|
 Mission San Francisco De La Espada Dam, Ditch, and Aqueduct
N 29° 19.975 W 098° 27.695
14R E 552273 N 3244991
The Espada Aqueduct has survived over 265 years of viable use as an aqueduct and is believed to be the only aqueduct built in the manner it was constructed anywhere in the USA.
Waymark Code: WMAABT
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/12/2010
Views: 21
The Espada Aqueduct is associated with the nearby Mission Espada and the aqueduct is an integral part of the the dam and irregation ditch that is also part of the acequia. The dam built up the supply of water to be diverted to distant fields. The ditch channeled the water toward the area to be irrigated and the aqueduct tranported the water across the creek that would have otherwise drained the water back to the river again. Without the combination of dam, ditch and aqueduct, the Spanish settlers and the local Pajalache Indians would not have been successful in growing the abundance of crops afforded them by the irrigation waters in their fields. This was not only an engineering feat, it was a life-sustaining improvement to the culture and development of this area southeast of the current San Antonio, TX. The aqueduct is located where Espada Road and Ashley Road meet, at 9035 Espada Road.
Marker Number: 3412
Marker Text:
Mission San Francisco De La Espada Dam, Ditch, and 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 United States, 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 Company 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 United States Department of Interior designated Espada aqueduct as a registered national historic landmark. (1970)
|
Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
|