A Tribute to Courage (Sam Houston Statue)

Big Sam is Huntsville's way of announcing itself to southbound traffic: a 67-foot figure of Sam Houston, formally titled A Tribute to Courage, on the east side of Interstate 45 as the road leaves town. Houston was the first president of the Republic of Texas, and he died in Huntsville in 1863.

Sculptor David Adickes, who grew up in Huntsville, began work in 1992 on a farm north of the town provided by Sam Houston State University. According to the city's tourism page, he envisioned the statue as a celebration of Houston's 200th birthday in 1993, though construction ran into the following year; CBS reported that it was dedicated in October 1994. Texas Highways says it weighs 30 tons and took more than two years to build. The city says Adickes worked without blueprints, building the figure in sections finished in white concrete with a protective seal, then lifting them by crane onto a foundation with three steel tubes running through the legs and cane, all standing on a 10-foot granite base.