| What makes it historical? |
This mission was originally one of six founded in 1716 as a buffer against the French along the Louisiana border! As French relations improved, the missions started to move westward, and in 1731, this mission had its move and got renamed for the Virgin Mary and the Viceroy of New Spain, Juan de Acuña!
It took almost 15 years to build this church, and because it was built on bedrock, it has stayed pretty intact through all these years, frescos and all! It even features a mysterious window that aligns with the sun at 6:30 PM on August 15 (Feast of the Assumption of Mary) and double-illuminates a cross on the floor and Mary’s face over the altar!
Mission Concepción served as the administrative center of the San Antonio missions and was there the Father President lived! It also hosted festivals and plays to convert the local Hasinai and Pajalats. There were about 300 members of these tribes living at this mission, working the fields and tending the cattle. They came to find refuge from drought and Apache attacks, but most of them died from diseases like smallpox instead. By 1782, there were only 77 Native Americans left at Mission Concepción, and the mission was secularized by 1824. |
