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With the recent World Heritage designation of the San Antonio Missions, Bexar County will celebrate the much anticipated arrival of Spain’s treasured historical documents. Nuestra Historia-Our History: Spain in Bexar County is an exhibit that tells the story of the 17th and 18th century Spanish colonial exploration, and settlement of the area that would become Bexar County today.
The exhibit features documents from the General Archive of the Indies in Seville, Spain, which was the launching point of Spain’s exploration and expansion of the northern frontier of their new territory. Other artifacts and archival documents from local institutions expand on the story of settling and establishing the institutions required by Spain’s Laws of the Indies. Maps, official reports, and mission inventories demonstrate the Spanish zeal for documentation of their colonization efforts. Religious and archaeological artifacts reveal interactions with indigenous peoples, struggles to protect their territory, and competition for resources.
This spring Bexar County will open “Presidio Gallery” an exhibit of Spanish colonial maps and documents prepared by the explorers and settlers who tell the story of the beginnings of Bexar County. The Presidio Gallery exhibit will be on display at the former Federal Reserve Building, located at 126 E. Nueva Street, south of Bexar County Courthouse, and will run from May 4th, 2016 through September 4th, 2016.
