Mission Espada is one of five missions located in San Antonio along the San Antonio River. It is also the last stop along the San Antonio Mission Trail.
Originally called San Francisco de los Tejas, it was founded in 1690 and is the oldest of the East Texas missions that were moved to the area. In 1731 the mission was moved to the area it is at now and was renamed San Francisco de la Espada.
Fun Fact: Out of the five missions, Mission Espada was the only mission that made bricks.
It was also used by James Bowie, William Travis, and the Texas Army as a stronghold against the Mexicans during Texas’ struggle for independence.
All that remains are the church, ruins of the mission walls, a granary, missionary quarters, and a fortified tower. The mission is currently being restored by the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
Church services are still held regularly here; service times are listed below. There is also a gift shop which I forgot to check out!
Getting There & Information
Address: 10040 Espada Rd, San Antonio, TX 78214
Distance From Fort Hood: 2.5 hours * 150 Miles
Size: 10 Acres
Admission: FREE
Church Services:
Saturday at 6:00 p.m. (English)
Sunday at 10:00 a.m. (Español)
This is beautiful. Your pictures makes me as if I am there now. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful place.
I grew up in Houston so near San Antonio but did not realize there were more missions there than the famous Alamo! We got a chance to visit them recently. If you are really up to a whole day I think you can walk between them and get some serious exercise at the same time! We saw that some people had rented bicycles for the journey. Looks like you had a lovely day for a visit.
How interesting that this is the only mission made out of bricks. I’m glad to hear they are restoring it and helping preserve history!
This is really cool! It would be so much fun to visit and sight see. Hopefully, my family will be able to make it to that area some day.
I absolutely love visiting places like that, your photos makes me wanna go there. So beautiful. x
so cool!