"Soon after the Spanish viceroy founded the city
of San Antonio in 1718, Martín de Alarcón, governor of Coahuila and Texas,
established the Presidio San Antonio de Bexar. This fortress served as the
center of Spanish military power in Texas and as defense for the San Antonio de
Valero Mission (known later as the Alamo) ... Plans for the house that became known as the Spanish Governor’s Palace originated
as early as 1722 and, upon its completion in 1749 — the
date given on the keystone above the front entrance bearing a carved, double-headed
eagle — it
served as the commandancia, the office
and residence for the captain of the presidio. ... In 1772, the importance of the presidio grew when the capital of Spanish Texas moved from the presidio at Los Adaes, east of
Nacogdoches, Texas, to the settlement at what is now San Antonio. From this
point onward the Spanish governors stayed in the commandancia and it was thereafter referred to as the Spanish
Governor’s Palace." That excerpt is from the chapter on the Spanish Governor's Palace in San Antonio that I wrote for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country," the travel guide on haunted sites in the title area that I am working on for Clerisy Press's America's Haunted Road Trip series. Pictured above is Allison Schiess of Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours.
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