06/21/2026
Our beautiful San Fernando Cathedral!!! 🙏🏻❤️❤️
Before there was a Republic of Texas, before there was a Lone Star flag, there were fifteen families who crossed an ocean and walked a thousand miles to build the first town this land had ever seen.
In 1731, the King of Spain wanted a permanent civilian foothold in Texas to keep the French out for good. So he sent word to the Canary Islands, those volcanic specks off the coast of Africa, asking for volunteers willing to leave everything behind. A small group answered the call. They sailed for Cuba, then Veracruz, then began a brutal year long overland march through Saltillo and the Texas frontier. They lost horses to exhaustion. They buried loved ones along the way. And on the morning of March 9, 1731, fifty six exhausted settlers walked into the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar and claimed their right to the land along the river.
They named their new town Villa de San Fernando. It became the first organized civil government in Texas history, years before anyone had ever heard of the Alamo. Their little church on the plaza eventually grew into San Fernando Cathedral, still standing today, one of the oldest cathedrals in the entire country. Half of old San Antonio's founding families trace their roots straight back to those fifteen exhausted households.
Texas didn't start with a battle. It started with people brave enough to walk toward the unknown.
