The Espada Acequia, or Piedras Creek Aqueduct, was built by
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
friars in 1731 in what is now
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It was built to supply
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
water to the lands near
Mission San Francisco de la Espada
Mission San Francisco de la Espada (also Mission Espada) is a Roman Rite Catholic mission established in 1690 by Spain and relocated in 1731 to present-day San Antonio, Texas, in what was then known as northern New Spain. The mission was built in ...
, today part of
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is a National Historical Park and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site preserving four of the five Spanish frontier missions in San Antonio, Texas, USA. These outposts were established by Catholic r ...
. The
acequia
An acequia () or séquia () is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Particularly in Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and the modern-day American Southwest particularly n ...
is still in use today and is an
National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark
__NOTOC__
The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United State ...
and a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
Irrigation system
Mission Espada's ''acequia'' (irrigation) system can still be seen today. The main
ditch
A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...
, or ''acequia madre'', continues to carry water to the mission and its former
farmland
Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...
s. This water is still used by residents living on these neighboring lands.
The initial survival of a new mission depended upon the planting and harvesting of
crops
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...
. In south central Texas, intermittent
rainfall
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
and the need for a reliable water source made the design and installation of an acequia system a high priority. Irrigation was so important to
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
settlers that they measured cropland in ''suertes'' -the amount of land that could be watered in one day.
The use of acequias was originally brought to the arid regions of Spain by the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and the
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
. When Franciscan missionaries arrived in the desert
Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
they found the system worked well in the hot, dry environment. In some areas, like New Mexico, it blended in easily with the irrigation system already in use by the
Puebloan
The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zu ...
Native Americans.
In order to distribute water to the missions along the
San Antonio River
The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...
, Franciscan missionaries oversaw the construction of seven gravity-flow ditches,
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s, and at least one
aqueduct—a network that irrigated approximately of land. The acequia not only conducted potable water and irrigation, but also powered a mill.
Mission Espada has survived from its beginnings to the present day as a community center that still supports a Catholic parish and religious education, however a school originally opened by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament was closed in 1967.
References
External links
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Buildings and structures in San Antonio
History of San Antonio
National Historic Landmarks in Texas
National Register of Historic Places in San Antonio
Historic American Buildings Survey in Texas
Historic American Engineering Record in Texas
Irrigation projects
Irrigation in the United States
Water supply infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places
Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
Spanish missions in Texas
Colonial United States (Spanish)
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
1730s in Texas
1731 establishments in the Spanish Empire
Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Texas