DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I wouldn't change a word. Now, most family stories begin somewhere quiet — a farmstead, a kitchen, a stretch of open land. This one begins inside the Alamo.
Between 1850 and 1860, three brothers — Manuel, Enrique, and Francisco Esparza — brought their families west to settle in what is now Atascosa County. They came to farm, to ranch, to put down roots in open country. But the roots of this family ran deeper and older than any of that.
Because Manuel, Enrique, and Francisco, along with their sister and their mother, had been within the walls of the Alamo when it fell to the Mexicans in March of 1836. Their father, Gregorio, died in that battle. Think on that for a moment.
These men carried that with them — every acre they turned, every fence they strung, every morning they looked out over the Atascosa land. Almost immediately after arriving, Enrique and Manuel built a small chapel. No grand announcement, no ceremony recorded — just two brothers constructing a place for family worship on the open land near this very site.
That's the kind of quiet act that outlasts a lot of louder ones. Then, in 1869, Enrique and his wife Gertrudes donated five acres of their land to the Roman Catholic Church. Five acres, given freely.
About that same time, the Esparzas constructed a larger church building — native stone, pulled from the ground they'd come to call their own. They named it San Augustine. San Augustine stood.
It served. It anchored something. Then a storm damaged the building in 1940, and services were discontinued.
San Augustine wasn't formally closed until 1942, but the silence had already settled in. By the late 1960s, only three exterior rock walls remained standing. Those, too, were later razed.
Gone. Nearly gone, anyway. The marker reminds us that many settlements in Texas sprang from the work of mission churches like San Augustine — churches at river crossings and ranch headquarters that drew families, then communities, then history itself.
Many have disappeared. Many have been forgotten. But not this one.
Not today. The sons of Gregorio Esparza came to this county, built something from native stone, and gave five acres of hard-won land to something larger than themselves. That's a story worth stoppin' the truck for.
What the marker says
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