Mission Nuestra Senora de La Purisima Concepcion, 807 Mission Road, San Antonio

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS TEX,15-SANT.V,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

First established in then relocated in on its present site, the Mission Concepcion is one of five San Antonio missions dating from the eighteenth century. The surviving mission buildings are of great significance to our knowledge of the early history of Texas, providing the contemporary observer some concept of that frontier institution, which helped to contribute to the development of Texas. The buildings at Concepcion, particularly the church, are significant architecturally as physical evidence of building practices and techniques of the Spanish colonial period. FART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of erection: Buildings of permanent type were built from circa to circa 2.

Original and subsequent owners: The ownership history of the mission is as follows: Spain Partial secularization of the mission ordered; land and property divided among the 38 resident Indians, Full secularization ordered; church turned over to San Fernando parish. Texas Legislature granted church and surrounding property to the Catholic Church. 1841-preSent Roman Catholic Archdiocese MISSION NUESTRA SENORA DE LA PURISIMA CONCEPCION DE ACUNA (Concepcion Mission) HABS No. (Page 2) B.

Historical Context: The territory comprising the present state of Texas was of little concern to the Spanish authorities until the middle of the seventeenth century, and it was not until that the first formal missionary activity was undertaken in Texas, the entrada of Fernando del Bosque accompanied by Father Juan Larios, a Franciscan from Santiago de Jalisco, who performed the first verified celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Motivated by reports of French activity in Texas, notably the settlement of St. Louis by La Salle, the Spanish authorities sent several expeditions into the territory with varying degress of success culiminating in with the founding of the first Texas mission, San Francisco de los Tejas on the Neches River.

The early mission effort was aborted in and it was not until that the Spanish officials saw fit to re-establish and encourage expanded missionary effort in the territory. The Domingo Ramon Expedition, which began its journey to Texas on February 17, established four missions in east Texas: San Francisco, Concepcion, Guadalupe and San Jose. The following year Father Margil succeeded in establishing two additional missions farther east Dolores and _ San Miguel as well as the Presidio of Dolores.

These missions were under the split authority of the Franciscan friars of the College of the Holy Cross of Queretaro and the College of Zacatecas, a relation- ship which endured until at which time the Oueretaran missions were given over to the Zacatecans, a necessary action resulting from the exoulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico in which left vacant missions that the Oueretarans were induced to take up. Numerous difficulties beset the east Texas missions culminating in the withdrawal of troops from the Dolores presidio in the year after which the Oueretarans requested permission to abandon their three missions and to be permitted to remove to the more conveniet location at San Antonio.

One of these three missions was that of La Purisima Concepcion or Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de los Ainais, originally founded July 7, in east Texas by the Ramon expedition, abandoned three years later and refounded on its former site August 8, by the Aguayo expedition. In accordance with a vice-regal commission dated October 29, a new site was chosen for the mission to be located on the bank of the San Antonio River and on January 12, the Captain of the Presidio of San Antonio de Bexar, Juan Antonio Perez de Alraazan, decreed the establishment of the mission.

It was not until March 5, however, that the formal acts of possession were carried out by the Captain attended by several of his officers, Father Vergara, president of the Texas missions, and the Indians who were to populate the mission. Clasping hands, the Captain led Father Vergara and the chief of the Indians over the land selected and caused the chief to "pull up weeds, throw stones and perform all the other acts of real possession." MISSION NUESTRA SENORA DE LA PURISIMA CONCEPCION DE ACUNA (Concepcion Mission) HABS No. (Page 3) The site selected for the newly established mission was one league south of the Villa of San Fernando and the Presidio of Bexar on the west bank of the River, being the original site of the extinguished Queretaran mission, San Francisco Xavier de Najera.

In that the mission of Concepcion no longer ministered to the Ainais, the name was changed to Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion de Acuna in honor of the current viceroy, Juan de Acuna, the Marquess de Casa Fuerte. Most of the first Indians to occupy the Concepcion mission on its relocated-site came from the Pajalache and Pacaco tribes of the Coahuiltecan Indians. Initially, the mission sustained itself with purchased supplies such as corn and beef. A new farm and an irrigation were later built. All beef came from the cattle slaughtered on the mission grounds. The corn and the cattle, which numbered approximately 50 head, were purchased from San Juan Bautista in the vicinity of Rio Grande River.

Three soldiers from the Presidio La Bahia were provided to the mission for protection against hostile Apache attacks. They also served as assistants to the missionaries for the mission's education program _ for the Indians. It seems likely that little was done on the mission grounds during the first three years in the way of erecting buildings of a permanent nature. The first book of -marriages of the mission indicates that the first marriage was not held until It was also in that year that Fray Benito Fernandez de Santa Ana, the president of the four San Antonio Oueretaran missions, moved his headquarters to the Concepcion Mission.

Father Santa Ana wrote in that a stone church was in the course of erection at the mission, at that time being almost half finished and that a flat-roofed adobe building was serving as a temporary church. He further recorded that the Indian pueblo nearby was comprised of thatched huts and was enclosed by a wall of stone and mortar. There were, in addition, three stone houses for the soldiers, a stone granary and a two-story stone friary in which the missionaries lived in living rooms with cells above and offices below. All of these structures were enclosed by a rectangular stone plaza. At about the same time, a mission farm located west of the olaza was provided for the cultivation of essential crops. Corn, beans, watermelons, sweet potatoes and pumpkins were grown.

Thirty yoke of oxen were used for farm work. The church was completed in and was dedicated December 8, In a new friary was built to replace the deteriorating two-story stone friary. A blacksmith shop, a carpenter's shop and a textile shop wefe also built. Also, the Indian quarters were reconstructed. MISSION NUESTRA SENORA DE LA PURISIMA CONCEPCION DE ACUNA (Concepcion Mission) HABS No. (Page .45 An enclosed space somewhere in the mission property served as a fruit tree grove. A nearby ranch called El Pasthle kept the Mission's farm animals. There were 700 head of cattle, sheep, 12 pigs and a drove-of horses.

A further detailed record of the mission was made by Fray Morfi on his visit in in which he related that the church was 8 varas wide and 32 varas long, constructed of lime and stone, "vaulted with transept, dome, and two graceful towers, adorned with bells. The decoration of the altars, ornament, sacred vessels, etc., are in abundance and for the place, very rich." The sacristy was described as constructed of lime and stone, "also with vault, as all the convent" and opened by a doorway onto the convent gallery.

Both the sacristy and the church were "prudently built with limestone for the prevention of fire, which stone was taken from the ground only a few varas from the mission walls," The convent was also described as "comfortable and spacious, though with low ceilings." The pueblo or Indian quarters were composed of two rows of houses, parallel to each other and separated by the square. The convent, church and granarv formed the other two sides and completed the plazar Entrance was gained by two well-guarded gates which were "easy to defend." Following the expulsion of the Jesuits from all Spanish colonies in the control of "Mission Concepcion was transferred from the Quete^ tarans to the Franciscan Fathers of the College of Zacatecas.

This change was authorized by a decree dated July 58, and was carried out earlv in Although the mission enjoyed success with the gradual establishment of a permanent community of christianized Indians, it was on a slow decline. A series of disastrous setbacks, mainly of economic and political nature, besieged the mission throughout its existence. The decline culminated in with the partial secularization of the mission, which was ordered by Pedro de Nava, the Commandante General of the Interior Provinces of New Spain. Cattle and horse losses were rampant. Cattle scattered around the mission property were natually vulnerable to slaughter by the hostile Apaches. The losses were often substantial in economic terms.

Another major economic disaster occurred in with the theft of most of the horses from the ranch. Because the losses were virtually irreversible, the ranch was eventually forced to shut down. In Commandant General Teodoro de Croix issued a decree declaring all unbranded cattle the property of his government. Most of the mission cattle were unbranded, and it was seized by the government. Another factor for the decline of the mission was the gradual Indian population loss. This loss is partially tied to the occurrences mentioned above. A epidemic killed 130 of the 250 Indians; however, by the end of more Indians had been added and now MISSION NUESTRA SENORA DE LA PURISIMA CONCEPCION DE ACUNA (Concepcion Mission) HABS No.

(Page Slj numbered more than However, after the loss became more noticeable. There were 207 Indians in 171 Indians in 87 Indians in and 38 Indians in Hostile Indian attacks on the mission were also the cause for the loss. As previously mentioned, the mission ceased operations in due to the partial secularization order. Still more structures in the mission were built during the declining years. A masonry shop and an acequia were among them. The years, were marked by a period of unrest and wars.

The decline of number of Indians living at the mission continued: 21 Indians in 16 Indians in and fewer than 10 in In the mission was the site of Bernardo Gutierrez's headquarters before his seizure of San Fernando de Be.jar, In along with the other San Antonio missions, the mission was completely secularized and possession of the church was given to San Fernando parish. On January 13, the church of Concepcion with the immediate surround- ing property not exceeding fifteen acres was officially designated as the property of the Catholic Church by the Texas Legislature. In October of the "Battle of Concepcion" was fought nearby by the ~ Texans commanded by James Bowie and James Fannin opposing the Mexican troops of General Cos, In Texas was annexed to the Union.

In that year the Concepcion church was being used as a depot bv the U.S. Army. It is said that the Army took part in the cleanup of the church and that they disposed it of rubbish and animal wastes. On September 8, the mission ownership was transferred to the Brothers of the Society of Mary for the purpose of supporting the Brothers school in San Antonio, St. Mary's School. The Brothers immediately set about restoring the old mission buildings. The old church was formally re-opened for worship in a ceremony held May 28, In later years the church was left abandoned. In the Bishop John C Neraz ordered the renovation of the church and on May 2, it was rededicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. PART II.

OTHER INFORMATION A, Site: General setting and orientation: The mission site sits on a knoll and is located in the south part of the City of San Antonio. It is one-half mile west of the re-channeled San Antonio River. The natural river channel is approximately 500 feet west of the mission, and constitutes the Concepcion Park. A limestone quarry is on the southwest side of the site. Three modern religious institutions surround the mission. St. John's Seminary is on the north-northeast side; Blessed Sacrament and Incarnate Word Convent, east-southeast side; and St. Peter's-St. Joseph's Home, southwest side. A parking lot is on the south side of the site. MISSION NUESTRA SENORA DE LA PURISIMA CONCEPCION DE ACUNA (Concepcion Mission) HABS No. (Page .6) ' PAKT III. SOURCES' OF INFORMATION A.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS TEX,15-SANT.V,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

1. Primary and unpublished sources: Scurlock, Dan and Fox, Daniel E. An Archeological Investigation of Mission Concepcion, San Antonio Texas. Edited by Curtis Tunnell and Kathy Freydenfeldt, a report, January 2. Secondary and published sources: Corner, Wi 11 i am. San An ton i o D e Bexa r_t A Gu id e and History. San Antonio: Bainbridge and Corner, December 25, Parisot, P. F. and Smith, C. J., eds. History of the Catholic Church, in the Diocese of San Antonio Texas. San Antonio: Carrico and Bowen, Heusinger, Edward W. Early Explorations and Mission ^Establishments in Texas. San Antonio: The Naylor Company, Archdiocese of San Antonio, San Antonio: Schneider Printing Company. Chabot, F. C. Mission La Purisjma Concepcion. San Antonio: The Naylor Company, Chabot, F. C., ed.

Excerpts From The Memories For The History of the Province of Texas by Padre Fray Juan Augustin de Morfi. San Antonio: The Naylor Printing Company, Prepared by: John C. Garner, Jr. Director, Bexar County Architecture Survey PART IV. PROJECT INFORMATION The San Antonio project was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in the summer of and was made possible with funds from HABS and two sponsors, the Bexar County Historical Survey Committee and the San Antonio Conservation Society. Under the direction of James Massey, Chief of HABS, the project was carried out by Wesley I. Shank (Iowa State University), project supervisor, and by student assistant architects, Charles W. Barrow (University of Texas); Les Beilinson (University of Miami); William H.

Edwards (University of Illinois); and Larry D. Hermsen (Iowa State University) at the. HABS field office in the former Ursuline Academy buildings, San Antonio. John C. Garner, Jr, Director of Bexar County Architecture Survey, did the outside work on the written documentaries. Susan McCown, a HABS staff historian in the Washington, office, edited the written data in for preparation of transmittal to the Library of Congress. MISSION MJESTRA SENORA DE LA PURISIMA CONCEFCIOW DE ACUWA (Concepcion Mission HABS No. (Page The photographs of the mission complex are part of the San Antonio Missions project, which vas sponsored by the Federal Government. John Love of tHe HABS/HAER Office, Washington, , took the photographs. Addendum to HABS No.

Mision Nuestra Senora de la Purisima ConceiJcion de Acuna (Concepcion Mission) 807 Mission Road San Antonio Bexar County Texas REDUCED COPIES OF MEASURED DRAWINGS Historic American Buildings Survey National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, DC