The Alamo is an 18th-century mission church in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally built to be the church for the Mission San Antonio de Valero, which was founded in 1718. The church was built by Spanish Franciscan friars in order to convert the local Indians to Christianity.

The Construction of the Alamo: The construction of the mission started on May 8, 1744. It was built with blocks of locally-quarried limestone. Originally, the Alamo was designed to have two bell towers and a domed roof. Everything but the outer walls of the building collapsed while it was being built, and the towers and vaulted roof were never completed. The date 1758 is carved in the keystone over the front doorway. The Alamo was used as a church until 1793, when it was abandoned.

The Battle of the Alamo: The Alamo was the scene of a pivotal battle in the fight for the independence of Texas from Mexico. In the early 1800s, Texas belonged to Mexico. During the Texas war for independence from Mexico, Spanish troops occupied the abandoned building, now used as a fortress, calling it Alamo. The word álamo is Spanish for cottonwood (a type of tree that grows in the area).

In 1836, Col. William B. Travis, James Bowie, Davy Crockett, and almost 200 other Texan volunteers occupied the Alamo. After unsuccessfully defending the Alamo for 13 days against an army of thousands of Mexican soldiers led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Texans died on March 6, 1836.

The Independence of Texas: The phrase, "Remember the Alamo!" soon became the battlecry that was used by Sam Houston when he defeated Gen. Santa Anna a few weeks later at San Jacinto (on April 21, 1836), winning independence for Texas. Texas then became an independent republic (led by Sam Houston), and on December 29, 1845, Texas became a US state.

The Reconstruction of the Alamo: The Alamo was severely damaged in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. The ruins were rebuilt by the U.S. Army in 1850. The building was bought by the state of Texas in 1905. The Alamo was later given to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, who maintain the Alamo as a public monument and a shrine to the heroes of the Battle of the Alamo.

Facts and Figures about the Alamo:

Cornerstone (1st stone) Laid	May 8, 1744
Date on the Keystone (stone on the top of the doorway arch)	1758
Height of the building	About 30 feet tall
Width of the building	About 60 feet wide
Type of Stone in the Alamo	Limestone
Location	San Antonio, Texas

Related Pages:

The Alamo Coloring Printout Color the Alamo and read about its history.

Davy Crockett Read about Davy Crockett's life, see maps of the places he lived, and do activities about this legendary frontiersman.

Texas Texas is a very large state in the south central United States of America. Its capital is Austin.

Symbols of the USA A page on some of the many symbols that represent the United States of America.

Reference:
The Alamo from the Handbook of Texas Online

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