Mission Valley

Following Texas Emancipation in 1865, many freed slaves remained in this area on their former masters' farms. By 1869 blacks had organized a church and a school on the north bank of Hondo Creek (about 2 mi. N). Beginning in 1876, landowner L.L. White (d. 1889) sold small farm plats on the north and south banks of Hondo Creek exclusively to blacks. White, an abolitionist before the Civil War, was a native of Massachusetts and settler in Henri Castro's colony. The community on the south bank was named Mission Valley by Austin Grant, one of the first settlers. Residents on both banks of Hondo Creek established common facilities within walking distance of both settlements. Before 1881 their church building housed both Methodist and Baptist congregations and the school. Cottonwood Cemetery overlooks the creek, its oldest tombstone dates 1886. Emancipation Oak was the site of Emancipation Day pilgrimages on June 19. Many of the settlers and the Methodist church moved to the new railroad town of Hondo (2 mi. SW) after 1881. The Baptist church moved to Hondo in 1904. Descendants of the first settlers lived at Mission Valley until 1942, when a U.S. Army air field was built here. The site was made a Hondo city park after 1948. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.

Mission Valley is a historical marker in Hondo, Medina County, dedicated in 1986. It is one of 56 historical markers documented in Medina County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 112 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.3742, -99.1538 near Hondo. The nearest cataloged historic site is Cottonwood Cemetery (cemetery), about 1.1 miles away. Others within a short drive include Hondo Cemetery, Hondo Methodist Church, and Leinweber Building.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5325003418. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.