The museum opens Oct. 11 and is located on The Victoria College campus. The purpose of the museum is to showcase the local history and heritage of the Coastal Bend. Museum director Annette Musgrave said this addition would give the public an opportunity to experience the beginnings of Texas history.

The museum also is one of seven participating in the La Salle Odyssey Project.  Each museum in the project presents one part in the journey of French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.

The purpose of LaSalle's expedition to the New World was to find the Mississippi River. He took a wrong turn and arrived at Matagorda Bay. Recent discoveries by archeologists have determined La Salle established Fort St. Louis in Victoria County around 1685.

Karankawa Indians attacked the fort in 1688, killing many of the remaining French colonists.

A Spanish expedition discovered the abandoned fort in 1689. Threatened by French colonization, they burned the fort and buried eight cannons that were left behind. The Spanish then built a presidio over the remains of Fort St. Louis.

In 1999, an archeological dig in Victoria County uncovered artifacts from this settlement. They discovered the French cannons buried by the Spanish at Fort St. Louis. The eight cannons will be a permanent display at the Museum of the Coastal Bend. The exhibit will include various artifacts that bring to life the French and Spanish settlement of Texas.

A replica of a fence that surrounded Mission Espiritu Santo will also be on display. The Hoffman Company of Corpus Christi was responsible for creating the fence.

"The idea was to fabricate a wall that looked like it came from many years in the past," said Ed Ybanez, who worked on the project. "This was accomplished by using sophisticated and high tech machinery, yet the final product appears to have been built by hand."

The museum will provide tours and educational programs for local schools. Another planned feature is a museum store with reproductions of jewelry discovered at Fort St. Louis, in addition to books about local history.

The ribbon cutting ceremony will include an archeology fair.