San Jose Mission National Historic Site - San Antonio, Texas
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 29° 21.743 W 098° 28.802
14R E 550467 N 3248247
Historic Spanish Catholic Mission in San Antonio, Texas
Waymark Code: WM3A85
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/04/2008
Views: 132
Established on its Present site ca. 1740, Mission San Jose is the most
complete of five extant eighteenth-century mission complexes to be found in San
Antonio. The San Jose buildings are of significance to the study of Texas
colonial history and provide the contemporary observer with a visual concept of
that important frontier institution.
This Mission was established in 1720 on the east bank of the San Antonio
River but was removed to a new site on the west bank ca. 1724-1727, and again a
second time to this present site cat 1739. Named in honor of the Marquis de
Aguayo, and conducted by friars of the Franciscan College of Zacatecas, the
mission was very successful. The first buildings were constructed of palings,
wattle and daub, thatch and adobe. By 1749 the mission complex consisted of a
church, a friary, granary and Indian habitations. The Indian houses were
integral with the ramparts and served to enclose the large protected plaza.
The present renowned church was begun in 1768 by Fr. Pedro Ramirez de
Arellano, and it was completed sometime after 1778. By then the purpose of the
mission was largely fulfilled; this fact, coupled with a great decline in the
Indian population, caused the mission to be secularized in 1759. Although the
buildings remained in intermittent use over the years, substantial
reconstruction has been necessary in recent years. In 1941 this site was
declared a National Historic Site. ~
Texas Historical Commission Atlas
The Mission site is managed by National Parks Service as part of the San Antonio
Missions National Historic Park and is open seven days a week 9 am - 5 pm.
The church is an active church in the San Antonio Archdiocese with services
conducted daily with four services on Sunday.
