Deeper than Stone: How Mission Espada Preserves More than Buildings

Artistic depiction of Mission Espada preservation stewards

NPS Graphic / Elyse Reed

Mission Espada, Then and Now

Many people have taken care of Mission Espada and its land. Each group had different motivations for using the site and different ideas on how to take care of it. These ideas directly affected the architecture, land, and culture that we see when visiting Mission Espada today.

In 1690, Spain sent Catholic missionaries to establish frontier complexes aimed at converting local Texas Native groups. The mission, originally known as San Francisco de los Tejas, was relocated to the San Antonio River in 1731 from East Texas and renamed Mission San Francisco de la Espada. It operated as a self-sustaining religious community, and many original structures, such as living quarters, an aqueduct, a church, and a cemetery, remain today.¹ In addition to its tangible heritage, such as the Spanish Colonial architecture, Mission Espada’s intangible heritage continues to be stewarded by the community, establishing a continuity of culture that has persisted for many generations.

Architectural History of Mission Espada

NPS Graphic / Elyse Reed

What Is Preservation and Why Care?

There are many challenges in preserving sites. Caretakers must decide what to preserve, what parts of history to highlight, and if or how they should let an important historical site continue to be used.

The establishment of the National Park Service in 1916 represented the first government initiative to protect historic buildings and natural areas.² Following this period, several other initiatives were established that expanded the government’s focus on preserving the United States cultural heritage. One example of these federal initiatives was the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Created in the 1930s, the WPA advanced preservation efforts by creating jobs and encouraging tourism during the Great Depression. However, increased tourism sometimes led caretakers to focus on visitor appeal, which could cause parts of history to be overlooked in favor of the popular historical narrative.³

The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties:[4]

Preservation: maintaining a structure as found 

Restoration: uncovering, protecting and recreating features that would have been present during a specific period of significance 

Rehabilitation: protecting key character-defining features while modifying other parts of the structure for contemporary uses  

Reconstruction: rebuilding a known, lost historic structure using extensive historical documentation 

Diagram showing the different elements of the tangible and intangible heritage for historic preservation

NPS Graphic / Elyse Reed

By the 1960s, widespread urban renewal changed cultural landscapes at rapid rates. The destruction of important historical buildings and widespread public backlash led to the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966.⁵ This new law created the first national guidelines for preservation, aiming to prevent the demolition of buildings significant to America’s collective heritage.

Today, the National Park Service operates under the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Preservation. These standards guide what changes can be made to a historic site, therefore helping to regulate the preservation of architecture and cultural heritage. In addition to these standards, the field of historic preservation is expanding to include values that go beyond the built environment to encompass all aspects of culture including oral histories, dances, visual art, songs, skills, and generational knowledge.⁶ The preservation of intangible heritage celebrates the cultural legacy of its stewards, both past and present.

Tips to Navigate:

• Explore each story below to learn more about some of the people that helped to preserve Mission Espada 
• Go where your curiosity leads you 
• There is no particular order in navigating — these stories continue to impact what we see today 

Father Francis Bouchu

1854 - 1907

Native Peoples of Mission Espada

Paleo-Indian Period - Present

Harvey P. Smith

1930s - 1950s

National Park Service

1978 - Present

Credits

This article was researched and written by Ángel Diaz, Jae Gonzales, Anna Surovic, Elyse Reed, and Mackenzie Roach and directed and reviewed by Darby Samoluk and Melissa Hurtado.

The PATH Program: Preserving Archives of Texas Heritage (PATH) is a collaborative initiative designed to build stewardship in cultural resource work while enhancing accessibility to archival and museum collections.

This joint effort is carried out in partnership with the Texas Heritage Project of American Indians of Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions (AIT-SCM), the University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), through the Libraries’ Community Engaged Digital Scholarship Hub (CEDISH), and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park (SAAN).

Works Cited

Tags: san antonio missions national historical park, mission espada, historic preservation, san antonio missions