The Battle of Velasco site, at the mouth of the Brazos River near present-day Surfside Beach, was originally the location of Fort Velasco, a Mexican garrison and customs post built around 1831-32 to control river traffic, collect tariffs, and monitor the movement of settlers and goods in and out of the Brazos River, one of the principal entry points into Anglo-American Texas. The fort's defensive and customs functions made it a strategic chokepoint for Mexican authorities enforcing trade and immigration restrictions on the colonies. In June 1832, Texian settlers, seeking to move a cannon and supplies past the garrison in support of the broader unrest connected to the Anahuac Disturbances, clashed with the Mexican defenders in the Battle of Velasco, one of the first armed engagements between Texian colonists and Mexican forces, resulting in the garrison's surrender. The fort itself did not survive as a standing structure and the settlement of Velasco, though it continued afterward as a small port town, was eventually eclipsed by nearby developments and largely faded. Today the original site's practical customs and military function is long gone; it survives mainly as a historical marker and small commemorative site within or near Surfside Beach, noting the fort's location and the battle, and functions as a modest heritage-tourism stop for visitors tracing the early conflicts leading to the Texas Revolution rather than as an active park or museum facility.