National Register Listing

Presidio Nuestra Senora de Loreto de la Bahia

1 mi. S of Goliad State Park on U.S. 183, Goliad, TX

The recently restored Presidio de La Bahia near Goliad, Texas, is probably the finest example in the United States of a Spanish presidio. Built in 1749 in a strategic position to defend the missions of southern Texas, the Presidio, as the principal link between Mexico and East Texas from San Antonio to the Rio Grande was always the principal military póst under the Mexican and Spanish governments. After the secularization of the missions, La Bahia was the scene of a number of conflicts during the years of the Mexican Revolution. It again became a focal point of activity during the Texas Rebellion, leading to the disastrous massacre of over 400 Americans on Palm Sunday in 1836. Goliad, like the Alamo, became a rallying point for disorganized and demoralized Texans and won sympathy for their cause in the United States and Europe. Restored in 1963-67, the Presidio de La Bahia sits upon its hill as it has for over 200 years, giving a vivid impression of our past history in the southwest.

HISTORY

Captain Domingo Ramon, of the Aguayo expedition, founded the Loreto Presidio near Matagorda Bay in 1672, near the site of Fort St. Louis built by Rene Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. The purpose of the fortification was to prevent further attempts by the French to colonize Texas. Commonly referred to as the Presidio of La Bahia (Presidio of the Bay), it moved to a site on the Guadalupe River in 1726 and again, in 1749, to the San Antonio River, where the presidial settlement became the town of Goliad. At the beginning of Anglo-American colonization, Goliad was one of three Spanish settlements in Texas. Although technically the name of the presidio was Nuestra Senora de Loreto, it continued to be known as La Bahia. During the Mexican Revolution against Spain, the Presidio was the scene of a number of bloody conflicts. A Mexican force, composed mostly of Americans, under Bernardo Gutierrez and August Magee, took the Presidio in 1812. After withstanding a siege by the Spanish, they routed the Governor's troops and conquered San Antonio, only to be defeated on the Medina River. In 1817, Lieutenant Henry Perry and 50 men attempted to take the Presidio but Spanish reinforcements arrived, and Perry and his men were all either killed or captured. In 1821 James Long and 54 adventurers took the Presidio by surprise but later surrendered after a 24-hour siege.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1967.