Mission San Francisco de la Espada was originally founded as San Francisco de los Tejas in east Texas in 1690. Mission Espada was the first mission in Texas but did prosper and was moved in 1731 to where it is now. The church was finished in 1756. De la Espada means "of the sword," referring to a decision by St. Francis which was whether he should be a soldier of God or of Spain. Mission Espada was the southern most mission in San Antonio. Before the fairy was built it 1745 not that many travelers went all the way to Mission Espada.Mission Espada has a unique three bell espadana (bell tower) on the church. The church door seems way too small for an entrance door for a church. I have heard two different mysteries about this door. The first one is that the original builder of the door had to leave halfway through the job and a new builder finished it. The other one is that during reconstruction they had to remove the two lower right-side arch stones right above the two columns.
The initial survival of a new mission depended upon the planting and harvesting of crops. Water was brought into Mission Espada by acequia (irrigation) system. This system uses gravity and elevation to move water. The acequia at Mission Espada still runs today unlike the other missions in San Antonio. The main ditch, or acequia madre, continues to carry water to the mission and its former farm lands.
