San Patricio County
San Patricio, San Patricio County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Spanish exploration and activity in the area dated from 1519, through 1821, when Mexico won its independence. In 1828, James McGloin and John McMullen received a Mexican land grant here, to which they brought irish colonists. County was created in 1836; named for St. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland. Organized in 1837, with San Patricio as county seat. Southern boundary of the county, the Nueces River, played a major role in events leading to the war with Mexico (1846-48), including the crossing of the river by Zachary Taylor's Army, which had travelled across the county. County seat was moved to Sinton in 1893. Erected by the State of Texas - 1973
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This ground carries three centuries of change, from Spanish exploration beginning in 1519 through Mexican independence in 1821. In 1828 empresarios James McGloin and John McMullen won a Mexican land grant and brought Irish colonists to settle it, and the county—named for St. Patrick—was created in 1836 and organized the next year. Its southern edge, the Nueces River, became a flashpoint in the run-up to the Mexican-American War, crossed by Zachary Taylor's army as it marched south.
Why it matters
San Patricio County is a rare American place shaped by Irish Catholic immigration under a Mexican land grant, and its Nueces boundary sat at the very heart of the border dispute that ignited war with Mexico.
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Related people
- · James McGloin
- · John McMullen
- · Zachary Taylor
Related events
- · Mexican-American War
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
San Patricio de Hibernia
San Patricio, TX
Founded in 1830 by empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin as the capital of their Irish colony, San Patricio de Hibernia—named for the patron saint of Ireland—stood as a lonely frontier outpost when the Texas Revolution erupted. On February 27, 1836, General José Urrea's division of Santa Anna's army surprised and overwhelmed a small Texan party under Johnson, killing several and marching the survivors to Matamoros as prisoners. After the Texan victory at San Jacinto the town was destroyed and its people scattered, and this 1936 monument names its early settlers, soldiers, and notable descendants.
Site of the Home of James McGloin
San Patricio, TX
Born in County Sligo, Ireland, James McGloin partnered with John McMullen to win a Mexican contract in 1828 to settle two hundred families in Texas, landing his colonists at El Copano in 1830 and laying out the town of San Patricio in 1834. He built his home on this site in 1855 and died here the following year. His life bridged the Irish diaspora and the Mexican-era colonization that helped populate South Texas on the eve of the Republic.
James McGloin Home
San Patricio, TX
This home is remembered as the residence of James McGloin, the County Sligo–born empresario who, with John McMullen, brought Irish colonists to South Texas and laid out the town of San Patricio in the 1830s. Recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, the house stands where one of the region's founding settlers made his home. It anchors the memory of the Irish colony that took root in Mexican-era Texas.
Nicholas Bluntzer
Banquete, TX
Born in 1835 in Alsace, Nicholas Bluntzer came to Texas at nine with the Alsatian families led by empresario Henri Castro. He rode as a scout on Robert E. Lee's 1856–57 expedition against the Comanche, fought for the Confederacy at Palmito Ranch—the war's last battle—in 1865, and afterward became an influential South Texas rancher and cotton grower, lending his name to the settlement of Bluntzer.