How does COVID19 affect my visit?
 Presidio La Bahia is following the mandates as described by Governor Abbott. The staff of Presidio La Bahia regularly disinfects frequently touched surfaces such as door handles, video stations, etc. For the safety and health of all involved, we ask that you refrain from visiting if you feel sick or have been recently exposed to a COVID19 positive person. Thank you for your assistance and understanding during this time.

Is photography allowed in the museum and chapel?
 Yes. Presidio La Bahia allows photogrpahy throughout the site. We do ask that you be mindful of other visitors when taking photos.

What kind of trees are those?
 They are anaqua trees and are only found in this area of Texas. In the photo to the right, anaqua trees next to the chapel in the quadrangle.

Who owns Presidio La Bahia?
 Presidio La Bahia is owned and operated by the The Catholic Diocese of Victoria. In 1844 the Presidio was given to the town of Goliad as part of a four league grant of land. The Catholic Church requested the return of the chapel, but the town refused. In 1853 the Catholic Church purchased the Chapel from the town of Goliad for the sum of $1000 which was a large sum of money at the time. The chapel has been used as a place of worship from that day until today, but the fort was in ruins until restored during the 1960's by Kathryn Stoner O'Connor. Presidio La Bahia is self-supporting. There are no state tax dollars spent at Presidio La Bahia. Our total means of support are admission fees, donations and profits from items for sale.

Are any parts of the Presidio walls or buildings original?
 Yes. Some portions of the walls and buildings are original. The Presidio was restored immediately on top of the foot print of the original fort and where it was possible, original portions of the structures were kept. Our Lady of Loreto chapel is the only completely original structure on site and was completed in 1779.

Who was Annie Taylor?
 Annie Taylor was a Tejano lady married to a Will Taylor. She had become sick and was at the home of her parents near La Bahia when she succumbed to tuberculosis.

Her grave is only one of the many in the courtyard in front of the chapel. Some of the graves can be determined by the small crosses that have been cut into the stone walls at the base of the church. These mark the heads of the graves.

During the excavations of the presidio, there were at least 13 graves located.

It is not unusual for people to be buried in and around a church. For example, there were over 900 recorded graves in front of the Alamo chapel in San Antonio, prior to the Texas Revolution.

The grounds around Our Lady of Loreto Chapel is considered holy, thus allowing the dead to rest in peace in holy ground.

Where are the massacre sites?
 The able bodied men were marched out of the fort in three different groups in three different directions and told three different stories about where they were going. When they were about three quarters of a mile from the fort, they were ordered to kneel and were shot. The wounded were killed inside the fort. See below map for approximate locations of the massacre.

Where did Col. Fannin die?
 Colonel Fannin was the last to die. He was taken to the court yard in front of the chapel (near the present day water gate, along the north wall), blindfolded, and seated in a chair because of his leg wound. He made three requests: send his personal possessions to his family, shoot him in the heart and not his face, and give him a Christian burial. He was shot in the face, the soldiers took his personal possessions, and his body was burned along with many of the others. 

Where is Fannin's Command buried?
 Many of the bodies were burned. Some were left where they were killed. About one month after the massacre, Texas General Rusk was following the Mexican army to be sure that they left Texas. General Rusk's men stopped and gathered up the remains of the bodies and buried them on June 3, 1836. This site is where the Fannin Memorial Monument now stands. On that date, General Rusk conducted a memorial service for the men who died in the Goliad Massacre.