Photo by RFNirmala
North AmericaUnited StatesTexas
Socorro
Texas, United States · North America
About Socorro
Socorro sits on the route: 10 minutes from Sparks.
Socorro is in Texas, United States, with about 33,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Sparks, about 6 km away.
The Socorro Mission, originally built in the late seventeenth century, is one of three Spanish missions under the stewardship of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso. The mission is a registered Texas historic landmark and listed in the national register as a site with national significance.
The original FranciscanRead more
mission, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción del Socorro, was founded in 1682 by the Franciscan order, to serve displaced Spanish families, American Indians (the Piro, Tano and Jemez) from New Mexico, who fled the central New Mexico region during the Pueblo Revolt.
Originally, Nuestra Señora del Socorro was established near the town of Fabens and was moved to present day Socorro in 1682. In 1691, Governor Diego de Vargas, in the name of King Carlos II of Spain, gave the name of Mission de Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepcion de los Piros de Socorro del Sur (Our Lady of Immaculate Conception of the Piros of the Socorro of the South) to the mission. By 1766, the Socorro Mission was being referred to as La Purísima Concepción del Socorro. In 1829, flooding on the Rio Grande shifted the river’s course, leaving the towns of Ysleta, Socorro and San Elizario on the future American side of the river and destroying the church in Socorro.
The present Socorro Mission was constructed around 1839 to replace the earlier mission destroyed in the 1829 flooding. The mission, constructed of adobe surfaced with stucco, is particularly notable for its interior. The finely painted and decorated beams, or vigas, were built in 1691 by Piro artisans and were reused when the present church was constructed. The massing, details and use of decorative elements of the Socorro Mission show strong relationships to the building traditions of seventeenth-century Spanish New Mexico.
A full-size replica of the Socorro Mission was featured in El Paso's exhibit in the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. It was later dismantled and rebuilt as St. Anthony Church in Dallas.
The Socorro Mission is located at 328 S. Nevarez Road south of El Paso on I-10 at Moon Road and FM 258, in Socorro, Texas.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Socorro?
Socorro is in Texas, United States, about 6 km from Sparks.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 33,222
- Continent
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Region
- Texas
- Timezone
- America/Denver
- Coordinates
- 31.6546, -106.3033
Emergency & Services
Essential numbers in United States
AAA roadside assistance: 1-800-222-4357. Right turn on red is legal in most states unless signed otherwise.
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