Mission San Juan: Cultural Landscape Inventory, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, National Park Service
Mazza M, Johnson L, Mardorf C, Wackrow P. 2011. Mission San Juan: Cultural Landscape Inventory, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 850150. NPS Intermountain Regional Office. Intermountain Regional Office/CLI Database
Mission San Juan Capistrano (Mission San Juan) was established in the early 18th century by Spanish Franciscan missionaries on the east bank of the San Antonio River. Originally founded in 1716 in eastern Texas, Mission San Juan was transferred to its present location in 1731, approximately 8 miles south of downtown San Antonio. It is one of four missions associated with the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. The site for the mission was chosen largely due to its close proximity to the existing Missions San José and San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo), in addition to the relative abundance of natural resources essential for the mission to become self-sufficient. Additionally, Mission San Juan served as a foundation for the conversion to Christianity and acculturation of local Coahuiltecan groups. Mission San Juan eventually became an important economic center with the production and distribution of agricultural goods to nearby missions and population centers. Mission San Juan’s early development, spanning several decades, paralleled that of the other San Antonio Missions. The first mission task was the construction of the San Juan acequia, or irrigation ditch, and San Juan dam. Around the same time, construction began on temporary jacal (an adobe-style construction similar to wattle-and-daub) residences and church. The open layout of the mission remained until the 1760s, when the second (extant) complex was built with an enclosing wall. The arrangement of the Mission San Juan is representative of Texas missions. The pueblo (Indian village) surrounded the church and convento, or priest's dwelling. Beyond the pueblo, which was eventually enclosed by a defensive wall, were the irrigated fields, gardens, and orchards. Beyond these was the mission ejido, its common lands. Together, these lands formed the fundo legal, the land legally granted to a mission. Mission San Juan’s period of significance begins in 1731, the year of its initial construction, and continues until 1978 when San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was established. This span incorporates the continuous occupation and use of San Juan Mission grounds and labores and the operation of the mission acequia systems. The significance of the landscape is associated with early Spanish colonial architecture, engineering, agriculture, religion, social history, ethnic heritage, archeology, settlement, community planning and development, and regional Native American genealogical and cultural patterns. Population at the mission fluctuated greatly over the years. Nevertheless, between 1731 and 1824, the year San Juan became fully secularized, the mission developed into a resourceful and productive entity within the chain of San Antonio Missions. Several excavation and restoration projects took place 20th century, including Works Progress Administration restoration work in 1933, further restoration and stabilization work in the 1950s, and extensive excavation work in the 1960s. Furthermore, the channelization of the San Antonio River in mid-1950s resulted in the severing of water flow to the San Juan acequia and the burial of the original San Juan dam with backfill. Today, Mission San Juan is managed by the National Park Service (NPS). Nearly 250 years after the San Juan parish was established, it maintains an active congregation and celebrates English and bi-lingual Catholic mass. The Mission San Juan landscape includes the mission grounds and associated buildings, structures and distinct features; the San Juan acequia system, including the San Juan dam and other acequia-related features; and the San Juan labores. Factors such as urban development and potential expansion of a nearby airport could disrupt the rural quality of the park, and the character of the site has been altered with the addition of contemporary visitor amenities.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Mazza, Michael; Johnson, Lauri; Mardorf, Carrie; Wackrow, Paul
- Date of Issue
- 2011-03-15
- Publisher
- NPS Intermountain Regional Office
- Units
- IMR , SAAN
- Keywords
- 1884-1949: Battlefield Preservation, agricultural fields, Agriculture, American Southwest, Archeological Preservation, Archeology, Architecture, Bexar County, Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio, channelization, church, Coahuiltecan Native Americans, Colonial architecture, Community Planning and Development, convento, cooperative agreement, Dam, Designed Landscape, Education, Ejido, Engineering, Ethnic Heritage, Ethnographic/Traditional Landscape, Ethnohistory of Indigenous American Populations, Exploration and Settlement, Farming Communities, Fundo Legal, Hispanic, Historic Preservation, Irrigation System, Jacal, labores, Landscape architecture, Livestock, Mexican Revolution, mill, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Missionary, Pueblo, Readaptation of Native Populations, Religion, Restoration, San Antonio, San Antonio River, San Antonio River Authority, San Juan Acequia, secularization, Social History, Spanish-Colonial History, Subsistence Agriculture, Texan Revolution, Texas, The 1930s: Era of Public Works, The New Deal, Vernacular Landscape, Walled Complex, Works Progress Administration, WPA