El Camino Real de los Tejas -- Site of Mission San Francisco, SH 21 west of Alto TX
N 31° 36.302 W 095° 08.357
15R E 297049 N 3498644
A 1936 Texas Centennial historic marker along the route of the El Camino Real/SH 21 near Cherokee County Road 2807 preserves the memory of the site of an early Spanish mission
Waymark Code: WMXGVW
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/11/2018
Views: 1
This 1936 Texas Centennial historical marker marks the site of Mission San Francisco, an early Spanish Mission in East Texas, that was relocated to San Antonio and renamed Mission Espada.
The marker reads as follows:
"Site of the Mission San Francisco de los Tejas
Originally established as Mission San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690 by Franciscan missionaries for the purpose of Christianizing and civilizing the Neches and other Indians of the region
Reestablished in 1716
Abandoned temporarily due to French incursion from Louisiana in 1719
Relocated here as San Francisco de los Neches by the Marquis de Aguayo in 1721
Removed to the Colorado River in 1730
Permanently located on the San Antonio River in 1731 and there known as San Francisco de la Espada
Erected by the State of Texas
1936"
The El Camino Real de los Tejas has been designated a National Historic Trail through the states of Texas and New Mexico. (
visit link)
"From the Rio Grande to the Red River Valley
Come on a journey that will carry you through 300 years of Louisiana and Texas frontier settlement and development on a Spanish colonial "royal road" that originally extended to Mexico City, Mexico.
You are about to travel 2,500 miles, from Mission San Juan Bautista Guerrero, Mexico to Fort St. Jean Baptiste Nachitoches Parish, Louisiana."