Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2023
Abstract
Of the seven acequia irrigation systems constructed during the height of San Antonio’s Spanish colonial period, five were built for the benefit of the Franciscan missions and their indigenous residents: San Antonio de Valero, Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, San Juan Capistrano, and San Francisco de la Espada. In addition to the five mission acequias, other diversions from the Río de San Antonio and San Pedro Creek were constructed for civilian use within the municipality of San Fernando de Béxar, founded in 1731, now San Antonio: the San Pedro Acequia and the Upper Labor Acequia. Here we focus on these two acequias within San Fernando de Béxar, the first chartered town in Texas, and before that, a northern provincial capital from 1773 to 1824 under Spanish rule. Photographs of the few exposed and uncovered fragments at preserved sites are also included. An appendix at the end includes the 1776-1778 land grants issued by Spanish Governor Barón de Ripperdá for settlers on the Upper Labor.
Recommended Citation
Rivera, José A. Ph.D. "The Municipal Acequias of San Fernando de Béxar: A Working Paper." (2023). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/arch_fsp/10
Included in
Arts and Humanities Commons, Historic Preservation and Conservation Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons
