Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la Bahía Presidio Priest’s Quarters [Photograph]
Name/Title
Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la Bahía Presidio Priest’s Quarters [Photograph]Description
A 1969 press photograph of the sparsely furnished room is where the priest used to live above the chapel. The priest's quarters are now located in a remodeled section of the officer's quarters. During the 1963 restoration, Raiford Stripling's men made this bed and side table of solid oak.Context
Presidio La Bahía was established in its current location in 1749 as a Spanish fort to prevent future French incursions. The compound included several small wooden buildings and approximately 40 simple grass huts. As the community grew, permanent stone structures took shape, including a quadrangular defensive wall, rounded bastions for mounted cannons, officers’ quarters, storehouses, workshops, an arsenal, and an impressive chapel. Over the years, La Bahía prospered and declined; alternated between Spanish and Mexican control; saw the death of many, and the birth of the Texas Republic. In the 1850s, a single individual, Judge Pryor Lea, owned the presidio and used the chapel as a residence. The property was returned to the Catholic Diocese in 1853, but its deterioration continued until 1963, when restoration efforts were begun under the auspices of the Kathryn Stoner O’Connor Foundation, architect Raiford Stripling, and archaeologist Roland Beard. While portions of the original presidio remained, including its beautiful chapel, a long process of discovery and evaluation was necessary to replicate what had been destroyed. Stripling performed extensive research to present every restoration with historical accuracy.Category
Spanish Dominion
Becoming Texas, Bullock Museum