The Alamo

Experience 300 years of colonial Texas history at San Antonio Missions’s global cultural icon, The Alamo. Here, visitors get to walk among legends such as the first mayor of San Antonio, John William Smith - in the Cavalry Courtyard with their 6 bronze statues conveying the humanity and heroism of the Alamo’s story. Guests can also get up close and personal with a 16-pounder cannon and take a stroll through the lush gardens among the oak trees, offering a wide array of plants, memorials, seating, and more — something for the whole family!

What to Know 

The Alamo is a museum nestled in the Alamo Plaza Historic District near the Riverwalk. Along with the four missions in the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, it forms a part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site. In 1883, the state of Texas bought this historical outpost and later acquired the surrounding grounds. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, a group of women who are descendants of early Texan settlers, have been in charge of the Alamo since 1905. Today, it receives over 2.5 million visitors annually who come to learn its history from all over the world! The 4.2-acre lands feature some original complexes from the mission era which entice the tourists as much as the Alamo itself!

 

How to Get There 

This historic landmark can be found just a short 20-minute drive south of the airport, in proximity to the River Walk Cruises in San Antonio, Texas. It stands in the downtown area on Alamo Plaza, located between E. Houston and Crockett streets. If you're looking to explore other missions, take the Mission Reach hike and bike trail starting from this location, or better yet, Best of San Antonio Tour that will pick you up from your hotel in downtown San Antonio to take you to all the San Antonio Missions!

 

Best Time to Visit 

If you're looking to visit the Alamo and other tourist spots located nearby, you can wait for the hotel rates to drop between November to April! However, if you want to beat the summer heat, you can visit in the colder months. After all, the best time to visit a spot that's open year-round is when you feel the most comfortable!

 

Highlights 

Book a Private Tour of San Antonio and come down to the Alamo Plaza to marvel at this historic site! Our knowledgeable guides will give you a history lesson or two along the way! Learn the reasons behind its construction by the Spanish settlers in 1718. As you explore this site, our guides will walk you through its early history to the historic Battle of the Alamo! Learn how the rallying battle cry of “remember the Alamo” was popularized during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, and so much more at the Alamo!

 

Features 

The Alamo is one of the most popular cultural icons in the United States that everyone should at least see once when they visit San Antonio! From its early history to the famous Battle of the Alamo which is a crucial event in the Texas Revolution, onto the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 which gave this fortress its famous battle cry "Remember the Alamo!" — the Alamo is brimming with rich history and revolutionary symbolism.

 

Tourists flock to see all this and more at this iconic tourist spot! The site has also been honored in various forms such as on stamps and in the 1960 flick starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett.

 

History

The Alamo, or the Mission San Antonio de Valero, was named for St. Anthony of Padua. It was erected by Spanish colonizers along the shores of the San Antonio River in 1718. Alongside this global cultural icon, a military garrison of San Antonio de Béxar was constructed, and the area quickly developed into a settlement dubbed San Fernando de Béxar, which was later known as San Antonio.

 

The Alamo along with other San Antonio Missions sat at the northern frontier of New Spain, which was under the Spanish Empire. For 70 years, it served as a home for missionaries and the indigenous people they converted to Catholicism until it was eventually secularized by the Spanish government in 1793. As a result, the grounds where the five missions stood were distributed among the natives. 

 

Interestingly enough, the Alamo is the most popular among the five San Antonio Missions. This is mostly due to the historic Battle of the Alamo, a crucial event during Texas' war for independence from Mexico, lasting 13 days from February 23 to March 6, 1836. This famous conflict was set in motion when a group of Texan volunteer troops led by Benjamin Milam and George Collinsworth captured the Alamo, nestled near the present-day city of San Antonio, in December 1835. On February 23, a large Mexican force (somewhere between 1,800 to 6,000 soldiers) led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna laid a siege on the fortress.

 

Despite being considerably outnumbered and in threat of being overpowered, the Alamo's 200 defenders, led by Colonel James Bowie and Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis, including the famous frontiersman Davy Crockett, valiantly fought off the opposing Mexican forces for 13 days before finally being subjugated by them. To this day, the Battle of the Alamo remains an icon and emblem of the Texan resilience and their long struggle for independence which eventually bore fruit when Texans won their independence later that year. 

 

But before the much-awaited independence was won, the Mexican army once more occupied the Alamo from March through May. The Alamo Battle served as a symbol of valiant resistance and a call to arms for the Texans in their fight for freedom. Sam Houston (who was then appointed commander-in-chief of Texan forces) and some 800 Texans defeated Santa Anna's 1,500-man Mexican army on the historic day of April 21, 1836, at San Jacinto (which is close to where Houston is now).

 

Their battle cry "Remember the Alamo!" remains famous to this day. Because Santa Anna, who had been taken prisoner, reached an agreement with Houston to stop the war, the victory ensured the much-deserved Texan independence. Mexican troops stationed in San Antonio were given the order to leave in May and destroy the Alamo's defenses along the way.