Don't miss the fun and exciting times this weekend at the annual San Augustine Heritage Days Festival.  The event is this Friday and Saturday, June 4th and 5th. This year's event will give members of the whole family opportunities to not only enjoy great food and live entertainment, but this is also a great way to get educated on the deep and vast history that San Augustine has to offer.

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Did you know that San Augustine boasts the first university founded in the state of Texas.  Although the University of San Augustine was only open a few years, it paved the way for other colleges and universities in the area to open.  That's just one of the many treasures of history that can be revealed to you when exploring the history of the Cradle of Texas during the Heritage Days event.

Some of the events this year include the 'Run Wild' fun run/walk along the 2.2 mile long Santa Fe trail, which features life-like mounts of native animals, and the chance to encounter live animals as well.  The event will also feature activities for all ages, including barrel train rides, tractor show, live entertainment, food vendors, art displays, and a historical reanactment where tour groups will wake the ghost of Finetta Baker (played by her great-great granddaughter Louis Lacy), local businesses and restaurants will remain open during the festival as well. One of the biggest highlights of the weekend will be a re-enactment of Sam Houston portrayed by Emmy Award winning actor (and Nacogdoches County resident) Brad Maule.

There will also be a contest for the elderly within the community, three awards will be given out for oldest person, biggest family and oldest veteran.  Roger Holt will be speaking of how the town was founded while another San Augustine resident, Julia Wade, will speak about the town's historic businesses and how they helped the community grow.  Another community member, Linda Mathews, will speak of San Augustine's black population and their struggles, contributions, and accomplishments to the community.

 

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

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