Seguin, Texas, (population 25,094) was founded on August 12, 1838. The town was named in honor of Col. Juan N. Seguin, a hero of the Alamo. Col. Seguin led a group of Texans of Mexican ancestry to win the battle at San Jacinto. The town of Seguin is located along the Guadalupe River, discovered in 1689 by Alonzo deLeon, who named it in honor of the patron saint of his expedition.
For a century, Seguin's prosperity relied on the surrounding farming community. In the past 50 years, many Mexican Americans have been attracted to Seguin for jobs in the manufacturing and industrial sectors. Texas Lutheran University, Continental, and the Guadalupe Valley Regional Hospital are the major employers in the city.
The Seguin Main Street Program and Seguin Convention and Visitors Bureau collaborated to present “Pecan Fest Heritage Days.” The event is designed to promote and celebrate Seguin's pecan industry history. The Main Street Program also sponsors “Trade Days” in the National Register of Historic Places-listed Commercial Downtown Historic District. Free vendor space is provided to individuals or non-profits selling pecan-related products. Seguin Film Festival sponsors a contest for independent films that are judged, with the best overall receiving the “Golden Pecan” award. The Evening Lions Club sponsors a Steak Cook-Off as a fundraiser, bringing hundreds of participants to the Red Barn Agricultural and Rural Heritage Center.
The Seguin Convention and Visitors Bureau offers programs and activities to promote heritage tourism in Seguin. One of these programs is the “True Women” Guided and Driving Tours. The tours highlight places of interest in the novel “True Women,” a historic novel based on people and places in and around Seguin.
The Heritage Museum is a non-profit organization that is the repository for a large collection of early photographs from Seguin and Guadalupe County. The Leon Studio Collection consists of more than 100,000 photographs from the last century. These photographs are available as reprints to the general public. The museum also exhibits turn-of-the-century vignettes, archaeological artifacts, and Native American displays.
Designated a Preserve America Community in July 2009.