🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

(Explore the history and landscape of the United States with us as we approach the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and American Independence. Get out your homeschool atlas and almanac and follow along!)

Texas is our homeschool state-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today with your students learning about one of Texas’ most important historic places: San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, which commemorates the history of the Spanish-Catholic Missions of southern Texas.

“Before the Spanish colonial era, hundreds of small native bands inhabited these South Texas lands for thousands of years.”

The culturally diverse groups of Indigenous bands that lived on these lands are often now referred to under one homogeneous group, Coahuiltecan. This name was given to them by the Spanish based off the geographical region they inhabited, Coahuila y Tejas. Many families of South Texas and northern Mexico can trace their Indigenous roots back to these Coahuiltecan nomadic hunter-gather groups.

Beginning in 1718, five mission communities formed along the San Antonio River. These missions were at the northern frontier of New Spain, a territory of the Spanish Empire. These Spanish colonial missions transformed local ways of life by introducing a new religion, farming, and settled communities.

Living quarters were built inside the missions, against the compound walls for the Indigenous neophytes and one or two Spanish soldiers. The church was the focal point of the missions and the missionary lived in the convento right next to the church. Workshops and storerooms dotted the central grounds. Outside the walls were the croplands and ranches, and the danger of competing groups.

These missions made a lasting impact on San Antonio culture. After generations, Native people who entered these missions lost elements of their languages and religions. Parts of Native and Spanish cultures combined at the missions, fusing into South Texas culture. Components of Native and Spanish cultures can be found throughout the missions, in the frescoes, foods, clothing, and customs. This fusion of culture can still be observed in the surrounding modern community today. (nps.gov)

You can find a wealth of additional information about the Park’s history, landscape, location(s), and visitor facilities on the webpage for San Antonio Missions National Historical Park from the National Park Service, and also on the Park’s page on Wikipedia.

Explore America’s National Parks, National Historical Parks, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, and more via Wikipedia and via the U.S. National Park Service’s website today.

What historical American treasures will you and your students be exploring in your homeschool this Leo Term? 🇺🇸

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool Geography posts featuring important natural and historical sites in the United States. Print your own copy of our River Houses American Heritage Calendar and follow along with us, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌎

❡ We set to-day a votive stone: If you want a wonderful long-term history and geography project for your homeschool, explore the Historical Marker Database online (hmdb.org) and make a plan to find all the markers that are listed in your local area. Add any new ones you know of that are missing, and add new photos or descriptions for the ones already included. Your students will gain a better appreciation for your local community and will learn a wealth of new information about history and geography. 🏛

❡ Print this little lesson: Down at the bottom of this post you’ll find a special “Print” button that will let you create a neat and easy-to-read copy of this little lesson, and it will even let you edit and delete sections you don’t want or need (such as individual images or footnotes). Give it a try today! 🖨

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses atlas and almanac for more information about any of our homeschool states-of-the-week. The almanac has detailed profiles of all the U.S. states and territories, and the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found. 📚

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

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❡ Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groups — local chapters that we call “Houses.” Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page. 🏡