Missions in the San Antonio River Valley

Spain, which ruled Mexico for the three hundred years ending in 1821, paid little attention to its northeastern frontier until French settlers established outposts near the Red River in Louisiana. The Spanish responded in the 1690s by founding missions in East Texas, and in 1718 they built a way station at today's San Antonio that consisted of a presidio and Mission San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo. Their presence expanded with Mission San José along the river to the south in 1720, followed by the short-lived Mission San Francisco Xavier de Nájera in 1722. In 1731, three East Texas missions, now known as Concepción, San Juan, and Espada, were moved here. The missions thrived until the 1790s, when they were converted from religious to civil communities. Mission San Antonio de Valero later became a military barracks and the site of a famous battle for Texas independence in 1836, and is now a museum and shrine. The surviving four downriver mission churches remain active parishes of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, while the surrounding buildings and grounds are administered by the federal government as the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

San Antonio, Texas · United States