One of the many Texas Engineering Landmarks in celebration of Texas ASCE’s Centennial: 1913-2013 “Engineering a Better Texas.” Visit them all!
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The coordinates take you to The Espada aqueduct at the Mission Espada, within San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Other portions of the Acequias system may be discovered, such as a restored section in the HemisFair Plaza near the Alamo (N 29° 25.178 W 098° 29.207).
Other locations are listed below.
Please post coordinates/directions with your visit/photos so other Acequias seekers can follow your footsteps!
Now, read up on this engineering marvel! (por favors!)
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The Acequias of San Antonio are among the earliest engineered water supply and irrigation systems recorded in the United States, dating back to 1718 with the founding of Presidio San Antonio de Béxar on the west side of the San Antonio River. The Acequias served an integral role in the growth and stability of the San Antonio community, transporting precious water from the river to farms and homes for nearly 200 years.
As part of initial city planning for the settlement, the Acequias comprised a network of eight irrigation canals, totaling 15 miles. The Spanish settlers learned their technique from the Moors: each acequia employed a complicated system of storage dams, floodways, control gates, canals, sluices, and distribution ditches. The first of the canals, Concepción, was even navigable by boat. One of the smaller connections, Acequia Madre de Valero, brought water to the Alamo.
This large-scale irrigation project was a life-saver in Texas’ semi-arid climate. Unsurprisingly, however, it didn’t come cheap. Landowners were required to assist in the initial labor-intensive construction of the Acequias as well as contribute towards the ongoing expenses of their upkeep. Those who did not comply were fined. In the 1790s, after the secularization of the missions, municipal authorities managed the distribution of water through the Acequias. However, the government discontinued its support in the late 1800s, leaving the remaining systems to the management of informal community enterprises or to abandonment.
Most of the original network was abandoned and ‘paved over’ during the expansion of San Antonio in the twentieth century. However, traces of the old Acequias did survive – and, with a little (!) help, some even continue to operate!
A portion of the San Juan Acequis has been renovated and provides irrigation for fields south of San Antonio. The Espada Acequia still flows vigorously and serves the Mission Espada and nearby fields. The first 200 to 300 feet of the Upper Labor Acequia are intact, and are used by the city zoo for its waterfowl displays. Go have a look! (And log your visit!!!)
As noted, the coordinates lead you to the most famous view. There are several places around San Antonio to view remains of the system. Below are a few:
THE ACEQUIAS SPELLED OUT
(source for all but the Labor Ditch, “The San Antonio River and its Seven Acequias”; University of the Incarnate Word, The Journal of the Life and Culture of San Antonio (
visit link) )
PAJALACHE OR CONCEPTION DITCH
HemisFair Plaza & The Alamo – plaque at N 29° 25.365 W 098° 29.368
The Pajalache, or Concepcion, Ditch is the oldest acequia in San Antonio. It was begun perhaps ten years before the Canary Islanders arrived, and served principally to water the lands of Mission Concepcion. A large dam near the present location of the Presa Street Bridge diverted waters south toward the mission on a rough parallel with modern-day St. Mary's-Roosevelt Street. The ditch was wide and deep, and the Franciscans used boats to get to town on it. The acequia's northern section was abandoned in 1869 because the Pajalache's high dam posed a threat to the city during floods. The southern portions remained in use, diverting water from the Alamo Madre Ditch, until the turn of the century.
THE ALAMO MADRE
Various locations (see text); historical marker located at N 29° 25.178 W 098° 29.207
The Alamo Madre Ditch was begun in 1724 to supply water to Mission San Antonio de Valero. The ditch began at an eastern-most bend near the San Antonio River's headwaters, then went south through the mission compound, through the area of the current courtyard of the Menger Hotel, and finally split up into several channels south of present-day La Villita. At two points just east of present-day King William Street, the Alamo Madre crossed over the older Pajalache by means of aqueducts. When the Pajalache dam was torn down in 1869, the Alamo Madre supplied water to the Pajalache's southern parts. The Alamo Madre rejoined the river at several points in the present-day King William area.
Sections of the Alamo Madre existing today include a picturesque, elongated fish pond behind the east wall of the Alamo Chapel, part of a storm drain outlet just north of the Texas Rangers Museum in Brackenridge Park, and a 95-foot portion uncovered in HemisFair Plaza during Fair construction in 1968.
SAN JOSE ACEQUIA
Location: Mission San Jose Grist Mill N 29° 21.774 W 098° 28.774
Completed about 1730, the important but flawed San Jose Acequia drew its waters from the San Antonio River just below its juncture with San Pedro Creek, then went on a parallel to the west of the river before rejoining it north of the Espada Dam. About midway in its length, the San Jose Acequia flowed around the north and east sides of Mission San Jose, supplying water for the mission's cattle herds and power for the water wheel of its mill just outside the Mission’s north wall. The system also irrigated about 600 acres of land west of the river. From the beginning, however, the acequia was plagued by washouts at its diversion dam, and after the Civil War the acequia was abandoned. Today, the best known aspect of the acequia is not the ditch itself, but the reconstructed mill at Mission San Jose.
SAN PEDRO DITCH
Historical marker at N 29° 25.594 W 098° 29.784
The San Pedro Acequia was constructed to supply waters to the new Villa de San Fernando, probably about 1738 at the time of the construction of a stone church on the present location of San Fernando Cathedral. The ditch began at San Pedro Springs and traveled south on a parallel with today's Flores Street until it joined the river to the west of Mission Concepcion. Constructed just a few years after the Pajalache, the San Pedro became the major water source for the Villa de San Fernando and irrigated land between San Pedro Creek and the river until the 20th Century. In the 1800s, the San Pedro Acequia was designated exclusively for drinking and cooking water, with penalties for using it as a bath or sewer.
SAN JUAN ACEQUIA
San Antonio Missions National Historic Park N 29° 19.946 W 098° 27.320
The San Juan Acequia was begun in 1731 and has been watering farmland on the east side of the San Antonio River ever since. It begins on the east bank of the river, just across from Mission San Jose, and flows south. Berg's Mill was located between the acequia and the river; Mission San Juan is at the ditch's southernmost reach. At one time the acequia watered over 500 acres, and was operated by an incorporated company as late as the 1920s. A portion of the San Juan Acequia has been renovated and today provides water to several farms south of San Antonio.
ESPADA DAM, ACEQUIA AND AQUEDUCT
San Antonio Missions National Historic Park N 29° 19.974 W 098° 27.696
The Espada dam, aqueduct and acequia were the last irrigation projects undertaken south of Mission San Antonio de Valero. The projects began about 1731 and were completed by 1745. The system still flows vigorously today. Espada Dam, the oldest existing dam in the United States, diverts water south toward Mission Espada, the stream crossing over Piedras Creek by means of the aqueduct just off Mission Road. Use of the Espada Ditch was discontinued in the 1880s, but in 1895 the Espada Ditch Company cleaned, widened, and deepened the canal and repaired the dam, which still supplies water to surrounding farmers. In the 1950s the portion of the river containing Espada Dam was bypassed by a flood-control channel, but measures were taken to preserve the historic structure and maintain the reservoir level. Espada Dam remains a major recreation area.
Historical Marker Text for Mission Espada Aqueduct:
Since water was vital to the permanency of San Francisco de la Espada Mission, The Franciscan missionaries and their Indian followers built a dam, irrigation ditch, and aqueduct. The 270-foot dam, an engineering feat which "curved the wrong way," was built across the San Antonio River. Lime salts in the water gradually cemented the dam's layers of brush, gravel, and rocks. Water transported by Espada ditch crossed Piedras creek by way of the Espada Aqueduct. This, the only such structure in the U.S., was built from 1740 to 1745. The Alluvial Valley produced crops of maize, beans, melons, calabashes, and cotton. However, deterioration had set in at Espada before its secularization in 1794. Even so, the dam, ditch, and aqueduct survived a century of Indian attacks, ravaging floods, and controversy before the Espada Ditch Ompany repaired the dam, in 1895. In 1941, to help insure the preservation of this singular colonial aqueduct, the San Antonio Conservation Society purchased the adjacent lands. Further assurance came in 1965, when the U.S. Department of Interior designated Espada Aqueduct as a registered national historic landmark.
ALAZAN DITCH
No remnants remain
The Alazan Ditch was the last major acequia to be built in San Antonio. It was started in 1872, opened in 1875, and completed in 1876. It watered land west of San Pedro Creek, apparently a small number of holdings. The Alazan Ditch began at San Pedro Springs at the same point as the Upper Labor Ditch, and flowed westward along a course with West Ashby Place to the Missouri–Pacific railroad tracks. The ditch then turned south, paralleling the railroad tracks, crossing Fredericksburg Road, until it turned southwest into North Colorado Street at Menchaca. From North Colorado at Ruiz, it moved southeasterly to North Frio at West Commerce, then south along Frio until meeting the river near Tampico Street. The newest acequia left the least evidence. All areas served by the system have been developed and there are no portions of the ditch remaining.
UPPER LABOR DITCH
San Antonio Zoo waterfowl displays, 3903 North Saint Mary's Street -- parking @ N 29° 27.742 W 098° 28.383
(info source: (
visit link)
The Upper Labor ditch was built about 1776 and watered land west to San Pedro Creek. The dam that diverted water into the ditch was excavated in 1996 just below Hildebrand Avenue. Remnants of the Upper Labor acequia remain visible within the boundaries of the San Antonio Zoo. (http://sazoo.org/general-information/directions/)
References/Further Reading are just an internet search away! Here are a few:
The San Antonio River and its Seven Acequias (
visit link)
Gross, Kevin J. and Guillermo Mendez. "An Examination of Acequias, Wells, and Cisterns in San Antonio, Texas, ca, 1850-1930," pp. 242-254
McLean, B.J. The Romance of San Antonio's Water Supply and Distribution. San Antonio Printing: San Antonio, 1924.
Texas Handbook Online Acequias (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ruasg )
Espada Acequia – Wikipedia (
visit link)
San Juan Acequia flows again Restoration is part of demonstration farm project; My SA (http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/San-Juan-Acequia-flows-again-2191994.php)
Acequia Park (
visit link)
Acequia Madre de Valero (San Antonio) wikipedia: (
visit link)
“RECENT FINDS IN BRACKENRIDGE PARK EXPOSE
300-YEAR-OLD FEATURES”: (
visit link)
UTSA Archaeologists Unearth 200-Year-Old Dam: (
visit link)
“What is an Acequia?” Witte Museum: (
visit link)
Other waymarks:
Mission Espada Aqueduct- San Antonio, Tx in Ancient Aqueducts (http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM4505_Mission_Espada_Aqueduct_San_Antonio_Tx)
Espada Aqueduct - San Antonio, TX, USA in U.S. National Register of Historic Places (http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMAABH_Espada_Aqueduct_San_Antonio_TX_USA)
Mission San Francisco De La Espada Dam, Ditch, and Aqueduct in Texas Historical Markers (http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMAABT_Mission_San_Francisco_De_La_Espada_Dam_Ditch_and_Aqueduct)
Acequia Madre de Valero (Main Irrigation Ditch of Valero Mission) in Texas Historical Markers (http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMC352_Acequia_Madre_de_Valero_Main_Irrigation_Ditch_of_Valero_Mission)
Pajalache Acequia (Ditch) in Texas Historical Markers (http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM39FH_Pajalache_Acequia_Ditch)