts” during her years for service: she was the first battleship to have mounted anti-aircraft guns; the first battleship to control gun fire using directors and range keepers (analog predecessors of today’s computers); the first US battleship to launch an aircraft; and the first battleship to be outfitted with CXAM-1 radar system.
In 1948 the battleship arrived at her new home in the Houston Ship Channel and San Jacinto State Park, turned over to the State of Texas on April 21, the anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. In 1983 the USS Texas was turned over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and is now a permanent part of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, which is also home to the San Jacinto monument and Houston’s best seafood restaurant, the Monument Inn. The vessel is open to the public, allowing visitors to experience what life was like aboard one of America’s great ships of war.
The USS Texas has appeared in several major Hollywood movies, including The Sand Pebbles, Pearl Harbor and Flags of Our Fathers.
We know you and your family will enjoy experiencing the important historical sites of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site. In addition, we know you’ll love the tasty dishes served up by renowned local seafood restaurant, the Monument Inn. Along with a wide variety of fresh seafood including red snapper, shrimp and oysters, we also serve delicious pasta, beef and chicken dishes. There are many seafood restaurants in Houston, but few that offer the beautiful scenic shoreline views you can enjoy from the dining room of the Monument Inn. Come for the history, stay for a meal – at the best Houston seafood restaurant, the Monument Inn, located at 4406 Independence Parkway in La Porte, Texas.
Verla Duncan Wagoner’s Moody County nieces Bonnie Hemmer, Jane DeLay, and Deon Duncan along with nephew Gary Duncan, pose with the quilt that another niece Vicki Peschon of Hutchinson, MN who is another niece, made for Wagoner. She’s already received the quilt at her home in New York state. Her other local nephew, Jim DeLay, is not pictured.
Verla Duncan Wagoner, 101, was born in Egan and after graduating from high school and taking a secretarial course, she worked four years in Pierre at the state treasurer’s office. She enlisted in the U.S. Army on Dec. 10, 1943, training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, where she was assigned to a basic company for additional detailed training. She was a member of Company 13, 13th Regiment at Fort Des Moines and ended up with the rank of corporal.
She started active service on Jan. 12, 1944, and her rank was a corporal, and she worked as a clerk typist, serving 22 months at Bolling Field in Washington, D.C.
After her service, she married Morgan M. Wagoner in 1947 in Albany, N.Y., and worked doing office work at a glove factory and for 20 years, volunteered at the local VA. She and her husband, who died in 1975, had three children: Arthur, Eileen and Janet. She also has four grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
She has nieces and a nephew in Moody County, including Bonnie Hemmer of Colman, Jim DeLay of Egan, Jane DeLay of Egan, Deon Jensen of Trent and Gary Duncan of Flandreau. Her nieces and nephews are working on getting a quilt of valor to honor her. Jensen and Duncan’s sister, Vickie Peschon of Hutchinson, Minn., is sewing the quilt of valor to give to their aunt, a project she does for veterans in her area.