The Texas Monuments Digital Archive (TMDA) is a GEOCAST-hosted initiative dedicated to digitally documenting and preserving Texas’ 1936 Centennial monuments before their 100-year anniversary.

These monuments including San Jacinto, Goliad, Gonzales, and many regional markers were designed to carry Texas’ story forward for generations. Yet today, many:

• Have never been fully photographed in archival detail.
• Show signs of erosion, staining, or weathering that obscure the original text.
• Have fragile, incomplete, or scattered blueprints and construction records.
• Lack a centralized digital record that ties inscriptions, plans, and 3D form together.

TMDA was created to ensure the original record is preserved, even as the stone continues to change. Our work is non-political and preservation-focused: we document, we archive, and we make the results accessible so others can study and interpret the material in the future.

Mission & Scope

Our mission: to digitally preserve Texas’ historic monuments through high-resolution imaging, LIDAR scanning, blueprint archiving, and open public access ensuring the stories engraved in stone remain accessible for centuries.

TMDA’s initial documentation plan focuses on key 1936 Centennial sites and their related markers:

• San Jacinto Monument – Friezes, inscriptions, stone plug patterns, and blueprint comparisons.
• Goliad / Fannin Memorial – Obelisk documentation, relocated stones, and unarchived frieze text.
• Gonzales Memorial Museum – Centennial inscriptions, carved panels, and non-digitized text.
• Regional Centennial Markers – County and community markers with limited documentation.

As the archive grows, TMDA will expand to include additional monuments, WPA-era inscriptions, and partner sites identified by local communities, museums, and researchers.

Methods

TMDA uses a structured digital-heritage workflow to create a rigorous, reproducible record for each site:

• High-Resolution Photography – Detailed images of inscriptions, friezes, stone surfaces, and anomalies.
• LIDAR & Photogrammetry – 3D scans of monuments, relief panels, and architectural geometry.
• Blueprint Digitization – Scanning and cataloging original plans, drawings, and notes where available.
• Text Preservation – Accurate transcription of friezes, plaques, and commemorative text with metadata.
• Condition Assessment – Mapping erosion, cracks, plugs, and discrepancies between stone and plans.
• Open Public Archive – Publishing the resulting models, images, and transcriptions on TMDAtexas.org.

Our methodology draws from digital archaeology, architectural documentation, GIS, and photogrammetry, with an emphasis on transparency so that future researchers can understand how each dataset was created.

TMDA is hosted by GEOCAST, which focuses on geospatial and environmental data. Both share a core belief:

Data — whether environmental or historical — should be preserved, accessible, and trusted. Just as GEOCAST helps keep sensor networks and legacy signals online, TMDA works to ensure that the record carved into Texas monuments is not lost to time.