The Post Office issued this stamp on March 2, 1936 - Texas Independence Day, exactly 100 years after the declaration of independence from Mexico was signed at Washington-on-the-Brazos in 1836.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #776

• Denomination: 3 cents (3¢)

• Date of Issue: March 2, 1936

• Printing Method: Rotary Press, Engraved (Intaglio)

• Perforation: 11 × 10½

• Color: Purple

• Subject: Sam Houston (left) and Stephen F. Austin (right) with The Alamo at center

CONDITION ANALYSIS (Seller-Assessed)

• Status: Used

• Grading: Extremely Fine

• Postmark: Moderate impression present, falling without obscuring the portraits or principal design elements.

• Obverse: Main design elements remain clearly identifiable throughout, including the portraits, denomination, and inscriptions. No major tears visible.

• Reverse: No original gum present, as expected for a used stamp. Reverse is clean with no visible thinning or repairs.

• Centering / Margins: Excellent, with perforations clear of the design frame on all sides.

• Perforations: All perforations intact. No evidence of trimming, reperforation, or other alterations.

HISTORY

On March 2, 1836, delegates meeting at Washington-on-the-Brazos signed the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas. The Alamo fell four days later. Sam Houston, who appears on the left side of this stamp, commanded the Texas forces that defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, securing independence in a battle that lasted eighteen minutes. Stephen F. Austin, on the right, was the empresario whose colonization efforts in the 1820s built the Anglo-American settlements that eventually sought independence - he is often called the Father of Texas.

A century later, the U.S. Post Office Department issued this commemorative on Texas Independence Day, March 2, 1936, with the centennial year celebrations already underway. Texas had been a U.S. state since 1845, but the centennial of its independent republic was a significant cultural moment across the state and the country. The design places Houston and Austin flanking The Alamo, the mission-turned-fort whose siege had become the defining symbol of Texas resistance.

The 3¢ denomination served the domestic first-class letter rate, giving this commemorative wide circulation during the centennial year.

STEVEN SAYS

March 2, Texas Independence Day. The Post Office planned that deliberately. The Battle of San Jacinto that secured independence lasted eighteen minutes. Houston and Austin on either side of The Alamo, the design tells the whole story in one image.