Goliad State Park & Historic Site, TX — the reconstructed 1749 Mission Espíritu Santo and, a mile south, Presidio La Bahía and the Fannin memorial. A short (~2-mi) drive with two walk-and-explore historic sites. Best Dec–March. Mission is state park; the presidio is separately run by the Diocese — small fees at each.
Welcome to Goliad, and to a quiet Texas town that holds one of the biggest, and one of the saddest, stories in the state's history — and welcome aboard. I'm Ranger Quinn, and I'll drive you between its two great landmarks and tell you what happened here.
You're beginning at Mission Espíritu Santo, the heart of Goliad State Park — those handsome whitewashed walls and the little domed church. This is a careful reconstruction of a Spanish mission first raised on this river back in seventeen forty-nine. In a moment we'll drive about a mile south to its companion, a stone fortress called Presidio La Bahía, and to the memorial beside it — and Boone will tell you the grave and stirring things that happened there in eighteen thirty-six. First, explore this mission; then, when you're ready to drive, follow the road south toward the river and the fort. Take your time today. This is a place to feel as much as to see.
Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
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