Many immigrants from both the United States and Europe were attracted to the Republic of Texas after it became independent from Mexico in 1836. Among the new Texans were missionaries of various faiths, including the French Catholic priest Jean Marie Odin. Odin's immediate work was spiritual ministry and renovating crumbling churches that the Spanish had built years before, but his long-term vision was education.
He raised money to construct schools and recruited teachers from Catholic religious orders in Europe, including the Brothers of the Society of Mary who came to San Antonio in 1852 to teach boys.
St. Mary's Institute was completed here on the San Antonio River in 1853. Known later as St. Mary's College, it outgrew this site, and in 1894 a new campus was completed in the northwest suburbs. Elementary and high school students continued to study in the riverside buildings for many years, and after 1934 St. Mary's School of Law occupied the site. The historic buildings were sold in 1967 and converted into a hotel.

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Show me all markers in:  San Antonio, TX  |  Bexar County  |  78205  |  Texas  |  United States of America

Old St. Mary's College
Old San Antonio National Bank Building
Twohig House
Site of Old Saint Mary's
Staacke Brothers Building
Site of the Old Adobe
Majestic Theatre
Twin Cypress Mexican Sniper Tree
San Antonio's River Walk and Flood Control System
Stevens Building

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