Jose De Escandon

The province Escandón founded is easiest to see in a count. In 1795 Félix María Calleja tallied one city, 25 villas, three mining districts, 17 haciendas, 437 ranchos and eight missions, and the population approached 30,000 by century's end. Of the roughly two dozen settlements founded between 1748 and 1755, close to the plaque's 23 towns, only two lay in present Texas: Laredo, and Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, a short-lived village of thirteen families. The rest stood south of the Rio Grande.

What the plaque says

Jose De Escandon In memory of the greatest colonizer of northern Mexico Jose de Escandon; who executed exploration from Tampico to the San Antonio River; laid out 23 towns, most of which still exist. Founded missions, opened roads, and established settlers. Conferred in recognition of his services to the crown of Spain, the title of El Conde de la Sierra Gorda.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Roma Historic District — 12 mi
  A bluff-top Rio Grande steamboat port, now a National Historic Landmark District where Heinrich Portscheller's molded brick and walled stone compounds face Ciudad Miguel Alemán across the river.
• Falcon State Park — 24 mi
  A 576-acre state park at the foot of the Falcon International Reservoir, made by the dam Presidents Eisenhower and Ruiz Cortines dedicated in 1953, known for bass fishing, camping and brush-country birds.
• Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park — 30 mi
  A 587-acre stand of Rio Grande woodland near Mission, once part of a Spanish porción, given to the state by the Bentsen family in 1944 and now headquarters of the World Birding Center.

More markers nearby

• The Rev. Gustav Gollbach, O.M.I. — steps away
• Starr County — steps away
• Rio Grande City, C.S.A. — steps away
• Old Rancho Davis — steps away