DUANE
Duane's take
The way I tell it, this one comes straight from the official marker — so let's do right by it. Now, picture San Antonio in 1851. The city is young and still finding its footing, and if you were a girl looking for a school, well — you were out of luck.
That was the problem Bishop Jean-Marie Odin decided he wasn't going to tolerate. He did some urging, as bishops are known to do, and with help from Father Claude Dubuis, seven French Ursuline nuns made the journey and opened San Antonio's first school for girls right here on this ground. Seven nuns.
One city. And not a girls' school anywhere in sight before they arrived. The original academy building didn't just go up haphazardly — it was designed by an architect named François Giraud.
And what Giraud put together was something worth looking at. The structures that followed, built out across more than three decades between 1851 and 1883, carry a combination of French, Gothic Revival, and vernacular influences. Three different threads woven together in stone and mortar, layer by layer, as the academy kept growing into itself.
For well over a hundred years, those buildings stood to their purpose. Then, in 1965, Ursuline Academy moved on from this site. That could've been the end of the story — a lot of old buildings meet quieter fates than they deserve.
But this complex got a second life. It was rehabilitated for use as an art school, and in 1969 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. From a bishop's urging, to seven nuns crossing an ocean, to an architect's pen, to the hands that laid those stones between 1851 and 1883 — this place earned every bit of what it's still standing for.
What the marker says
At the urging of Bishop Jean-Marie Odin and with help from Father Claude Dubuis, seven French Ursuline nuns opened San Antonio's first school for girls here in 1851. The original academy building, designed by architect François Giraud, was later joined by other buildings as the academy expanded. Constructed between 1851 and 1883, the historic structures show a combination of French, Gothic Revival and vernacular influences. After Ursuline Academy moved from this site in 1965, the complex was rehabilitated for use as an art school and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962