Site of San Augustine Church
Pleasanton, Atascosa County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Between 1850 and 1860, Manuel, Enrique, and Francisco Esparza brought their families to settle in what is now Atascosa County. The brothers, along with their sister and mother, were within the walls of the Alamo when it fell to the Mexicans in March 1836. Their father, Gregorio, died in that battle. The Esparza brothers farmed and ranched the open land near this site. Almost immediately after arriving, Enrique and Manuel constructed a small chapel for family worship. In 1869, Enrique and his wife, Gertrudes, donated five acres of their land to the Roman Catholic Church. About the same time, the Esparzas constructed a larger church building of native stone. The small mission church was named San Augustine. A storm damaged the church building in 1940 and services were discontinued, although San Augustine was not formally closed until 1942. By the late 1960s, only three exterior rock walls remained, and these were later razed. Many settlements in Texas sprang from the activities of mission churches such as San Augustine that were located at river crossings or ranch headquarters. Although many have disappeared or have been forgotten, they are an important part of the state's heritage. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Esparza brothers—Manuel, Enrique, and Francisco—had survived the fall of the Alamo as children, sheltered within its walls while their father Gregorio died in the 1836 battle. In the following decade they brought their families to Atascosa County to farm and ranch, and soon built a small family chapel; in 1869 Enrique donated five acres to the Catholic Church, and the Esparzas raised a larger native-stone church they named San Augustine. Damaged by a 1940 storm and closed in 1942, the mission church was eventually razed, leaving only memory of the settlement it once anchored.
Why it matters
San Augustine connects a Tejano family who lived through the Alamo to the ranch-and-mission churches that seeded so many Texas communities, a bridge between the state's founding trauma and its Hispanic frontier faith.
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Related people
- · Enrique Esparza
- · Gregorio Esparza
Related events
- · Fall of the Alamo
Themes & tags
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