Presidio La Bahía – Every Step Tells a Story At a One-of-a-Kind Historic Site Complex

Past Matters, Fall 2025, Published 10/21/2025
By Scott McMahon, Site Manager, Presidio La Bahía State Historic Site
Photo Credits: Texas Historical Commission

Presidio La Bahía was established on the banks of the San Antonio River in 1749 and after serving the community for almost ninety years, it was abandoned, but in the 1960s a local with a love for history set out to restore the site to its former glory. Kathryn O’Connor, a descendant of a Texian soldier who’d served at the presidio in 1835, took on the task of promoting, managing, and funding the restoration of the old for starting in 1963 and completing the project in 1967. Since that time, Presidio La Bahía has stood as the only fully restored presidio in North America, hosting visitors from across the country and around the world.

After many years of management by the Diocese of Victoria, the Texas Historical Commission took over the operations of the historic site in December of 2022. In 2025 an agreement was reached between the Diocese of Victoria and the Texas Historical Commission for the purchase of the presidio and its vast collections of Spanish-Colonial-through-Texian-War-for-Independence artifacts. In anticipation of this transfer of the presidio and the collections, in 2024 the Presidio La Bahía Foundation made a gift of their assets, totaling over $1 million, to the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission to establish the Presidio La Bahía Endowment to support the preservation and education goals of the presidio as it moves into this new chapter of a long and rich history.

In early 2025, a management agreement was signed between Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Historical Commission to take over operations at The Zaragoza Birthplace. This unique site is a reconstruction of the home Ignacio Zaragoza was born in while his father served in the Mexican Army at the presidio. Ignacio Zaragoza joined the Mexican army, rose to the rank of General and gained fame as the officer who defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. This victory is the reason why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated today and special tie between the Presidio La Bahía and the nation of Mexico.

Another addition is the Goliad County property adjacent to Presidio La Bahía SHS to include the Angel of Goliad Plaza, a site commemorating Francita Alavez and the role she played in sparing the lives of several young Texians from the Goliad Massacre in 1836, as well as the Fannin Monument, a Texas Centennial monument honoring the burial site of the Texians massacred on General Santa Anna’s orders in March of 1836.

The Presidio La Bahía State Historic Site tells the individual stories of the presidio, the Fannin Battleground, the Zaragoza Birthplace, and Lipantitlan, while bringing them all together to tell the overarching story of Spanish Colonization in South Texas and of the Texian War for Independence.  It is truly a historic sites complex like no other in the state!

With all this growth and expansion, there’s quite a bit of activity happening at Presidio La Bahía State Historic Site. A new Interpretive Master Plan (IMP) is nearing completion and there are discussions and plans afoot for a new visitor’s center, exhibit upgrades, and additions to the site that will improve the visitor experience, creating a world class historic site. We encourage you to stop by for a visit to Presidio La Bahía and see what all the excitement is about!