Mission Concepcion, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
Founded by various Spanish Catholic orders to spread Christianity across the southwest in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the nearly 819-acre San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in south-central Texas is made up of four frontier communities.
The oldest is Mission Espada, established in 1690 near present-day Augusta, but relocated to San Antonio in 1731 where Franciscan friars that same year built the Espada Aqueduct to supply irrigation water to nearby farms. Both Mission Concepción and Mission San Juan were established in 1716 in East Texas and moved to San Antonio in 1731. Mission San Jose was established in 1720 and its church was built in 1768.
Each mission’s toolmaking, carpentry, looming, spinning, and masonry helped make it self-sustaining.
Learn more about the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
