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Socorro Mission
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepción, located along the Rio Grande in Socorro, Tx. The Franciscan mission was founded in 1682.
Fact: Legend has it that in 1838 the statue was being moved from Mexico to a church in northern New Mexico on an ox cart when the wagon bogged down on the site of the Socorro Mission and couldn’t be moved. The people believed that this was a sign from St. Michael that he wanted a shrine constructed in his honor.
www.legendsofamerica.com/socorro-mission-texas/ -
Mission Corpus Christi de la Ysleta
The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Mission Corpus Christi de la Ysleta, located just southeast of El Paso, Texas. The mission was established by Antonio de Otermín, the Spanish governor of present-day New Mexico, and Fray Francisco de Ayeta in 1682.
Fact: The oldest continuously operated parish in the state. The community claims to have the oldest continuously cultivated plot of land in the United States.
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Mission Espada
Officially called the Mission San Francisco de la Espada, this mission was originally founded southwest of present-day Weches, Texas, in 1690.
Fact: Today, the mission boasts the best-preserved segments of the historic acequias, including the Espada Dam and Aqueduct. These structures represent the best surviving physical assembly of an 18th-century Spanish irrigation network in the US.
www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-sanantoniomissions/#mission-espada -
Mission San Juan
Officially called Mission San Juan Capistrano, this mission was originally founded in 1716 in eastern Texas and transferred to its present location in 1731.
Fact: Over 20 miles southeast of Mission San Juan was Rancho de Pataguilla, in 1762, reported 3,500 sheep and nearly as many cattle. These products helped support the San Antonio missions and the area’s local settlements and presidial garrisons
www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-sanantoniomissions/#mission-san-juan -
Mission San Antonio de Valero - The Alamo
Originally known as the Mission San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo, began as a Catholic mission and compound in 1718, one of many Catholic missions organized as part of the official Spanish plan to Christianize Native Americans and colonize northern New Spain.
Fact: The Alamo was meant to be three stories but was never built due to the decline of Mission Indians.
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Mission San Jose
Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, named for Saint Joseph and the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, the Province of Coahuila and Texas governor. It was founded in 1720 by the famed Father Antonio Margil de Jesús, a prominent Franciscan missionary.
Fact: As one of the largest missions in the area San José gained a reputation as a major social and cultural center and was also known as the “Queen of the Missions.”
www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-sanantoniomissions/#mission-san-jose -
Mission Espirtu Santo
Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, also known as Aranama Mission or Mission La Bahia, is a Catholic mission established by the Spanish in 1722 near Goliad, Texas.
Fact: The native people living and working at the mission were from many groups. They chose to try life at the mission because the mission and presidio provided protection from raids. Over time the mission became one of the first large cattle ranches in the region.
www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-missionespiritusanto/ -
Mission Concepcion
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purisima Concepción de Acuña, in honor of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and Juan de Acuña, the Marqués de Acuña when the mission transferred to the San Antonio River area in 1731.
Fact: Took about 20 years to build. Today, it appears as it did over two centuries ago. America’s oldest unrestored stone church. Built directly on bedrock, it never lost its roof or its integrity.
www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-sanantoniomissions/#mission-concepcion -
Presidio De San Saba
The Presidio of San Saba, located one mile west of Menard, Texas, on the San Saba River, was founded in April 1757 to convert the Lipan Apache Indians to Christianity and help Spain secure its claim to the territory.
Fact: Both in physical size and number of troops, the Presidio was the largest and most important military installation in Texas at the time.
www.legendsofamerica.com/presidio-de-san-saba-texas/