Fort Anahuac was established in 1830-31 by the Mexican government at the mouth of the Trinity River on Galveston Bay as a military garrison and customs post, functioning primarily to enforce Mexican immigration and tariff law over the growing population of Anglo-American colonists in East Texas. Under commanders including Juan Davis Bradburn and later customs officer George Fisher, the fort's soldiers collected duties on goods entering and leaving the region and attempted to restrict further Anglo settlement under the Law of April 6, 1830, generating deep resentment among local Texian settlers and merchants. This friction erupted in the Anahuac Disturbances of 1832, in which armed settlers, including William Barret Travis, clashed with and eventually forced the surrender of the garrison, an early flashpoint on the road to the Texas Revolution; a second round of disturbances occurred there in 1835. The fort's practical military and customs function ended with Texas independence, and the structure itself did not survive as a standing building. Today the site is preserved as Fort Anahuac Park, a public city park operated by the City of Anahuac on Galveston Bay, featuring open recreational grounds, a fishing pier, picnic areas, and historical markers describing the fort's foundations and the events of 1832. The park functions as a local recreational green space combined with a heritage tourism stop, commemorating the site's role in the lead-up to Texas independence rather than serving any ongoing military or governmental purpose.