Hispanic Reflections on 

the American Landscape

Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Cultural Resources

Hispanic Reflections on

the American Landscape 

Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

National Park Service

Brian D. Joyner

2009

Table of Contents

Executive Summary .................................................................................. i

Acknowledgments ..................................................................................iii

Historic Context.......................................................................................1

Spanish Territories and Latin America .......................................................................... 1

“Hispanic” and “Latino”..................................................................................................3

Mexicans ........................................................................................................................... 4

Puerto Ricans.....................................................................................................................8

Cubans ............................................................................................................................... 9

Dominicans ......................................................................................................................10

Salvadorans .......................................................................................................................11

Colombians ...................................................................................................................... 12

Hispanic Influence on American Culture .................................................................... 12

Agricultural History .......................................................................................................14

Spanish Colonial Settlements ........................................................................................ 15

Missions............................................................................................................................ 17

Pueblos ............................................................................................................................. 18

Presidios ...........................................................................................................................19

Military History...............................................................................................................19

The Evolution of Hispanic Culture.............................................................................. 20

Is There a Pan-Hispanic Identity? ................................................................................ 20

Scholarship....................................................................................................................... 21

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 24

Endnotes...........................................................................................................................25

Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places ...... 35

National Register of Historic Places .............................................................................35

Lamesa Farm Workers Community Historic District ........................................35

The Sculptures of Dionicio Rodríguez at Memorial Park Cemetery ..............37

Teatro La Paz/Xochil Art and Culture Center ....................................................37

Casa Amadeo, Antigua Casa Hernández ............................................................ 39

Trujillo Homestead ................................................................................................ 39

Santa Fe Hotel.......................................................................................................... 41
National Historic Landmarks....................................................................................... 42

Freedom Tower....................................................................................................... 42

Ybor City Historic District.....................................................................................43

Historic American Buildings Survey............................................................................ 44

Mission Dolores ..................................................................................................... 44

Historic American Engineering Record.......................................................................45

California Citrus Heritage Recording Project .................................................... 46

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 47

Endnotes.......................................................................................................................... 48

Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites....................................... 53

Hispanic Heroes: National Monuments to Great Liberators ...................................53

Los Adaes .........................................................................................................................54

Archaeology on the Border ...........................................................................................56

The Memorial Illumination at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site ............58

Teaching with Historic Places: “The Forts of Old San Juan: Guardians 

of the Caribbean”........................................................................................................... 59

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area....................................................................... 62

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail ............................................................ 64

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 66

Endnotes.......................................................................................................................... 67

Hispanic Heritage in National Park Service Cultural 

Resources Programs ...............................................................................73

National Register of Historic Places .............................................................................73

Arizona......................................................................................................................73

Arkansas ...................................................................................................................73

California..................................................................................................................73

Colorado...................................................................................................................74

Florida.......................................................................................................................74

New Mexico.............................................................................................................75

New York..................................................................................................................75

Oklahoma .................................................................................................................75

Puerto Rico ..............................................................................................................75
Rhode Island........................................................................................................... 76

South Carolina........................................................................................................ 76

Tennessee................................................................................................................. 76

Texas......................................................................................................................... 76

National Historic Landmarks........................................................................................78

Arkansas ...................................................................................................................78

Arizona......................................................................................................................78

California................................................................................................................. 79

Florida...................................................................................................................... 80

Georgia ..................................................................................................................... 81

Louisiana .................................................................................................................. 81

New Mexico............................................................................................................. 81

Puerto Rico ..............................................................................................................82

South Carolina.........................................................................................................83

Texas..........................................................................................................................83

Virgin Islands ...........................................................................................................83

Historic American Buildings Survey........................................................................... 84

California................................................................................................................. 84

District of Columbia .............................................................................................. 84

Florida...................................................................................................................... 84

Puerto Rico ............................................................................................................. 84

Texas..........................................................................................................................85

Historic American Engineering Record.......................................................................85

California..................................................................................................................85

Bibliography: Hispanic Culture & History .............................................86

Books ............................................................................................................................... 86

Periodicals ........................................................................................................................87

Reference Sources .......................................................................................................... 88

Index ..................................................................................................... 90

Executive Summary

Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying 

and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage highlights the Hispanic 

imprint on the built environment of the United States. This 

effort by the National Park Service and partners aims to 

increase the awareness of the historic places associated with 

the nation’s cultural and ethnic groups that are identified, 

documented, recognized, and interpreted. These constitute 

the foundation for Hispanic Reflections. Many of the 

examples are drawn from National Park Service cultural 

resources programs in partnership with other government 

agencies and private organizations. 

Hispanic heritage in the Americas begins with the Spanish 

“discovery” of Nueva España and the subsequent early 

contacts with indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. 

Later the infusion of Africans to the admixture helped 

to create a distinct Hispano heritage. Hispanic culture in 

North America commonly relates to the Spanish colonial 

past and Mexico, but since the second part of the 20th

century, people from South and Central America and the 

Caribbean are transforming the nature of Hispanic culture. 

Recent scholarly research examines the impact of Hispanicinspired architectural, agricultural, and mining practices 

on the landscape. Simultaneously, of increasing interest to 

scholars are Hispanic self-identification and the locations 

of new communities.

In the U.S. Census of 2000, Hispanics became the largest 

minority group in the U.S. at 12.5 percent, a rise of 57.9 

percent from the previous census. The 2000 Census 

reflected congressional legislation that provided multiple 

ethnic affiliations. Hispanic heritage is primarily linked to 

the sizable populations in the western part of the United 

States. However, as the 2000 census statistics report, 

emigration and intermigration document Hispanics settling 

in new places throughout the nation, with significant 

increases in the South and Northeast. 

This publication is intended to support the historic 

preservation and cultural resource stewardship efforts of 

organizations and individuals within their communities. It is 

designed for the general reader, without a background in the 

study of Hispanic heritage. 

Executive Summary i
ii National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

This document includes:

• An introductory essay that summarizes Hispanic American 

cultural heritage in the United States; 

• An annotated list of historic properties related to Hispanic 

cultural heritage that are listed in the National Register 

of Historic Places, designated as National Historic 

Landmarks, and documented by the Historic American 

Buildings Survey and Historic American Engineering 

Record, all programs of the National Park Service;

• Examples of historic sites that interpret aspects of Hispanic 

heritage for the public benefit; 

• A list of historic properties that are documented and/or 

recognized by National Park Service cultural resources 

programs, arranged by program and state; and

• A list of bibliographic resources of well-known and 

accessible publications on the topic.

Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying 

and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage is the third publication 

by the National Park Service using this methodology 

to highlight the imprint of diverse groups on the built 

environment of the United States. The first, African 

Reflection on the American Landscape: Identifying and 

Interpreting Africanisms was published in 2003; the second 

Asian Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and 

Interpreting Asian Heritage was published in 2005. 
Acknowledgments 

Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying 

and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage was produced under the 

guidance of Antoinette J. Lee, Assistant Associate Director, 

Historical Documentation Programs, and Janet Snyder 

Matthews, Associate Director, Cultural Resources, National 

Park Service (NPS). John W. Roberts, former Acting Chief, 

National Register of Historic Places/National Historic 

Landmarks Program, and J. Paul Loether, Chief, National 

Register of Historic Places/National Historic Landmarks 

Program, provided support and advice. 

Former NPS historian Michéle Gates Moresi, now Curator 

of Collections, the National Museum of African American 

History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, began the 

project, outlined the methodology, and developed its list 

of bibliographic resources. Cultural Resources Diversity 

Interns Janet Paz and Carmon Brown conducted critical 

research from which this publication greatly benefited. NPS 

Historians Caridad de la Vega, Lisa Deline, Paul Lusignan, 

Linda McClelland, and Barbara Wyatt; Archeologist 

Erika Martin Seibert; and former NPS Historian Daniel 

Vivian provided bibliographic references and advice on 

numerous occasions, despite their own workloads. NPS 

extends its appreciation to those individuals who reviewed 

the manuscript and offered crucial editorial comments: 

Raymond Bertholet, Chief of Interpretation, Louisiana 

Office of State Parks; NPS Historian Art Gomez; Gerardo 

Medrano, National Trust for Historic Preservation; 

Magdalena Mieri, National Museum of American History, 

Smithsonian Institution; NPS Landscape Architect James 

Oliver; Lydia R. Otero, University of Arizona; Dominica 

Ramirez, Fort Jesup State Historic Site, Louisiana; 

independent historian Virginia Sanchez; NPS Historian 

Bob Spude; and L. Stephen Velasquez, Smithsonian 

Institution. Finally, NPS thanks Interpretive Ranger 

Douglas Murphy, Palo Alto Battlefield Historic Site, and 

Interpretive Specialist Margaret Styles, Juan Bautista de 

Anza National Historic Trail, who provided information 

on NPS interpretation resources. 

We offer particular thanks to Estevan Rael-Galvez, State 

Historian, Office of the State Historian, New Mexico; and 

especially Dennis P. Trujillo, Deputy State Historian, Office 

of the State Historian, New Mexico, for providing a final 

peer review of the manuscript.

Acknowledgments iii

Historic Context 1

Historic Context

The European “discovery” of the New World is attributed 

to the Italian Christopher Columbus under the auspices 

of Spain in 1492. With this and subsequent contracts 

to colonize the Western Hemisphere, Spain became 

the premier European colonial power, a position it held 

for nearly 300 years. It also marked the beginnings of 

Latin America. Many of the North American Spanish 

colonies became territories and later states of the United 

States: Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, 

California, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Hispanic settlers and 

the mestizo (mixed race) population in these areas are a 

significant part of American heritage that reflect a diverse 

and evolving American culture. Hispanic heritage is evident 

on the American landscape—in urban as well as rural and 

agricultural areas. 

Spanish Territories and Latin America 

Nineteen nations in the Western Hemisphere are Spanishspeaking, each with an independent national character 

and ethnic make-up.1

 South America; Central America; the 

Caribbean Islands; Mexico, or the province of New Spain 

(Nueva España), which extended as far north as Oregon, 

represent the range of Spanish territories in the Western 

Hemisphere. Many of the Caribbean Island nations’ first 

European settlements were Spanish, such as Jamaica (1509), 

Trinidad and Tobago (1510), Cuba (1511), and the Dominican 

Republic (formerly part of Hispaniola with Haiti in 1492). 

Others were “discovered” on Colombus’ voyages of 1492 

and 1493, such as the Bahamas, St. Kitts, and Barbados. 

These settlements provided ports of access to North and 

South America. 

From its ports in the Caribbean, Spain crossed the Straits 

of Florida to the North American mainland. Juan Ponce 

de León named La Florida when he reached the continent 

in 1513. Pánfilo de Nárvaez landed in Tampa in 1528 and 

explored the interior of Florida. St. Augustine in Florida 

is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement 

in the U.S. Established as a military outpost and mission 

site in 1565, St. Augustine served as the capital of Spain’s 

Florida territories until 1821. From St. Augustine, Catholic 

missionaries traveled throughout the Florida/Georgia Coast 

to proselytize the American Indians. Captain Maldonado, 

commander of Hernan de Soto’s fleet, entered Pensacola Bay 
2 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

and christened it Puerto d’Ancusi in 1540. Forts, such as Fort 

Mosé (Garcia Real San Teresa Mosé) and Castillo de San 

Marcos, were established to protect civilian settlements and 

launch further expeditions. From its Florida holdings, the 

Spanish explored the Carolina coast (Francisco Gordillo), 

and the American Midwest (de Soto). Spanish explorers 

established permanent settlements throughout Mexico 

and the greater Southwest including Arizona, New Mexico, 

Colorado, and California. 

Argentina

Bolivia

Chile

Colombia

Cuba

Haiti

Guyana

Suriname

Caribbean

Sea

Gulf of

Mexico

Costa Rica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Puerto Rico*

Uruguay

Venezuela

French Guiana

Brazil

South Atlantic 

Ocean

South Pacific

Ocean

The Spanish imprint on North America is evident in the 

more than 30 Catholic missions, which by 1675, had been 

established in present-day northern Florida and along the 

Georgia coast. The imprint on frontier American culture 

by these missions and settlements remained in the area long 

after the Spanish left. Agricultural practices, technology, 

language, and customs imparted by the missionaries were 

evident among the American Indian tribes encountered 

by Anglos in the 19th century. Generations earlier, Spanish 

missionaries influenced “civilized tribes” such as the Creeks, 

Choctaw, and Cherokee.2

This map shows the Spanishspeaking countries in North, 

Central, and South America, 

and the Caribbean Islands, 

including the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico, in orange text. 
Historic Context 3

Following the exploration and settlement of the Caribbean 

Islands, Spain began expansion into Mexico in 1517. Mexico, 

or New Spain as it was called during the Spanish period, was 

conquered by 1521, with Mexico City as the colonial capital. 

The original territory was twice the size of modern Mexico. 

The Vice-Royalty of New Spain established Spanish control 

of the Americas (North, Central, South America, and the 

Caribbean Islands) in 1535. 

Subsequent overland and sea explorations dotted the North 

American landscape with Spanish place names: Amarillo, 

Alcatraz, Boca Raton, California, Cañaveral, Florida, Madre 

de Dios, Morro Bay, Pima, and Tiburon, to name a few. 

Francisco Vásquez Coronado explored modern-day New 

Mexico and Arizona from 1540 to 1542, eventually traveling 

as far north as Kansas. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was the first 

European to explore the Pacific Coast of California in 1542. 

Don Juan de Oñate established New Mexico’s first European 

settlement in 1598 to convert Native people and locate the 

“seven cities of gold.” The Spanish established missions 

among Pueblo people in New Mexico.3

 These missions, 

including the 21-mission chain developed in California in 

the 18th century, were the roots of Hispanic culture in the 

Southwest. While Spain never had the pervasive influence in 

North America as it did in the Caribbean, Central America, 

and South America, the Spanish impact upon the lands of 

North America has been no less profound. 

“Hispanic” and “Latino”

Language and the power of naming are recognized as 

significant tools in identity formation. The U.S. Census 

Bureau uses the term “Hispanic” to refer to individuals of 

Spanish origin or descent who live in the United States.4

 

The Latin word hispanicus means “of Spain” (or, the Iberian 

Peninsula) but is used by most people to mean “people of 

Spanish-speaking heritage.”5

 However, many Spanishspeaking people living in the United States resist the term, 

preferring “Latino” or “Latina,” or even to use their national 

origin as a self-identifier instead.6

 This guide will use the 

definition provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. In this text, 

Hispanic will be used most frequently and specific national 

groups will be identified where appropriate.7

This ethnic category is convenient, but may overlook 

varied racial, class, and linguistic characteristics; obscure 

different social and political experiences; and lump together 

Mexico, or New Spain 

as it was called during 

the Spanish period, 

was conquered by 1521, 

with Mexico City as the 

colonial capital.
4 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

numerous nationalities from Mexico, Central and South 

America, the Caribbean, and Spain. Use of the term 

Hispanic appears to homogenize diverse groups of people 

of Latin American descent and place them in specific 

American racial and ethnic hierarchies (different from 

Latin American racial and ethnic hierarchies). Thus, the 

term may unify a group at the same time that it separates 

them from the mainstream.8

 The cultural and racial mixing 

of Spanish, American Indian, and African peoples during 

the colonial era in the Americas further complicates the 

meaning of Hispanic. (The U.S. Census indicates that a 

Hispanic person can be of any race.) At least one study has 

shown that while Spanish-speaking peoples may resist 

the terms either Hispanic or Latino, many recognize the 

usefulness in identifying a shared language and common 

cultural practices.9

The three major nationalities comprising the U.S. Hispanic 

population have traditionally been Mexicans, followed by 

Puerto Ricans and Cubans. Based on statistics from the 

2000 U.S. Census, people of Mexican descent make up 

58.5 percent of the Hispanic population; Puerto Ricans 9.6 

percent (this estimate does not include Puerto Ricans in 

Puerto Rico); and Cubans 3.5 percent. Beyond those three 

groups, Dominicans make up 2.2 percent of the Hispanic 

population, Salvadorans 1.9 percent, and Colombians 1.3 

percent. The remaining nations of Latin America, the 

Caribbean, and Spanish immigrants make up the remaining 

23 percent of the 35.3 million Hispanics in the United States. 

Mexicans

Prior to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), Mexico 

extended throughout much of the American West, with 

Spanish colonials, later Mexicans residing primarily in the 

present-day states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, 

Texas, and southern Colorado. Spanish settlement began in 

the late 1500s, increasing over succeeding centuries. Under 

Spanish Colonial rule throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, 

Spanish religion, government, and commerce dominated the 

cultural development of Mexico and blended with American 

Indian culture. 

The Pueblo Revolt in 1680 drove out more than 2,000 

Spanish settlers from what is modern-day New Mexico. 

Further exploration and settlement of lands in California, 

Based on statistics from 

the 2000 U.S. Census, 

people of Mexican 

descent make up 58.5 

percent of the Hispanic 

population; Puerto 

Ricans 9.6 percent 

(this estimate does not 

include Puerto Ricans in 

Puerto Rico); and Cubans 

3.5 percent.
Historic Context 5

Arizona, and Texas occurred during the 1690s. Several 

of the indigenous peoples looked upon the encroachment 

unfavorably, leading to conflicts between American Indians 

and Spanish settlers.10 The Spanish Crown eventually 

established a string of ranches and towns such as Laredo and 

Mier, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley during the 1740s and 

1750s with 6,000 settlers.11 Father Junípero Serra founded 

and established what became a series of 21 missions on El 

Camino Real de California, stretching from San Diego 

to San Francisco starting in 1769, and imprinted Iberian 

culture onto the American landscape.12 The missions served 

to further the administrative capacity of New Spain in its 

northern holdings. 

In 1821, Mexico was one of the last of Spain’s New World 

holdings to gain independence. Within a short time, the 

Texas Revolution of 1836 saw Mexico in a secession battle 

of its own. The formation of the Republic of Texas set 

the stage for an eventual two-year war between Mexico 

and the U.S. The Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, 

and Settlement, better known as the Treaty of Guadalupe 

Hidalgo, was signed in 1848, and ended the MexicanAmerican War. It increased the land mass of the U.S. by 50 

percent and grandfathered in the 100,000 Mexican nationals 

within the territory as U.S. citizens. Although the Treaty of 

Guadalupe Hidalgo guaranteed U.S. citizenship, religious 

freedom, property rights, and the right to maintain Mexican 

culture and traditions, in practice, those rights were largely 

ignored.13 The treaty articles were often overturned in legal 

cases or not recognized by the state and local governments. 

In New Mexico for example, Hispanics struggled with 

external pressures to maintain their cultural identity 

through language.14 Changes in the political and economic 

landscape made retention of ethnic identity a detriment.

Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, the demand for 

inexpensive labor in the agriculture industry and rail system 

dramatically increased the number of Mexican immigrants.15 

From the late 19th century through the Depression years of 

the 1930s, many Mexican American landowners lost their 

land due to mechanized agriculture, increased taxes, and 

the impact of discrimination on Mexican nationals and their 

descendants.16 Many Mexican Americans were forced to 

find other ways to earn a living in railroad construction, steel 

mills, and the meatpacking houses in the Midwest and East. 

In 1821, Mexico was one 

of the last of Spain’s 

New World holdings to 

gain independence. 
6 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Hispanic influence on labor in the U.S. includes mining 

operations throughout the middle and southwestern parts 

of the nation.17 Sites such as the New Almaden Mining 

Historic District highlight Hispanic heritage in mining 

that predates the California Gold Rush of 1848. Established 

in 1845 the mining company was named for the mercuryproducing mines in Spain and New Almaden was staffed by 

Mexican miners. Many from Sonora, Mexico, had worked 

in copper and gold mines. With the discovery of gold in 

California and the opening of the West to development, 

experienced Mexican and Central and South American 

miners provided needed expertise. Mines were discovered 

in other states and Hispanic miners migrated from across 

the Southwest to extract precious metals, quicksilver, and 

coal from Alaska to Iowa.

Migrant farm labor was a mixed blessing for the Mexican 

community in the U.S. Due to the need, there were plenty 

of jobs in agriculture, but no desire to see the laborers settle 

in the U.S. During the 1930s, attempts were made to return 

Mexicano farm laborers back home through repatriation 

programs, despite the fact that many of those targeted were 

American citizens.18 Ironically, the need for labor would 

bring Mexican immigrants back to the U.S. a few years later 

with the establishment of the Bracero Program in 1942. A 

joint program with the governments of Mexico and the U.S., 

it was intended to offset the loss of human labor due to the 

The Treaty of Guadalupe 

Hidalgo increased the landmass 

of the United States by 50 

percent and 100,000 Mexicans 

became American citizens. 

Courtesy of the National Archives and 

Records Administration.
Historic Context 7

military draft and wartime industries. Under the Bracero 

Program more than four million farm workers from Mexico 

came to work in the U.S.19 Following the Second World 

War and spurred by a recession in 1953, the familiar trend 

toward repatriation returned with Operation Wetback in 

1954, sending over 1 million Mexicans and many American 

citizens of Mexican descent, to Mexico. The nature of 

the work, combined with the repatriation efforts, led to a 

sense of rootlessness among the laborers, which shaped the 

dominant culture’s view of them as being disposable.

 

Racial tension between Mexicans and the majority 

population manifested itself in disputes and sometimes 

violence. The Sleepy Lagoon Incident in 1942 and the 

Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 in Los Angeles involving Mexican 

American youth, servicemen, and police, reflected negative 

impressions of Mexican Americans by the majority culture.20 

The Sleepy Lagoon Incident involved the killing of a young 

Mexican male and led to discriminatory crackdowns on 

the Mexican American population by the Los Angeles 

police. The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of clashes between 

pachucos, a Mexican American youth subculture known 

for “zoot suits,” long suits with broad shoulders and baggy 

pants, and wide brimmed hats, and U.S. sailors on leave. 

Yet, as these events transpired, nearly one-half million 

Mexican Americans were serving in World War II. 

Seventeen Mexican Americans won the Congressional 

Medal of Honor for their actions in the war. Participation 

and sacrifice in World War II by Mexican Americans and 

other minorities made acceptance of discrimination against 

them at home intolerable. 

In the 1960s, stronger, more vigilant voices demanded 

recognition and change. In response to the cultural 

move toward ethnic identity, some Mexican Americans 

appropriated the name of “Chicano” (a shortened, previously 

pejorative version of Mexicano). Chicanos even referred 

to the Southwest as Aztlán, identifying the area north 

of Mexico as an original homeland of their ancestors.21 

Currently, there are nearly 21 million Mexican Americans in 

the U.S., living primarily in the West and Southwest, but with 

sizable enclaves in cities such as Chicago, Illinois; Kansas 

City, Missouri; and Detroit, Michigan. 

Currently, there are 

nearly 21 million 

Mexican Americans 

in the U.S., living 

primarily in the West 

and Southwest, but with 

sizable enclaves in cities 

such as Chicago, Illinois; 

Kansas City, Missouri; 

and Detroit, Michigan.
8 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Puerto Ricans

The second largest group of Hispanics in the U.S. is 

Puerto Rican. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there 

are 3.5 million people of Puerto Rican descent on the U.S. 

mainland.22 Occupied by Spain since the 16th century, Puerto 

Rico was more important as a gateway to the Caribbean 

through the Mona Passage than it was for the island’s 

resources. However, labor practices used throughout 

Spain’s New World holdings were developed on the island. 

The native Taíno Indians were forced to work in the mines 

and agricultural production. The Taíno population was 

virtually decimated by disease and exhaustion; survivors 

intermarried with Spanish settlers. African slaves replaced 

the Spanish-Taíno labor force until 1873, when Spain ended 

slavery in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican culture, like other 

former Spanish colonies, is strongly shaped by Catholicism, 

blended with pan-African influences in the language, music, 

and food.

Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1899, with the signing 

of the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American War. 

This was the beginning of an uneasy relationship based on 

economic and military interests posited against the island’s 

desire to define its own national course.23 At the turn of the 

20th century, the sugar industry dominated the economy. 

Following World War II, light industry such as apparel and 

textiles for American markets emerged as prime engines for 

the island’s economy. Since the early 1970s, high-technology 

industries such as pharmaceuticals and electronics have 

gained prominence. Puerto Rico has always had military 

significance, first to the Spanish to control access to the 

Caribbean via the Mona Passage, and later as a training 

ground for U.S. military activities in the region. 

In the 20th century, Puerto Rico’s status as an 

unincorporated territory, and since 1952, as a freely 

associated commonwealth within the United States, 

created opportunities for Puerto Ricans to travel without 

passports to the U.S. mainland. Woodrow Wilson extended 

citizenship to Puerto Ricans in 1917 with the signing of the 

Jones-Shafroth Act.24 Following World War II, migration 

from the island to the mainland jumped significantly, nearly 

nine times as in the previous period. Cheap airfare and the 

constant demand for labor in cities led a sizable population 

to the U.S. mainland. There are now as many people of 

Puerto Rican descent living in the U.S. as there are on the 

island of Puerto Rico.25 

Puerto Rico became a 

U.S. territory in 1899, 

with the signing of the 

Treaty of Paris ending the 

Spanish-American War.
Historic Context 9

The nation’s largest mainland Puerto Rican community is

 in New York City. Places such as Casa Amadeo (Antigua 

Casa Hernandez), a record shop in the Bronx, played a 

critical role in maintaining and furthering Puerto Rican 

and Hispanic music heritage in the city. Philadelphia and 

Chicago have the second and third largest Puerto Rican 

populations outside of Puerto Rico. Pro-liberation Puerto 

Rican exiles established an enclave in Philadelphia in the 

late 1800s, while Chicago’s Puerto Rican community was 

established in the 1930s.26 

Cubans

Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Cuba in 1492 

during his first attempt to find a direct sea route from Europe 

to Asia. Cuba was one of Spain’s first Western Hemisphere 

holdings, with permanent settlements established in 1511, 

and one of its last, gaining its independence in 1898. A mix of 

Spanish, African, and indigenous Taíno and Ciboney people, 

Cuba’s population was similar to many of the Spanish 

colonies in the Caribbean. The U.S. briefly occupied Cuba 

from 1898 to 1902, following the Spanish-American War.27 

When the U.S. occupation of Cuba ended, Cubans were 

granted special immigration status due to mutual economic 

interests and the U.S. need for labor.

Due to its proximity to Florida, Cuba has long had a close 

relationship with the U.S. Spanish officials and militia 

stationed in Havana regularly left the island for tours of duty 

in Florida. Later, when Spain ceded its North American 

holdings in the Mississippi River region to England with 

the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the colony of La Florida was 

evacuated to Havana, Cuba. Immigration to Florida and 

the rest of the United States increased when Spanish rule 

ended. By the early part of the 20th century, Cuban enclaves 

were present in Key West and Tampa (notably Ybor City), 

Florida, and New York. In 1959, the migration of Cubans to 

the U.S. began in earnest following the fall of the Fulgenico 

Batista regime.28 Those in opposition to Fidel Castro’s rule 

fled the island. The “freedom flights” of 1965 to 1971 saw 

over 245,000 Cubans arrive in the U.S. In the 1980s, the boat 

lifts from Mariel brought thousands of Cubans into South 

Florida primarily and Miami in particular. Today, Cubans 

constitute the third largest Hispanic group in the U.S. with a 

population of 1.2 million people.

When the U.S occupation 

of Cuba ended, Cubans 

were granted special 

immigration status due 

to mutual economic 

interests and the U.S. 

need for labor.
10 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Cuban immigrants have influenced American popular 

culture through music: jazz (Xavier Cugat, Machito, Mario 

Bauza) and salsa (Celia Cruz). Cuba provided sugar, coffee, 

and tobacco for U.S. markets, as well as skilled laborers 

and other workers. The cigar production trades in Florida 

and New York City were dominated by Cuban immigrants. 

Professionals such as attorneys, doctors, bankers, artists, 

artisans, and other skilled workers, who came to the 

U.S. starting in the 1950s, formed the basis of the Cuban 

community of Miami and southern Florida. 

Dominicans

Santo Domingo was the first permanent settlement (1496) 

in the first European colony established in the Western 

Hemisphere, Hispaniola. The extraction of gold was Spain’s 

primary reason for colonizing the island. This required 

labor, which the Spanish initially sought from the Taíno 

Indians. Once the gold was exhausted, labor was necessary 

for agricultural and domestic needs. The estimated 

population of 1 million Taínos in 1492 was reduced to 500 

by 1548, due to disease and maltreatment by the Spanish. 

However, in a pattern that would repeat itself throughout 

the New World, starting in 1503, enslaved Africans replaced 

the rapidly dwindling Taíno population. Currently, AfroDominicans and mulattos make up 90 percent of the 

country’s population. 

The Dominican Republic shares the island with the nation 

of Haiti. While briefly a political and economic linchpin of 

Spain’s Caribbean holding, it was quickly usurped by Mexico 

and Peru as preferable destinations for Spanish enterprises. 

Spain essentially abandoned the island to focus its attention 

on more lucrative colonies over the next 250 years. This 

eventually opened the door for the French to establish the 

nation of Haiti on the western third of the island in 1697. 

From this period until 1844, Santo Domingo as it was 

called, struggled to maintain independence from France 

and Haiti. The struggle was due to Spanish indifference, 

economic stagnation, and a weak political situation in the 

local government. In 1821, Santo Domingo became the 

independent republic of Spanish Haiti, but still found itself 

under attack and eventual control by Haiti from 1822 to 1844. 

The Dominican Republic won its independence in 1844, 

spearheaded by a resistance movement to Haitian rule led 

by Juan Pablo Duarte and others. However, poor economic 
Historic Context 11

decisions, political assassinations, and hostile factions 

within and without caused Spain, and then the U.S. to 

intervene on several occasions over the next 60 years. This 

led to the occupation of the Dominican Republic by the U.S. 

from 1916 to 1924.29

Political unrest and economic opportunity after 1961, with 

the fall of Rafael Trujillo’s regime, opened up Dominican 

immigration to the U.S.30 Many Dominicans who have 

migrated to the U.S. retain strong ties with their towns and 

villages of origin and provide economic support to the island 

nation (remesas) and have become part of a transnational 

community where individuals essentially become 

participants in both communities, a common practice within 

Latin America. While relatively small in number (roughly 

765,000), the Dominican population is largely in New 

York City (making it the second largest Latino group in the 

metropolitan area) and other urban centers like Miami.

Salvadorans

The smallest of the Central American countries, El Salvador 

was founded by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524, during his 

explorations of the Central American isthmus. Lacking 

many of the resources of the other Spanish colonies in the 

region, El Salvador (or “the savior”) relied on a series of 

single-crop agricultural exports as the primary economic 

engine—first cocoa, then indigo, and later coffee.31 The 

profits from coffee helped develop a light manufacturing 

center within the country, with cotton and sugar cane as 

secondary crops. However, this dependence on a limited 

economy caused political and economic instability in the 20th

century and led to the mass exodus of people to Honduras, 

Mexico, and the U.S.32

The civil conflict during the last decades of the 20th century 

between the Salvadoran government and groups such as the 

FMLN (Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation) 

revolutionary army accelerated migration to the U.S.33 In 

cities such as Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Los 

Angeles, the Salvadoran population makes up a sizable 

portion, and in the case of Washington, the majority, of the 

Hispanic population. More enclaves have been established 

in North Carolina, New York, Maryland, and Virginia. 

Salvadorans make up 1.9 percent of the Hispanic population 

in the U.S.

The Dominican Republic 

won its independence in 

1844, spearheaded by a 

resistance movement to 

Haitian rule led by Juan 

Pablo Duarte and others.
12 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Colombians

Colombia, with 1.3 percent of the nation’s Hispanic 

population, is the only South American nation with a 

substantial population in the United States. Spanish 

conquistadors Alonso de Ojeda and Rodrigo de Bastidas first 

landed along the Caribbean coast in modern-day Colombia 

in 1499 and 1500, respectively. Having portage on both 

the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean made Colombia a 

valuable possession for the Spanish Crown. Settlements at 

Acandí (1510), Santa Marta (1525), and Cartagena (1533) were 

critical for Spain’s exportation of precious metals and gems 

from the South American interior under the mercantile 

system. As with other Spanish colonies, the harsh labor 

extracted from the indigenous population (Chibchuas 

and Caribs) led to their decimation, and in response 

the importation of enslaved Africans. By the 1990s, the 

indigenous population diminished to less than 1 percent of 

the total population. 

In April 1819, Colombia gained independence from Spain, 

as part of a colonial revolt by the nations that made up the 

colony of New Granada (Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, 

and Ecuador).34 In the years after independence, Colombia’s 

exportation of coffee and other agricultural products found 

markets in the U.S. Following World War II, Colombian 

migration to the U.S. increased, driven by political violence 

in the country and the desire for a better life.35 Following the 

1965 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act, 

Colombian immigration to the U.S. increased again, due in 

part to ongoing political and social problems.36

Colombian populations currently exist in the cities of 

New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, and are also 

located in states such as Maryland, Virginia, New York, 

New Jersey, and Florida.

Hispanic Influence on American Culture

Hispanic culture cuts a wide swath across the American 

cultural landscape. Arguably the first novel written in the 

Americas was The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez by Carlos 

de Sigüenza y Góngora in 1690.37 Names of cities, towns, 

and geographical landmarks from Alaska to Arkansas have 

Hispanic roots. For example, Galveston, Texas, is named 

for Bernardo de Gálvez, Spanish Governor of the Louisiana 

Territories during the American Revolution. He supplied 
Historic Context 13

Hispanic populations are adding an increased diversity 

within more rural and exurban communities. Pennsylvania, 

for example, has a Hispanic population of nearly 400,000, 

with 64 percent being of Puerto Rican descent. In the last 15 

years, Puerto Rican and Dominican immigrants have moved 

to Reading, Allentown, and Lancaster, with Hispanics 

recently becoming a majority in Reading.39 Hispanic impact 

on the communities has led local preservation organizations 

to develop programs to encourage the expression of Puerto 

Rican and Hispanic cultures in preserved older buildings.40 

In Washington, DC, one-third of Hispanics come from 

Central American nations; the majority is from El Salvador.41 

Breakdown of Hispanic Population 

According to U.S. Census, 2000

Spaniards 0.3%

Columbians 1.3%

Salvadorans1.9%

Dominicans 2.2%

Cubans 3.5%

Puerto Ricans* 9.6%

Remaining Latino Population 22.7%

Mexicans 58.5%

*Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States

provisions and weapons to the Continental Army and led 

troops into battle against the British along the Gulf Coast.38 

The cornucopia of Latin America provides foodstuffs such as 

cocoa, vanilla, chiles, tomatoes, and pinto and black beans. 

Salsa has surpassed ketchup as the most popular condiment 

in the U.S. The current influence on popular music and 

dance ranges from salsa to Tejano music to reggaeton. The 

cha-cha-chá, the samba, and meréngue have their origins in 

Hispanic culture. Hispanics continue to enrich American 

culture across the nation. 
14 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

A local festival in the Adams Morgan neighborhood started 

over 30 years ago for the various Hispanic ethnic groups 

and became the National Latino Festival, celebrating 

the range of Hispanic heritage in music, dance, art, and 

culinary expression.42 

The Mexican tradition of murals has arguably produced 

some of the best representations of this art form. Dating 

from the early Maya and Aztec periods in Mexican history, 

murals have been a popular cultural expression. During the 

20th century, muralists such as Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, 

and David Siqueiros, produced commissioned works in the 

United States and Mexico for private and public clients. 

The murals were often forms of protest against Spanish 

cultural hegemony and class struggles.43 The Works 

Progress Administration recognized the benefits of the 

populist tenor of Mexican muralism during the New Deal 

Era, and commissioned mural art for federal buildings 

throughout the nation. In the tradition of the mural as 

social commentary, murals painted on the Interstate 5 

overpass pillars in San Diego have transformed what was 

once an eyesore into a place of cultural memory, nicknamed 

“Chicano Park.” Residents now seek to have the area and 

its art protected by the state.44

Agricultural History 

The history of the nation’s agricultural industry, seen as 

the backbone of American commerce and essential to the 

nation’s growth, is incomplete if the role of Hispanics is 

overlooked. Mexicans operated farmsteads and ranches 

in the regions that were annexed by the U.S. in 1848. 

Sometimes as owners or entrepreneurs and frequently as 

laborers, Hispanics made it possible for American farms 

to expand agricultural endeavors, establish citrus groves 

and vineyards, and process and market agricultural goods. 

From 1942 until 1964, the Bracero Program provided U.S. 

agriculture with Mexican laborers to assist with the labor 

shortages during and after the Second World War. Today, 

Mexicans and other Hispanics continue to provide essential 

labor for the agriculture industry.45 

As significant an impact as the farm workers had on the 

landscapes of California, their involvement with labor 

unions is equally important. Hispanics were some of the 

earliest union organizers in the fields across the nation. 
Historic Context 15

Dating back to the 1883 cowboy strikes in the Texas 

panhandle, Hispanics in agriculture have been at the 

forefront of the American labor movement.46 Struggles 

for equality typify the experiences of many ethnic groups, 

who find strength in numbers, working with other ethnic 

minorities to overcome legal obstacles. César Chávez 

founded the United Farm Workers (previously the National 

Farm Workers Association) in Delano, California, with 

Mexican, Chicano, Filipino, Chinese, and Japanese farm 

workers seeking fair wages for their labor. Drawing 

on Mexican symbolism and traditions, his success was 

the result of 60 years of union labor organization, with 

Hispanics prominently involved.47 For example, the use of 

an Aztec eagle on the United Farm Workers flag represents 

dignity and the connection to Mexican people on both 

sides of the border.

Spanish Colonial Settlements

The organization of the physical plans of the settlements 

came from the Spanish Crown’s Ordinances for New 

Towns, or Laws of the Indies, that dictated how towns were 

to be laid out, where they were located, “to ensure ordered 

and just communities.”48 These plans varied little from 

place to place, with materials being the main difference. 

The Laws of the Indies indelibly imprinted the landscape 

of the Americas with Spanish cultural heritage. With this 

physical plan, Spanish authorities developed a tripartite 

system of missions, presidios, and pueblos to settle areas 

for Spanish dominion. 

The architectural styles that make up the general palette 

within Hispanic heritage in the Americas are rooted in 

these ordinances. Spanish Colonial style architecture, as 

defined by Virginia and Lee McAlester in A Field Guide to 

American Houses, is commonly a one-story building with 

a low pitched roof (shed or side gabled) or a flat roof with a 

parapet, built either of rubble stone or adobe.49 Roofs can 

be made of semi-circular tile or wooden frame covered 

in thatch. Flat roofs have heavy horizontal timber beams 

embedded in the masonry walls, to support the masonry 

roof, with drain spouts of tile, wood, or tin, jutting from the 

parapet to remove water. Usually modular in construction, 

rooms are added as separate structures, with no interior 

passages between rooms. A porch that connects rooms 

usually runs behind the house, away from the public view. 

César Chávez’s success with the 

National Agricultural Workers 

of America, later named 

the United Farm Workers of 

America, was the culmination of 

60 years of labor organization 

by Hispanics and other diverse 

groups in California. 

Courtesy of George Ballis, 

Take Stock.
16 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Larger exemplars had cantilevered balconies or galleries on 

the second floor. Window openings tended to be small and 

few. Unglazed windows with wrought iron grilles were later 

replaced for larger double-hung sash windows.

Over 400 years of Spanish Colonial architecture being 

executed and interpreted by multiple artisans and builders 

led to several architectural stylistic offshoots. As practiced 

in the American Southwest, the styles merge building 

techniques and materials from the Spanish and American 

Indian traditions. The Spanish Colonial Revival took 

aspects of the Georgian plan, with added embellishments 

from the Spanish architectural lexicon, and is prevalent 

throughout the nation, especially in California and the 

Southwest. The style came in vogue with the hosting of 

the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego in 1915, 

which featured the form in its exhibition buildings. 

However, earlier examples, such as the Mary Rogers 

Kimball House, St. Cecelia’s Cathedral, and St. Philomena’s 

Cathedral, all in Omaha, Nebraska, date to the first decade 

of the 20th century. 50

St. Philomena’s Cathedral in 

Omaha, Nebraska, is an early 

example of Spanish Colonial 

Revival architecture that became 

popular during the first part of 

the 20th century. 

Courtesy of Lynn Meyer.
Historic Context 17

Popular sub-types, such as Mission and Pueblo Revival, 

were characterized by simplicity of form and ornamentation, 

such as shed roofs and single-level, rectilinear floor plans. 

Mission-style homes might have elaborate parapets, 

reminiscent of the missions. Monterey Revival, two-story 

houses with the galleries, bore closer resemblance to Anglo 

housing forms, with low rooflines and a heavy use of Spanish 

tile. Spanish Eclectic, harkened to different periods of 

the Spanish architecture (Moorish, Byzantine, Gothic, or 

Baroque).51 The style was more ornate, with arched porches, 

bell towers, and a combination of hipped and gabled roofs. 

Missions

Spanish Colonial missions established in Florida, Louisiana, 

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California helped define 

popular perception of Hispanic architecture. Missions 

contained rooms for religious instruction, occupational 

production (crafts weaving, candles, wine), and other daily 

functions. Priests designed and directed the building of 

churches based on The Laws of the Indies and used local 

materials. New Mexico missions, for example, combined 

Spanish and Pueblo building styles and techniques.52

San Xavier del Bac Mission in 

Tucson, Arizona, is considered 

one of the finest examples of 

Spanish Colonial architecture 

in the United States. It meshes 

Baroque design with American 

Indian building materials and 

techniques. 

Courtesy of Historic American 

Buildings Survey.
18 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

The Spanish settlements in the Southwest exhibited the 

practice of maintaining proximity to indigenous tribes, 

converting them to Catholicism, and incorporating 

American Indians in the permanent towns. The 

establishment of Catholic missions was integral to the 

process of conquering and controlling newly settled areas 

and the people therein. Missions were used in the frontier 

areas to pacify American Indians and help establish friendly 

relations and allies among previously hostile tribes.53

The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is 

exemplary of the Spanish mission efforts. Established to 

link the missions in East Texas to those in the rest of New 

Spain, the park includes five missions, a presidio, and several 

agricultural features, including the Espada Acequia, an 

engineered channel from the San Antonio River, and the 

Espada Aqueduct, a pipe carrying water to the mission.54 

The acequia system of diverting water from a water source 

was a critical technology, giving residents access to potable 

water and making the irrigation of crops possible. The 

missions, fort, and settlements served as the foundation of 

one of the most successful communities in Texas and the city 

of San Antonio. 

Pueblos

The civilian settlements were called pueblos (villages). 

Situated near the missions, Spanish and mestizo settlers 

provided agricultural products for the presidios and soldiers 

garrisoned there, and set a standard for Spanish life for the 

Indians to follow. The town (villa) plan, as determined by 

the Laws of the Indies, prescribed everything from where 

buildings were located to the direction the villa should face. 

The structures in the pueblos were usually one-story 

buildings, similar in material and construction, with housing 

on streets laid out in a grid, and a town plaza containing a 

church and administrative buildings. Shed roofs or flat roofs 

with parapets were common. Villas contained necessary 

industries, including the raising of livestock. It is also where 

the Spanish civil administration was located. While there 

were many small pueblos in New Mexico, the modern cities 

of Los Angeles, San Jose, San Antonio, Albuquerque, and 

Santa Fe were established as villas.
Historic Context 19

Presidios

Presidios were military posts located in relative proximity to 

missions and other civilian settlements to provide defense, 

as well as places to launch offensives or to open up new 

territories. Soldiers garrisoned there and worked with 

the missions to reinforce the Spanish Crown’s efforts. For 

example, the presidio San Antonio de Bexar was established 

to protect Mission San Antonio de Valero, also known as the 

Alamo, in what is now San Antonio, Texas. 

In California, four presidios (San Diego, Santa Barbara, 

Monterey, and San Francisco) were strategically established 

along the coast to protect the missions, suppress uprisings 

among the indigenous peoples, and keep the Camino Real 

passable.55 The Presidio of San Francisco, established 

in 1776, was the oldest continuously operating military 

installation in the U.S. until its closure in 1994. In the 

absence of secular authority, presidios filled the role. In 

Louisiana, Presidio de Nuestra Señora del Pilar los Adaes 

served as the administrative authority for Spanish Texas for 

nearly 20 years prior to the capital moving to San Antonio. 

Military History

The Hispanic military presence extends beyond presidios. 

Hispanics participated in the Revolutionary War, the War 

of 1812, the Civil War, both World Wars, and every conflict 

since. Spain surreptitiously supported the Colonials in 

the beginning, with supplies and resources until openly 

declaring war upon Britain in 1779. General Bernardo de 

Gálvez assisted the Colonials through aid and arms, with 

his conquest of Pensacola during the American Revolution 

in 1781, as one example.56 In his capacity as Governor of 

Louisiana from 1776 to 1783, Gálvez was instrumental in 

reestablishing a Spanish presence in Louisiana, as well as 

serving as a valuable ally for the Colonials in their struggle 

with England.

Another Hispanic patriot is Jorge Farragut, a Spaniard from 

Minorca who fought with the patriots during the American 

Revolution. He also served in the U.S. Navy as a captain 

in the War of 1812. His son, Admiral David Farragut, was a 

hero of the Civil War, and was considered as a presidential 

candidate at the time of his retirement from the Navy.57 Born 

in Knoxville, Tennessee, the younger Farragut became the 

nation’s first rear-admiral in 1862, first vice-admiral in 1864, 

In California, four 

presidios (San Diego, 

Santa Barbara, 

Monterey, and San 

Francisco) were 

strategically established 

along the coast to protect 

the missions, suppress 

uprisings among the 

indigenous peoples,

and keep the Camino 

Real passable.
20 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

and first full admiral in 1866, as a result of his heroics during 

the Civil War.58 David uttered the famous phrase “Damn 

the torpedoes! Full speed ahead,” at a naval battle outside of 

Mobile, Alabama. Statues of both Farragut and Gálvez in 

Washington, DC, honor their military exploits. 

Hispanics served in the U.S. Army during the MexicanAmerican War, fought in Havana Bay during the SpanishAmerican War, and earned recognition from the French 

and U.S. military in World War I. World War II saw nearly 

500,000 Hispanic Americans fighting in the European and 

Pacific theaters. One highly decorated unit, the 141st Infantry 

Regiment, included a high concentration of Hispanics in its 

ranks.59 Hispanic men and women continued to serve their 

country valiantly through the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf 

Wars. There are a total of 39 Hispanic Congressional Medal 

of Honor recipients.60

The Evolution of Hispanic Culture

While the influence of Mexico on Hispanic culture in the 

U.S. can not be overstated, Spain’s other colonial holdings 

in the Western Hemisphere contribute to the expanding 

definition of Hispanic in the U.S. The 2000 census shows 

that Mexico provides the largest number of immigrants (58.5 

percent) however, that percentage is down from the previous 

census (60.4 percent in 1990), while the percentage of other 

Hispanics (Central, South America, Caribbean Islands, 

Spaniards) has increased. Over the past several decades, 

people of Hispanic descent have immigrated to the U.S. in 

greater numbers, choosing cities in the Midwest, Southeast, 

and Northeast to settle and extend the Latin Diaspora. 

Is There a Pan-Hispanic Identity?

In the U.S., the depiction of Hispanic culture is dominated 

by Mexican/Chicano Americans, particularly west of the 

Mississippi River, with Puerto Ricans/Cubans/Caribbean 

Americans on the East Coast. Linkages through common 

religious beliefs, and the overarching colonial Spanish 

culture and language (although not in all cases) create 

the image of a pan-Hispanic identity. However, national 

loyalties, transnational residence, and a multiplicity of 

cultures and ethnicities make a pan-Hispanic culture 

difficult to define.

David Farragut, a Spanish 

American from Tennessee, 

was the first full admiral in 

U.S. history. 

Courtesy of Marcia A. Smith.
Historic Context 21

Recent reflection upon and reexamination of Hispanic 

culture in the Americas reveal the culture not as a monolithic 

entity but as a multivalent model revolving around some 

common points of confluence. As David Gutierrez points 

out, these common ideas include: Spanish language heritage, 

genetic and cultural creolization, a Catholic tradition, and 

finally a common history of national liberation from Spanish 

rule.61 This common history does not account for the 

hundreds of thousands of Indian and mestizo descendants 

in the North American Spanish territories prior to the 

land coming under U.S. control. Spain’s former hegemony 

created touchstones for the many nations and regions, but 

these touchstones cannot define all the peoples of Central 

and South America and the Caribbean nations.62

Discrimination in the U.S. against ethnic minorities 

encouraged groups to find strength in numbers to counteract 

those practices. Areas with sizable Hispanic populations 

elected members of their communities to political office. 

Pressure from students led to the establishment of ethnic 

studies programs at universities and calls for cultural revival 

amongst young minority groups.63 Increased political 

activism by various Hispanic groups throughout the 1960s 

(coinciding with the Civil Rights activities of African 

Americans and other ethnic groups) led to the formation of 

pan-Hispanic lobbying and advocacy groups, such as the 

National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin 

American Citizens (LULAC), and the National Association 

of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO).64

Scholarship

The Hispanic heritage of the United States can be 

characterized in several ways. The material and tangible 

heritage of the Spanish Colonial legacy is evidenced in 

historic architecture; influences upon architecture and 

design; the naming of states, towns, neighborhoods, streets, 

landscape features, and rivers; and the intangible aspect of 

culture and a sense of place within the American historical 

narrative. Hispanic heritage on the landscape, such as town 

plans, architectural styles, and artistic representations in 

murals and sculptures, offer physical resources to examine 

the development of the heritage throughout American 

culture. Ideas about belonging and cultural identity are 

debated in literary and scholarly discussions. 
22 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Historic preservation efforts have preserved several of the 

prominent buildings (forts, missions, and civic buildings) 

that reflect the Spanish Colonial era. Archives in universities 

and historical societies around the nation and throughout 

the Caribbean contain material related to the Spanish 

Colonial legacies, engineering documents, architectural 

and planning documents, and maps. But, where is the line 

of demarcation between Spanish Colonial and Hispanic 

heritage in the U.S.? The Latin American countries can use 

the dates of independence as the point of divergence, but 

how does the preservation field recognize the change within 

the U.S. population? 

Research on Hispanic immigration, labor histories, and 

political and community histories is increasing.65 This 

research recognizes the impact of Hispanics in the United 

States’ culture and history. This guide will provide 

preservationists and cultural resource managers with a 

research base to examine and build upon as they explore the 

Hispanic experience.

Focusing on the Hispanic Southwest, the work of David J. 

Weber has been central to exploring Mexican America.66 

The Spanish Frontier in North America provides insight 

into Spanish Colonial policies as they played out in the 

American Southwest and West, and their impact upon the 

indigenous cultures, Spanish settlers, and other empires 

seeking a toehold. Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La 

Frontera takes a multidisciplinary approach to addressing 

the “borders” that define Latino (and for her, feminist) 

culture. She uses poetry, cultural anthropology, and 

personal insights into life between Mexico and Texas, the 

Mexican past, and Hispanic present.67 

Encompassing a national history of Hispanics in the U.S., 

Juan González’s Harvest of Empire analyzes how Latin 

American migration and the Hispanic experiences in the 

U.S. differ from European immigration histories, with 

the transnational nature of many Hispanic communities 

and the economic and political influence of the U.S. on 

Latin America since the end of Spanish control in the 

region. González and other scholars have stressed that 

Hispanic migration to the U.S. cannot be equated to the 

circumstances and experiences of other immigrants. To 

understand the history of Hispanics in America, the topic 

must be explored with new questions and bolstered with 

interdisciplinary studies.68

The Spanish Frontier in 

North America provides 

insight into Spanish 

Colonial policies as 

they played out in the 

American Southwest 

and West, and their 

impact upon the 

indigenous cultures. 
Historic Context 23

Current scholars, such as Ilan Stavans and Richard 

Rodriguez, have stated that to adequately explore Hispanic 

history in the United States, studies must be interdisciplinary 

and intersect with ethnic studies, history, anthropology, 

oral histories, and the disciplines that recognize the 

complexity of Hispanics in the U.S. and abroad. Stavans, a 

professor of Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst 

College, writes about Latino identity through language 

and culture in the Latin Diaspora.69 Rodriguez, an English 

Literature scholar and editor for Pacifica Radio, confronts 

and deconstructs the ideas of Hispanic heritage through 

language and popular cultural perception.70 He stresses the 

role of indigenous people in forming a Hispanic identity and 

connection to the Spanish language is not as important for 

U.S. Hispanics. Importantly, scholars studying Hispanic 

heritage recognize that the field challenges traditional 

perspectives on a U.S. historical narrative and expands the 

meaning of America’s borders beyond the U.S.71 

The Bracero History Project, a collaborative effort of 

the Center for History and New Media, George Mason 

University; the Oral History Institute of the University 

of Texas, El Paso; the Center for the Study of Race and 

Ethnicity, Brown University; and the National Museum of 

American History at the Smithsonian Institution, provides 

an important resource for documenting the experience of 

agricultural workers in America and the contributions of 

Mexicans and Mexican Americans to the U.S. economic, 

cultural, and political landscape. Oral histories of the 

braceros address their journey, experiences in processing 

centers, and working conditions. 

Similarly, in San Juan National Forest in Durango, Colorado, 

the presence of carvings in trees, or arborglyphs, has spurred 

a research and documentation project that maps their 

locations along a 26-mile route throughout the forest. The 

arborglyphs, some dating to the early 1900s, were created by 

Basque immigrants from the Pyrenees region that borders 

Spain and France and Mexican American shepherds. The 

arborglyphs document the struggles of the shepherds against 

the Anglo cattle ranchers and the spirituality and isolation of 

the men who were almost solely associated with shepherding 

in the West’s mountainous regions. The documentation 

project identifies and records the arborglyphs through 

drawings, photographs, mapping, and a GIS database.72

Historic Context 23
24 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Conclusion

Public awareness of the Hispanic presence and its impact on 

the history of United States has grown at a remarkable rate, 

due in part to the rapid increase in the Hispanic population. 

To further identify and interpret sites of significance 

associated with Hispanic culture, preservationists should 

look beyond the Spanish Colonial period to the 500 years of 

cultural influence on the American landscape. As Hispanic 

communities grow from the recent influx of new immigrants, 

preservationists will have opportunities to work with those 

communities to address documentation and presentation of 

the evolving culture.

U.S. acquisitions of previously held 

Spanish territories

• Florida, purchased by the U.S. from Spain, 1819. 

• Texas, annexed 1845 (previously independent 

since 1836).

• California, Utah, and New Mexico Territory ceded 

1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. These 

eventually became the states of Arizona, California, 

Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and southern 

Colorado.

• Gadsden Purchase of 1853 from Mexico brought 

in the lands of southern Arizona and southern 

New Mexico.

• Puerto Rico became an unincorporated territory 

under the Treaty of Paris in 1899, ending the war 

between the U.S. and Spain. Currently, Puerto Rico 

is a Commonwealth.
Historic Context 25

1. Not included in the list are the Atlantic 

islands such as The Canary Islands or places 

on the Pacific Rim such as the Philippines. 

The hybridized culture of the Philippines 

has a strong Spanish cast, with an Asian 

population and is discussed in Asian 

Reflections on the American Landscape: 

Identifying and Interpreting Asian Heritage

(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the 

Interior, National Park Service, 2005), 11, 23.

2. Gonzales recounts the history of Spanish 

missionary work among indigenous people 

in the Americas. See Juan L. Gonzales, Jr., 

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in 

America (New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 

2000), 16-17.

3. For discussion on the Anazazi in New Mexico, 

see Thomas E. Chávez, An Illustrated History 

of New Mexico (Albuquerque: University 

Press of New Mexico, 2003), 3-4. However, 

according to Art Gomez, Supervisory 

Historian for the Intermountain Regional 

Office, National Park Service, the term 

Anazazi is no longer acceptable among 

local Indian tribes. The preferred term is 

“Ancestral pueblos.” 

4. The U.S. Census began using the term 

“Hispanic” in 1980 to designate persons of 

Spanish-Hispanic origin or descent and 

includes (1) Mexicans, Mexican Americans, 

and Chicanos; (2) Puerto Ricans; (3) 

Cubans; (4) Central and South Americans; 

and (5) Other Hispanics. See Juan L. 

Gonzales, Jr., Racial and Ethnic Groups in 

America, fifth edition (Dubuque, IA: Kendall 

Hunt Publishing Company, 2003), 257. The 

1970 census was the first to include a 

separate question on Hispanic origin, but 

the question was included in only 5 percent 

of the sample households. The 1980 and 

1990 censuses asked people if they were of 

Spanish/Hispanic origin and in the 2000 

census the term “Latino” appeared. See 

Betsy Guzmán, “The Hispanic Population 

Census 2000 Brief,” U.S. Department of 

Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2001.

5. See Geoffrey E. Fox, Hispanic Nation: 

Culture, Politics, and the Constructing of 

Identity (Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing 

Group, 1996), 12-14.

6. For more on self-identification among 

Latinos, see Juan L. Gonzales, Jr., Racial and 

Ethnic Groups in America, 3-17; Table 1-2; 

Suzanne Oboler, Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives: 

Identity and the Politics of (Re)presentation in 

the United States (Minneapolis: University of 

Minnesota Press, 1995).

7. See Gonzales, Harvest of Empire, xix. 

8. See Oboler, Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives.

9. Ibid.

10. James Brooks addresses the practice of 

encomienda, the royal granting of Indian 

labor and tribute rights in return for 

commitment to religious instruction and 

protection of indigenous peoples, which 

made virtual slaves of the American Indians 

(Utes, Apaches, Pueblos, and others) for the 

missionaries and settlers. This practice 

partially precipitated the Pueblo Revolt of 

1680 and earlier violent uprisings of Indian 

groups. A type of slavery where people 

were captured and held in servitude was 

supported through raids on villages and 

selling of the captives. It was practiced by 

both the settlers and American Indians and 

allowed for captives to become part of the 

raiding parties’ families. Spain’s familiarity 

with the process came from its experience 

during the Muslim occupation of southern 

Spain until the completion of the Reconquista 

in 1492. See James F. Brooks, Captives and 

Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in 

the Southwest Borderlands (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 45-

79.

11. After penisulares proved to be poor 

colonists, Spain sent auxiliary troops of 

Hispano-Mexican Africans and people from 

Central Mexico to open the way for settlement of Texas. These castas, or mixed-race 

people, were deemed better suited to the 

Endnotes
26 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

task. See Gloria E. Miranda, “Mexican 

Settlement” in Encyclopedia of the American 

West, eds. Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod, 

Vol.3 (London: Simon & Schuster 

MacMillan, 1996), 973-974.

12. Father Junípero Serra set up the first mission 

in Alta California (modern California) in 

1769. 

13. The scholarship on the period following the 

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo indicates that 

legal rulings related to land claims by the 

displaced Mexican citizenry frequently 

went against them. The result was that 

Mexican landholders were disenfranchised 

and eventually removed from their holdings. 

The interpretation falls into one of three 

categories: the process was biased toward 

Anglo interests that agitated for war with 

Mexico; the Mexican claimants did not fully 

understand the common law legal system 

and therefore lost their lands due to ignorance; 

and the treaty protected the civil and human 

rights of the displaced Mexicans and that 

there is legal recourse available even today, 

but has not been tapped. What is not in 

dispute is that the U.S. government failed to 

honor the 8th and 9th Articles of the treaty, 

which would protect those people, their 

property, and their rights. See Christopher 

David Ruiz Cameron, “One Hundred Fifty 

Years of Solitude: Reflections On The End 

Of The History Academy’s Dominance Of 

Scholarship On The Treaty Of Guadalupe 

Hidalgo,” in Legacy of the Mexican and 

Spanish-American Wars: Legal, Literacy, and 

Historical Perspectives, eds. Gary D. Keller 

and Cordelia Candelaria (Tempe, AZ: 

Bilingual Press Review, 2001); María Josefina 

Saldaña-Portilla, “‘Wavering on the Horizon 

of Social Being’: The Treaty of GuadalupeHidalgo and its Legacy of its Racial 

Character in ‘Ámerico Parades’ George 

Washington Gomez” in Radical History 

Review, Issue 89 (Spring 2004): 135-164.

14. The question of assimilation put pressure on 

native Spanish speakers to abandon their 

language to be American. Doris Meyer, 

Speaking for Themselves: New Mexican 

Cultural Identity and the Spanish Press, 

1880-1920 (Albuquerque: University of New 

Mexico Press, 1996).

15. The need for cheap labor is a constant 

theme in American history and people of 

Mexican descent have frequently provided 

it. See Gonzales, Racial and Ethnic Groups, 

226. 

16. The move to mechanized farming and large 

farming conglomerates in place of smaller, 

family-owned farms doomed many of the 

Mexican American landholders. An inability 

to compete and foreclosures caused many 

landholders to relinquish their ownership of 

large rancherias. Ibid, 225; Chávez, “Aztlán 

Rediscovered,” 527-528. 

17. Extractive industries, particularly for 

precious metals and minerals, were one of 

the primary occupations of the Spanish 

Crown in the New World. The riches 

discovered in the Caribbean Islands, and 

South and Central America fueled their 

explorations and expectations of North 

America. The result was a centuries-long 

association of Hispanics in the Western 

Hemisphere with mining. 

18. Mexican repatriation programs took place 

at the federal and state levels. California, in 

particular, pursued the deportation with 

zeal. The Dunn Mexican Repatriation 

Program in California recently received 

publicity with the state senate bill to offer 

an official apology for the program. See 

discussion in Gonzales, Racial and Ethnic 

Groups, 228; Steve Boisson, “Immigrants: 

The Last Time America Sent Her Own 

Packing,” in American History (September 

2006) 20-27; cf. State of California Senate 

Bill 670, “An act to add Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 8720) to Division 1 of 

Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to 

Mexican Repatriation. An Apology Act for 

the 1930s Repatriation program,” chartered 

February 22, 2005.

19. The Bracero Program is formerly known as 

The Agreement of August 4, 1942, for the 

Temporary Migration of Mexican Workers 

to the United States, as revised, April 26, 

1943, by an Exchange of Notes by the 

American Embassy at Mexico City and the 

Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 
Historic Context 27

contracts were controlled by independent 

farmers associations and the Farm Bureau of 

the U.S. The contracts were written in English 

and many of the laborers did not understand 

the stipulations in the contract, resulting in a 

virtual indentured servitude. See Gonzales, 

Racial and Ethnic Groups, 229-230; “The 

Bracero Program” at the Farmworkers 

websites, http://www.farmworker.org/bracero, accessed March 19, 2007.

20. The Sleepy Lagoon Incident revolved 

around the death of a young Mexican male, 

José Diaz in Los Angeles, CA, on August 1, 

1942. It was portrayed in the media as a 

gang-related incident and led to a police 

crackdown on the youth and the arrest of 

24 Mexican youth, with 17 going to jail. The 

result was a sustained period of police 

violence with tacit public approval and 

essentially racial profiling, with hundreds 

of Mexican American youth arrested with 

little or no cause. 

With the Zoot Suit Riots, tensions between 

Mexican youth and off-duty servicemen in 

Los Angeles, led to 200 sailors going out and 

indiscriminately assaulting Mexican youth, 

stripping them of their suits during the 

summer of 1943. The public support for the 

sailors as heroes gave sanction to their acts, 

fueling deep-seated prejudices and leading 

to a week of violence against Mexican youth 

with no police intervention. For a brief 

description of both events see Gonzales, 

Racial and Ethnic Groups, p. 230-231. Cf. 

Carey McWilliams, North From Mexico: The 

Spanish Speaking People of the United States

(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1948 

[1968], 228-229; Ismael Dieppa, “The ZootSuit Riots in Retrospect,” in La Luz Vol 3. 

No. 8 (November 1974): 29-32.

21. See discussions of Mexican American 

identity in Gonzales, Racial and Ethnic 

Groups, 103-105.

22. Ibid, 259.

23. Ramón Grosfoguel describes a tripartite of 

economic, military, and special interests 

involved in Puerto Rico’s relationship with 

the U.S. There has been significant U.S. 

corporate investment in the island’s manufacturing and agriculture sectors since the 

turn of the 20th century. The U.S. military 

used Vieqeus, recently returned to the island 

from the Navy, on the eastern side of the 

island for NATO training for military attacks 

in and around the Caribbean. Finally, 

through President Truman’s Point Four 

Plan, Puerto Rico was held up as a shining 

example of the U.S. development efforts 

in the “third world” as opposed to the 

Communist models. See Ramón Grosfoguel, 

Colonial Subjects: Puerto Ricans in a Global 

Perspective (Los Angeles and Berkeley: 

University of California Press, 2003), 45-48.

24. The Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917 made Puerto 

Rico an “organized but unincorporated 

territory” of the United States and gave 

citizens of the island statutory citizenship. 

As a result, the act provided Puerto Ricans 

with increased opportunities and the U.S. 

with cheap labor at a time of need. Enlistment of Puerto Rican males into the military 

exposed them to a higher standard of living, 

while simultaneously providing the U.S. with 

additional manpower for the war. “The 

World of 1898: The Spanish-American War, 

The Jones Act” at The Hispanic Division of 

the Library of Congress online, http://www.

loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/jonesact.html, 

accessed March 14, 2007; Grosfoguel, 

Colonial Subjects, 132-133.

25. See Grosfoguel, Colonial Subjects, 107-110, 

219 table.

26. U.S. Census numbers for 2000 put the Puerto 

Rican population in Philadelphia at 91,527 

and Chicago’s at 113,055. See Latino 

Philadelphia at a Glance, the Balch Institute 

of Ethnic Studies for Historical Society of 

Philadelphia, at http://www.hsp.org/files/

latinophiladelphiaataglance.pdf, accessed 

January 7, 2008; Gina M. Perez, “Puerto 

Ricans” in Encyclopedia of Chicago, maintained by the Chicago Historical Society, at 

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.

org/pages/1027.html, accessed January 7, 

2008.
28 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

loc.gov/frd/cs/dotoc.html#do0021, accessed 

June 29, 2007. 

30. Rafael Trujillo regime’s (1930-1961) kept 

Dominican immigration to the United States 

at a minimum by maintaining strict control 

over visas and travel. The 1990s saw the 

arrival of Dominican immigrants in unprecedented numbers due to a search for greater 

economic opportunity. Following the fall of 

the Trujillo regime in 1961 and the 1965 

amendments to the Immigration and 

Nationality Act, immigration to the U.S. 

became another tool for assistance. See 

Himicle Novas, Everything You Need to 

Know About Latino History (New York: 

Plume Publishing, 2003), 223; Hartlyn, 

“Occupation by the United States, 1916-1924” 

in “A Country Study: Dominican Republic”; 

Peggy Levitt, “Transnational Ties and Incorporation: The Case of Dominicans in the 

United States,” in Columbia History of Latinos 

in the United States Since 1960 (New York: 

Columbia University Press, 2004), 230-232.

31. In the years since independence, the issues 

of land reform and expansion of the economy 

played a significant role in the political landscape of El Salvador. Numerous movements 

to benefit the poorer portions of society 

sparked the imaginations of the populace 

over time, but the lack of land and a diversified economy allowed agent provocateurs to 

suppress reform efforts. By tampering with 

the means of production of the primary 

(and frequently only) export, the nation 

could be effectively crippled. Later, more 

violent means to force the issue of land 

reform and wealth distribution led to paramilitary activities and civil conflicts. See “A 

Country Study: El Salvador, Library of 

Congress Federal Research Division” 

website at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/svtoc.html, accessed July 3, 2007.

32. Early immigration saw middle-class and 

professional Salvadorans leave the country 

in the earlier part of the 20th century. As the 

political situation deteriorated, the rural 

population also sought refuge. Estimates 

27. The U.S. recognized Cuba’s independence 

in a Joint Resolution passed by Congress, 

dated April 20, 1898. This resolution was the 

precursor to the Spanish-American War, but 

there was prior American interest in the 

struggle for independence between Spain 

and Cuba, due to interest in Cuba’s agricultural 

production. The destruction of the U.S.S. 

Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 

1898 gave the U.S. the impetus to become 

involved. While the resolution acknowledged Cuba’s sovereignty, the result of the 

war and subsequent Treaty of Paris saw the 

U.S. occupy Cuba for four years until 

returning control to a popularly elected 

government in 1902. The treaty also gave the

U.S. possession of Puerto Rico, Guam, and 

the Philippines. See “Text to the Treaty 

Ending the Spanish-American War,” at 

http://www.homeofheroes.com/wallofhonor/spanish_am/18_treaty.html, accessed 

July 30, 2009; “Treaty of Paris of 1898,” in 

The World of 1898: The Spanish-American 

War at the Library of Congress Hispanic 

Division website, http://www.loc.gov/rr/

hispanic/1898/treaty.html, accessed October 

18, 2007; Alex Antón and Roger E. Hernández, Cubans in America: A Vibrant History of 

a People in Exile (New York: Kensington 

Books, 2002), 91-93.

28. By the end of 1960, over 60,000 Cubans 

immigrated to the U.S., which was reported 

in the census of that year. By 1962, 215,000 

Cubans entered the country following Fidel 

Castro’s assumption of control in Cuba. 

Antón and Hernández, Cubans in America, 

148; Gonzales, Racial and Ethnic Groups, 

286.

29. Largely a military operation, the American 

occupation of the Dominican Republic 

coincided with America’s occupation of 

Haiti (1915-1934), a manifestation of the 

Roosevelt Corollary. Public sentiment 

eventually turned against foreign occupation 

after World War I and the U.S. See Jonathan 

Hartlyn, “Occupation by the United States, 

1916-1924” in “A Country Study: Dominican 

Republic,” Library of Congress Federal 

Research Division website at http://lcweb2.
Historic Context 29

indicate that nearly 500,000 Salvadorans 

emigrated to the U.S. (primarily through 

Mexico) from the end of the 1970s until the 

early 1990s. See “Migration,” in “A Country 

Study: El Salvador.”

33. Policies instituted by President Ronald 

Reagan in 1981 allowed for continued 

Salvadoran immigration, and U.S. support of 

the El Salvador government and economy. 

See Norma Stolz Chincilla and Nora 

Hamilton, “Central American Immigrants: 

Diverse Populations, Changing Communities,” in The Columbia History of Latinos in 

the United States Since 1960, ed. David G. 

Guitiérrez (New York: Columbia University 

Press, 2004), 194-197; “The United States 

Takes a Hand,” in “A Country Study: El 

Salvador.”

34. The Wars of South American Independence 

began in 1811 with Venezuela declaring 

independence from Spain. Eventually, 

fighting between Spain and Venezuela, led 

by Símon Bolivar, spread into the remaining 

areas of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, 

made up of Columbia, Panama, and Ecuador 

(the Viceroyalty’s influence extended to 

other locations, including Costa Rica, 

Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and prior to 

independence, Venezuela). Following 

Venezuela’s lead, the three territories 

formed the United Provinces of New 

Granada, which was reclaimed by Spain in 

1816. By 1820, all South American nations 

gained their independence from Spain. 

See “The Founding of a Nation: The 

Independence Movement,” in “A Country 

Study: Columbia, Library of Congress 

Federal Research Division” website at http://

lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cotoc.html#co0021, 

accessed July 31, 2007; Hezekiah Butterworth, South America: A Popular Illustrated 

History of the Struggle for Liberty in the 

Andean Republics and Cuba (New York: 

Doubleday and McClure, 1898).

35. The period of the 1950s in Colombia was 

known as “La Violencia,” where politicallylinked violence between the liberal and 

conservative parties contributed to systemic 

socioeconomic problems. The violence, 

along with the economic pull of U.S. 

technological and industrial interests of 

highly skilled professionals from various 

fields (known as “the Brain Drain”), 

contributed to the outmigration of 

Colombia’s middle-class professionals. 

See Marilyn Espitia, “The Other ‘Other 

Hispanics’: South American-Origin Latinos,” 

in Columbia History of Latinos in the United 

States Since 1960 (New York: Columbia 

University Press, 2004), 266, 269-270.

36. The history of drug violence in Colombia is 

well documented. The regular military 

action within the country after 1960 was 

due to the number of small guerilla-led 

“republics” that resulted from “La Violencia.” 

Simultaneously, narcotics trafficking 

compounded the problems. The combination further encouraged legal and illegal 

migration from Colombia. See “Civil 

Action, Counterinsurgency, and Internal 

Security,” and “Narcotics Control and 

Interdiction,” in “A Country Study: Columbia, 

Library of Congress Federal Research 

Division” website at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/

frd/cs/cotoc.html#co0021, accessed July 31, 

2007; Espitia, “The Other ‘Other Hispanics’: 

South American-Origin Latinos,” 268.

37. Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, a scholar and 

mathematician, was a Mexican Creole, who 

wrote about another Creole from Puerto 

Rico and his adventures traveling around 

the world, in 1690. It is recognized as the 

first published novel in Latin America 

and possibly in the New World. See Estelle 

Irizarry, “One Writer, Two Authors: 

Resolving the Polemic of Latin America’s 

First Published Novel” in Literary Linguistic 

Computing 6, No. 3 (1991): 175-179; Jóse F. 

Buscaglia-Salgado, “The Misfortunes of 

Alonso Ramírez (1690) and the Duplicitous 

Complicity Between the Narrator, the 

Writer, and the Censor” in Dissidences. 

Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism

Vol. 1, No. 1 (2005) 1-42.

38. See Refugio I. Rochin and Lionel Fernandez, 

“U.S. Latino Patriots: From the American 

Revolution to Afghanistan, An Overview,” 

report for Pew Hispanic Center, 2002, at 

http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/17.3.pdf, 
30 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

4, accessed March 14, 2007; Refugio I. 

Rochin “Galveston, Texas, and Farragut 

Square, Washington, DC: Places of Hispanic 

Heritage,” in Heritage Matters: News of the 

Nation’s Diverse Cultural Heritage (June 

2003), 19.

39. See David Montgomery, “The Engine of 

Change” in the Washington Post, April 27, 

2008; p. C01. 

40. Many Hispanics are moving into older and 

historic neighborhoods. Local governments 

in Pennsylvania are publishing preservationrelated texts in Spanish to encourage the 

Hispanics to participate in preservation. In 

addition, towns such as Lancaster are 

allowing for colors and ornamentation that 

are in keeping with Puerto Rican and 

Hispanic tastes. Telephone conversation 

with Michel Lefevre, Chief, Preservation, 

Planning and Education Outreach, Bureau 

for Historic Preservation, Pennsylvania; 

March 14, 2007; Rick Kearns, “Salvando los 

vecindarios del barrio con nosotros en ellos. 

Una reunion entre latinoamericanos y 

preservadores históricos” in El Hispano

(October 23-29, 1997).

41. Guzmán, “The Hispanic Population Census 

2000 Brief,” 2; “Latinos in the District of 

Columbia: Demographics” at Office of 

Latino Affairs, District of Columbia website, 

at http://ola.dc.gov/ola/cwp/view,a,3,q,56873

9,olaNav,|32535|,.asp, accessed March 14, 

2007.

42. Olivia Cadaval discussed the development 

of the festival and a pan-Latino identity in 

Washington, DC in Creating a Latino 

Identity in the Nation’s Capital: The Latino 

Festival (New York: Garland, 1998).

43. Several scholars have made the connections 

between the Mexican muralism movement 

coming out of the Mexican Revolution of 

1910 and the WPA projects of the 1930s. 

Advisors to Franklin D. Roosevelt during his 

first term as president were aware of the 

works of Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, and 

David Siqueiro, and suggested the mural as a 

means of fostering civic pride. WPA murals 

are found across the nation, inside of 

buildings and out. For a brief overview of 

the connections between Mexico’s muralism 

tradition and the WPA, see Leticia Alvarez, 

“The Influence of the Mexican Muralists in 

the United States. From the New Deal to 

the Abstract Expressionism,” MA thesis, 

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State 

University, 2001; Donna Sussman, “The 

Impact of Mexican Muralists on WPA Art,” 

curriculum 05.05.09, from the Yale National 

Initiative to Strengthen Teaching Public 

Schools website, at http://teachers.yale.edu/

curriculum/search/viewer.php?id=initiative_

05.02.09_u&skin=h, accessed July 15, 2008; 

John Pittman Weber, “Politics and Practice 

of Community Public Art: Whose Murals 

Get Saved?” The Getty Conservation 

Institute, 2003, at http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications/pdf_publications/

weber.pdf, accessed July 15, 2008.

44. For more on Chicano Park, see “Barrio 

Logan” at History Department at University 

of San Diego website, at http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/projects/178/barriologan00.

html, accessed March 10, 2007; Martin D. 

Rosen and James Fisher, “Chicano Park and 

the Chicano Park Murals: Barrio Logan, 

City of San Diego,” in The Public Historian, 

Vol. 23, No. 4 (Fall 2001): 91-111.

45. See discussion of Bracero Program in 

Gonzales, Racial and Ethnic Groups, 229-230. 

46. Juan Goméz called for a strike of cowboys 

against ranch owners, the first time Hispanics 

participated in organized resistance. In fact, 

organized labor has served as the backbone 

of the Chicano civil rights movement in the 

U.S. See Nicholás Kanellos, “The Hispanic 

Background of the United States” in 

Cambridge Companion to Modern American 

Culture, ed. Christopher Bigsby (New York: 

Cambridge University Press, 2006), 144-145; 

Ida Hickerson, “Mosaic America Through 

Literary Art: The Civil Rights Movement 

Through African-Americans, Chicanos and 

Native Americans,” in the Yale-New Haven 

Teachers Institute Curriculum Unit 93.04.05, 

at http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/

units/1993/4/93.04.05.x.html#c, accessed 

January 7, 2008.
Historic Context 31

47. Prior to Chávez’s United Farm Workers, 

there were numerous attempts at organizing 

farm laborers, by ethnicity and as a whole. 

See Cletus E. Daniel, Bitter Harvest: A 

History of California Farmworkers, 1870-1941

(Berkeley: University of California Press, 

1981); Joan London and Henry Anderson, So 

Shall Ye Reap (New York: Crowell, 1970).

48. The Ordinances of Towns and Laws of the 

Indies provided guidelines on everything 

from the direction the town should be 

situated to suggested population density. It 

further suggests building houses in similar 

styles to ensure uniformity. The last revision 

was published in 1681 and they influenced 

planning in the Americas long after the end 

of Spanish rule. See “Laws of the Indies,” in 

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia at http://

geoanalyzer.britannica.com/ebc/article-904231, accessed February 1, 2008; Ralph 

B. Johnson, “Freedom’s Trail: The FloridaCuba Connection,” in Places of Cultural 

Memory: African Reflections on the American 

Landscape, Conference Proceedings, May 

9-12, 2001 (Washington, DC: Department of 

the Interior, National Park Service, 2001), 

12-13.

49. See “Colonial Houses: Spanish Colonial,” in 

Virginia and Lee MacAlester, A Field Guide 

to American Houses: The Guide That Enables 

You to Identify, and Place in Their Historic 

and Architectural Contexts, the Houses you 

See in Your Neighborhood or in Your Travels 

Across America—Houses Built for American 

Families (Rich, Poor, and In-between), in City 

and Countryside, From the 17th Century to 

Present (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986), 

129-138.

50. Omaha has several Spanish Colonial Revival 

buildings and homes, whose presence can 

be attributed to Thomas Kimball (1862-

1934). Kimball was a preeminent architect 

from Omaha, who studied at the Ecole de 

Beaux Arts in Paris in 1887. As architect-inchief for the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in 

1898 in Omaha, Kimball used Classical and 

Renaissance Revival styles for the exposition 

buildings. His choice of Spanish Colonial 

Revival for the church and cathedral was 

due in part to the Mexican and Spanish 

influence on the West and that Nebraska 

was once part of the Mexican See of the 

Catholic Church. See “City of Omaha’s 

Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission, Thomas Kimball” at http://www.

ci.omaha.ne.us/landmarks/designated_landmarks/architects/architects/Kimball.htm, 

accessed September 16, 2008; Federal 

Writers’ Project of the Works Progress 

Administration, “Cities and Towns: Omaha, 

St. Cecelia’s Cathedral” in Nebraska, A 

Guide to the Cornhusker State (New York: 

The Viking Press, 1939), 247; conversation 

with Dena Sanford, Architectural Historian, 

and James Hill, Midwest Coordinator, 

Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, NPS; September 17, 2008. 

51. MacAlester, A Field Guide to American 

Houses, 417-419.

52. Dell Upton, ed., America’s Architectural 

Roots: Ethnic Groups that Built America

(Washington, DC: Preservation Press, 1986), 

95.

53. The Spanish Crown considered mission 

settlements to be less threatening to 

indigenous people than state systems of 

government. Martha Menchaca, Recovering 

History, Constructing Race: The Indian, 

Black, and White Roots of Mexican 

Americans (Austin: University of Texas, 

2001), 78-79.

54. The acequias, irrigation system, proved to be 

one of the most influential technologies 

used by missions. The acequia fed water 

from distant locations (diverted from rivers, 

catch snow runoff) to a dam, which fed the 

aqueducts making a high level of agricultural 

production possible to support the mission 

inhabitants. Espada Acequia is the last of its 

type still in operation in the U.S. Historical 

archives in Colorado and New Mexico have 

acequia documents that highlight the 

importance of this technology to Spanish 

colonies. See “Acequias de San Antonio” in 

Preliminary Inventory of Spanish Colonial 

Resources Associated with National Park Service Sites and National Historic Landmarks, 
32 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

1987, Second Edition, ed. Richard R. Henderson, (Washington, DC: United States 

Committee, International Council on 

Monuments and Sites, 1989), 4-260; 

telephone conversation with Virginia 

Sanchez, November 7, 2007; cf., Jose A. 

Rivera, Acequia Culture: Water, Land, and 

Community in the Southwest (Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press, 1998).

55. See David Hornbeck, “Spanish Legacy in 

the Borderlands” in The Making of the 

American Landscape, ed. Michael P. Conzen 

(New York: Routledge, 1994 [1990]), 55.

56. Spain and Britain were in competition for 

Florida and the Gulf Coast territories dating 

back to the 17th century. Spain lost its 

Florida holdings, along with Minorca and 

Gibraltar to England as part of the Treaty of 

Paris of 1763, which ended the Seven Years 

War (known as the French and Indian War 

in American history). Seeking to regain its 

lost territories, Spain aided the Colonials 

secretly for three year before declaring war 

on England in 1779. 

57. Farragut led several other ships to capture 

the C.S.S. Tennessee, eventually taking the 

fort protecting Mobile as well. A destroyer is 

named in honor of the admiral. See Rochin 

and Fernandez, “U.S. Latino Patriots: From 

the American Revolution to Afghanistan, An 

Overview,” 6; Rochin, “Galveston, Texas, 

and Farragut Square, Washington, DC: 

Places of Hispanic Heritage,” 19-20.

58. Farragut was promoted to the ranks of rear 

admiral and vice admiral by President 

Abraham Lincoln. He was promoted to full 

admiral by President Andrew Johnson. 

See Michael S. Davis, “Farragut, David 

Glasgow,” in Encyclopedia of the American 

Civil War, A Political, Social, and Military 

History, vol. 2, eds. David S. Heidler and 

Geanne T. Heidler (Santa Barbara, CA: 

ABC-CLIO, 2000), 682-685; “Vice-Admrial 

Farragut,” in New York Times, Wednesday, 

December 23, 1864, p. 6.

59. The 141st Infantry evolved from the 2nd Texas 

Volunteers that fought in the Texas 

Revolution of 1836. The regiment saw 361 

days of combat in the Mediterranean region 

and had 3 Medal of Honor winners, 492 

Silver Stars, and 1,685 Bronze Stars. See 

Rochin and Fernandez, 19-20. 

60. See Rochin and Fernandez, 23 appendix I. 

61. Guiterrez notes that while these commonalities exist broadly, a sizable number of 

American Hispanics do not speak Spanish 

and have no sense of nationality outside of 

that of the U.S. David Gutierrez, “Introduction,” in Columbia History of Latinos in the 

United States Since 1960 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), 10.

62. Benedict Anderson addresses the Spanish 

creoles that eventually form the nations of 

Central and South America. He suggests that 

nationalistic sentiments developed because 

the creoles were no longer considered 

“Spanish” by those from the parent country 

and therefore began to self-identify through 

print and their common struggle against 

Spain. The call for nationhood was a direct 

result of the American Revolution. Benedict 

Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections 

on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, 

revised ed. (New York and London: Verso, 

1991), 47-66.

63. For example, “El Plan Espirtual de Aztlan” 

presented at the National Chicano Youth 

Liberation Conference in Denver, Colorado, 

March 1969, was a call for Chicano solidarity, 

self-determination, and cultural revival. San 

Francisco State College and University of 

California at Berkeley were the first schools 

to institute ethnic studies programs, 

beginning in 1968. Alurista “El Plan 

Espirtual de Aztlan,” in Columbia Documentary History of Race and Ethnicity in 

America, ed. Ronald H. Bayor, (New York: 

Columbia University Press, 2004), 762-764.

64. Gutierrez, “Introduction,” 17; cf. “LULAC 

Archives” at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin 

American Collection online at http://www.

lib.utexas.edu/benson/lulac/lulacindex.

html, accessed March 20, 2007; “Preamble 

— La Raza Unida Party” in Columbia 

Documentary History of Race and Ethnicity, 

764-766.
Historic Context 33

65. This document has chosen to limit the 

number and range of Spanish Colonial 

architecture to focus on those places where 

Spanish mixes with other ethnicities to 

become Hispanic.

66. See for instance, David J. Weber, The 

Spanish Frontier in North America (New 

Haven: Yale University Press, 1992) and 

David J. Weber, Myth and the History of the 

Hispanic Southwest (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988).

67. Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: 

The New Mestiza (San Francisco: Spinsters/

Aunt Lute Press, 1987).

68. González, Harvest of Empire; Gilbert 

Gonzalez, Guest Workers or Colonized 

Labor? Mexican Labor Migration to the 

United States (Boulder, CO: Paradigm 

Publishers, 2006); for more on the recent 

migration and labor histories, see the 

collection of essays in Gilbert Gonzales, ed.,

Labor versus Empire: Race, Gender and 

Migration (New York: Routledge, 2004). 

69. Stavans considers himself Hispanic by 

culture, born of East European parents in 

Mexico City. This has led to criticism from 

some Hispanics that he does not have the 

right to speak for Hispanics. He has also 

written books on Jewish culture and 

Yiddish. See Ilan Stavans, The Hispanic 

Condition: Reflections on Culture and Identity 

in America (New York: Harper Collins 

Publishers, 1996); Spanglish: The Making of a 

New American Language (New York: 

HarperCollins, 2004); cf. Harold Augenbram and Ilan Stavans, eds., Growing Up 

Latino: Memories and Stories (Boston and 

New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 

1993). 

70. Rodriguez rejects the idea of bilingual 

education and of affirmative action as 

necessary for Hispanic success, despite 

being a product of those programs. His 

stance has led others to question his role as 

a commentator for Hispanics. For some of 

his work, see Richard Rodriguez, Hunger 

of Memory: The Education of Richard 

Rodriguez: An Autobiography (Boston: D.R. 

Godine, 1982); Brown: The Last Discovery of 

America (New York: Viking Press, 2001).

71. Presentations at the Organization of 

American Historians Annual Meeting in 

Boston, MA, March 2004, “State of the 

Field: Latino/Latina History,” panelists 

included Gabriela F. Arrendondo, Nancy R. 

Mirabal, Adrian Burgos, Horacio N. Roque 

Ramirez, and Matthew J. Garcia.

72. Correspondence with Nicole M. Smith, 

Education/Outreach Program Director, San 

Juan Mountains Association, Durango, 

Colorado, January 5, 2005; Karen Thurman, 

“The Wooden Canvas: Documenting 

Historic Aspen Art Carving in Southwest 

Colorado,” in Heritage Matters: the News 

of the Nation’s Diverse Cultural Heritage

(November 2001): 5.

Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 35

Identifying and Documenting 

Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 

Through its cultural resources programs, the National Park 

Service has identified and formally recognized historic 

places associated with Hispanic cultural heritage. Hispanicinfluenced historic properties have been listed in the 

National Register of Historic Places, designated as National 

Historic Landmarks, and documented through the Historic 

American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering 

Record. This chapter provides a preliminary list of such 

historic places and summarizes their connection to 

Hispanic culture.

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s 

inventory of historic districts, sites, buildings, structures, 

and objects significant in American history, architecture, 

archeology, engineering, and culture at the national, state, 

and local levels. The National Register contains more than 

85,000 properties, with nearly 1.6 million contributing 

historic resources within those properties.

Lamesa Farm Workers Community 

Historic District 

Los Ybañez, Texas

The Federal Government created this farm workers 

community during the 1940s with the goal of centralizing the 

migrant labor industry in west Texas and improving living 

conditions for workers. As a self-contained living complex, 

the community offered shelter and amenities—such as 

indoor plumbing, electricity, and gas service—that were 

superior to typical housing facilities for migrant workers at 

the time. The planned community, which included living 

quarters, recreational areas and buildings, and small stores, 

also provided Mexican families opportunities to maintain 

social and cultural traditions.1

The demand for migrant workers to harvest cotton crops 

in west Texas during the early part of the 20th century 

coincided with the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution (1910-

1920) and lack of work in Mexico. It created a situation in 

which Mexican migrant agricultural workers had little to no 

protection against exploitation and substandard working 

and living conditions. At the formal request of the local 
36 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

government, the Farm Security Administration built and 

operated the workers’ community in Lamesa. From 1942 

to the early 1960s, the community housed Mexican 

families working in Texas through the federal Bracero 

Program, designed to provide agricultural workers on 

short-term contracts.2

Local entertainment was aimed at the Spanish-speaking 

workers. By 1955, two Spanish-language theaters were 

operating and a nearby drive-in showed films in Spanish. 

The Lamesa Chamber of Commerce sponsored Mexican 

festivals and holiday celebrations, including Mexican 

Independence Day (September 16). The local Catholic 

church provided separate parishes for Hispanics and 

Anglos and, in 1949, established Our Lady of Guadalupe 

church for Mexican residents. The community continues 

to provide low-income housing to predominantly Hispanic 

families through private ownership.

The Lamesa Farm Workers 

Community was a federallysponsored project to improve 

the living conditions for migrant 

workers. The community 

offered comfortable housing 

with recreation areas and 

buildings as well as a church. 

Courtesy of Don Abbe.
Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 37

The Sculptures of Dionicio Rodríguez at Memorial

Park Cemetery 

Memphis, Tennessee

The Mexican-born sculptor, Dionicio Rodríguez (1891?-1955), 

is known for his work in reinforced and tinted concrete 

for outdoor structures. He developed his technique 

from Mexican traditions. El trabajo rustico (Spanish for 

rustic work) or faux bois (French for false wood) was a 

technique popular from the late 19th century through the 

1940s. According to the National Register nomination for 

Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, Rodriguez 

was considered to be the most skilled practitioner of this 

style of sculpture.3

 He created many outdoor sculptures 

and park structures, such as footbridges and gates, 

commissioned by patrons in Arkansas, Maryland, Michigan, 

New Mexico, and Texas. 

In Memphis’ Memorial Park, numerous sculptures 

created over a period of eight years (1935-1943) are 

integrated throughout the landscape. The artworks were 

commissioned by the park’s owner, E. Clovis Hinds, to 

create a setting with biblical and legendary themes and 

include a crystal-embedded grotto. The sculptures are 

significant for representing the artwork of a 20th-century 

Mexican American sculptor, which are uniquely displayed at 

Memorial Park as an integrated landscape.4

Teatro La Paz/Xochil Art and Culture Center 

Mission, Texas

Opened in 1915, Teatro La Paz was an early 20th century 

cultural center that screened Mexican films and hosted 

visiting entertainers, scholars, and politicians. It is located 

in the city of Mission, known for its production of ruby red 

grapefruit. Mission attracted Anglo Midwestern farmers, 

native-born descendants of Spanish settlers, and new 

immigrants from bordering Mexico. During the first half 

of the 20th century, the town was segregated, with separate 

facilities for Mexicans and Anglos. Juan Bautista Barbéra, 

a bricklayer from Spain, bought adjacent lots and built 

the theater between 1912 and 1915. Teatro La Paz was the 

only theater in Mission catering to the Spanish-speaking 

community, providing it with entertainment from traveling 

artists and performers from Spain and Mexico. Dignitaries 

and political figures associated with the Mexican Revolution 

spoke to Hispanic audiences from the theater’s stage. Teatro 

Dionicio Rodríguez was 

considered a master of the 

el trabajo rustico or faux bois 

technique of sculpting concrete 

to look like wood and other 

natural objects. His works in the 

United States reside at parks in 

Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, 

Maryland, and Michigan. The 

bridge and footbridge are located 

within Memorial Park Cemetery 

in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Courtesy of Clay Smythe.
38 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

La Paz was an integral part of the Borderland culture of

the region, until the Depression of the 1930s, when the 

building was used in relief efforts to assist the poorest in 

the community. 

In 1945, a new owner, Enrique Flores, refurbished the theater 

to show Spanish language films and host live entertainment, 

and changed the name to the Rio Theater. It continued 

to serve the Spanish-speaking community until it closed 

in 1969. In 1976, the building was revived by Flores’ son, 

Enrique Jr., as the Xochil Art and Culture Center, one of the 

earliest Chicano art centers in Texas. The art center served 

as a lively exhibition and theater space for Chicano and 

Latino artists during the 1970s and 1980s.5

The style of the building reflects the Spanish Colonial 

heritage of the area. Constructed of brick made in nearby 

Madero, it is ornamented with Mission and Spanish Colonial 

Revival details. Two commercial block buildings were added 

to either side of the theater building in 1933. The complex 

housed a café, pharmacy, and bowling alley. The Teatro La 

Paz/Xochil Art and Culture Center represents the bicultural 

character of a community with a rich history and culture in 

the Lower Rio Grande Valley.6

The Teatro La Paz/Xochil 

Art and Culture Center was 

originally built for Spanishlanguage entertainment 

performances and traveling 

speakers in the Lower Rio 

Grande Valley. Later, the theater 

became a cultural center for the 

area’s Hispanic community. 

Courtesy of Terri Myers.
Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 39

Casa Amadeo, Antigua Casa Hernández 

New York, New York

Casa Amadeo represents a significant part of the migrant 

story of Puerto Ricans in the 20th century and the Latin 

musical traditions that developed in New York City. 

Recognized as the oldest Puerto Rican-owned music store in 

the city of New York, the store opened in the Bronx in 1941 

and originally was named Casa Hernández for the owner, 

Victoria Hernández. She had moved to New York City in 

1919 with her family, including her brothers, the prolific and 

well-known composer Rafael Hernández and practicing 

musician Jesús Hernández. The Hernández siblings would 

become accomplished musicians and important figures in 

the burgeoning Latin music scene.

Latin music stores played an important role in the 

dissemination of Latin music in the United States from 

the 1920s to the early 1960s. Rhythms and styles known 

as charanga, cha-cha-chá, and mambo, for instance, were 

played by live orchestras or in recording sessions for new 

records. Band leaders and record companies looked to 

Latin instrumentalists and frequently used the music stores 

as middlemen.7

 The music appealed to the Puerto Rican 

community, which made up 41 percent of the city’s Latino 

population at the time that Victoria Hernández opened her 

second music store in the Bronx.8

Casa Amadeo (the store was sold to musician Mike Amadeo 

in 1969) is located in the Manhanset apartment building 

(1905), which is significant as an example of early 20th century 

residential and commercial architecture in the city. The 

Renaissance Revival apartment building with commercial 

storefronts retains the architectural style of the period, 

having survived the redevelopment of the Bronx in the 1970s 

and 1980s. 

Trujillo Homestead 

Mosca vicinity, Colorado

The Trujillo Homestead is representative of the tense 

relations between the small Hispanic-owned family ranches 

and the larger American-owned cattle ranches. Pedro 

Trujillo was born in Taos, New Mexico, in 1866. He and his 

father, Teófilo, a cattle and sheep rancher, moved to San Luis 

Valley as part of a wave of New Mexican settlers arriving 

in southern Colorado during the 1850s and 1860s. San Luis 

At the center of Puerto Rican 

musical culture in New York, 

Casa Amadeo helped the 

community maintain its cultural 

connection to the island. 

Courtesy of the National Register 

of Historic Places.
40 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

was the first permanent settlement in what was to become 

Colorado and the last grant of the Mexican government 

before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.9

 At the age of 

13, Trujillo settled a 160-acre tract on his own. Tensions 

between cattle ranchers and sheep ranchers over grazing 

lands throughout southern Colorado split along ethnic 

lines.10 Hispanic and Basque shepherds (from the Basque 

region of northern Spain) competed with the Anglo cattle 

ranchers for the lands, but were outnumbered. 

The homestead stands out for its less traditional 

construction as a two-story log house instead of adobe, 

which was more typical of cattle ranches in the San Luis 

Valley region in the late 19th century. Unlike other Hispanic 

ranchers, Pedro chose to build a home similar to Anglo 

American ranchers and farmers.11 He used square-hewn, 

notched logs with daub to fill in the gaps. He raised cattle, 

horses, hay, and vegetables on his ranch; became a deputy 

sheriff; and was credited with being one of the leaders in 

shaping the development of the San Luis Valley. The Trujillo 

Homestead is representative of small-scale pioneer cattle 

enterprises that typified the early ranches in the region. It 

also highlights the hostility and violence toward Hispanic 

sheep herders during that time period. 

The Trujillo Homestead dates 

from the late 1800s and is 

associated with the earliest 

generations of HispanicAmerican ranchers in Colorado. 

Courtesy of Thomas H. Simmons, 

Nature Conservancy.
Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 41

Santa Fe Hotel

Fresno, California

The Santa Fe Hotel in Fresno, California, was a home away 

from home for Basque shepherds and their families. 

Basques are an ethnic minority from the Pyrenees region 

bordering Spain and France. The first known Basques 

to come to North America arrived with Christopher 

Columbus and were renowned as seafarers. Many served 

as highly-placed colonial administrators in Spain’s Western 

Hemisphere holdings, particularly in South America. Later, 

Basque administrators and monks founded missions in 

California, but significant immigration from the Basque 

region of Spain to the United States did not take place in 

earnest until the mid-19th century, with the discovery of gold. 

This movement from South America to the North American 

west highlights a pattern of secondary migration within the 

Hispanic Diaspora. 

Basques became synonymous with sheep herding in the 

United States. However the skills were developed in 

South America, in places such as Argentina.12 Their use of 

transhumance sheep herding techniques—moving sheep 

to high country in the summer and low-lying valleys in the 

winter—defined the sheep herding industry well into the 20th

century. The nature of transhumance herding essentially 

meant that many of the shepherds had nowhere to call 

home.13 Basque hotels began to appear throughout Idaho, 

Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and California, and catered 

to the herders and their families, serving as mail stops, 

interpreters, and intermediaries for business transactions. 

Some shepherds only spoke Basque; many spoke Spanish, 

but few spoke English, and they depended on the assistance 

of the hotel staff.

The Santa Fe Hotel served as a critical link between the 

Basque community and acculturation to the wider American 

society. The Renaissance-Revival style hotel was owned 

by Martin Dologaray, who acquired the Fresno hotel in 

1926. The place became known as the “Sheep Camp Hotel,” 

because it was frequently the first stop of the Basque 

shepherds once arriving in Fresno. Dologaray’s hotel was 

many things to the community: a place of leisure for those 

wintering, a hospital for the injured, even a boarding home 

for the children of the sheep herders during the school year. 

As with other Hispanic immigrant communities, Basques 
42 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

depended on the networks of fellow Basque nationals within 

the greater Hispanic culture.14 The Basque role in the story 

of Spanish North America is little known, but places such as 

the Santa Fe Hotel provide a rich opportunity to explore 

the topic. 

The Santa Fe Hotel was a 

home away from home for 

Basque shepherds and their 

families off-season, a place to 

meet with fellow countrymen, 

and a gateway to the larger 

community in Fresno. 

Courtesy of Wanda LeSpade.

National Historic Landmarks

Designated by the Secretary of the Interior, National 

Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic 

places because they possess exceptional value or quality 

in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United 

States. Fewer than 2,500 historic places currently bear

this distinction.

Freedom Tower 

Miami, Florida

Freedom Tower, also known as the Cuban Assistance 

Center or “El Refugio,” became the symbol of a new home 

for Cubans immigrating to the United States following the 

ascension of Fidel Castro to power in 1959. By 1962, the need 

for a processing center for Cuban immigrants was apparent.15 

Formerly the home of the Miami Daily News and Metropolis

newspaper starting in 1925 to 1957, the building’s first four 

floors were used as a Federal Government refugee processing 

center from 1962 to 1974. Freedom Tower provided assistance 

to over 450,000 Cubans.

The Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 offered 

an opportunity to Cubans seeking political asylum. Freedom 

Tower became a physical manifestation of the Cold War 

politics and its impact on immigration policies.16 As a 
Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 43

result, Cuban immigration to the U.S. during this period 

transformed Miami and South Florida. What had been 

a minor Hispanic presence (Cubans and other Hispanics 

were already familiar with Miami) became a sizable one. 

Cubans added an artistic and cultural richness and diversity 

to the region.17 In its role as the home to the Cuban Refugee 

Emergency Center, Freedom Tower helped transform the 

demographics of Miami and the region. Today, Freedom 

Tower is under the stewardship of Miami Dade College.

The 283-foot Freedom Tower is an impressive presence 

on the Miami skyline. The building is Mediterranean 

Revival style, detailed with Spanish Baroque treatments, 

and inspired by the Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain. The 

designers, the New York architectural firm Leonard Schultze 

and S. Fullerton Weaver, also designed the Seville-inspired 

Biltmore in Havana, Cuba. Its interior reflects Florida’s role 

in the “new world” the Spanish explored during the 16th

century. In the lobby entrance, a mural of an antique map 

of the Western Hemisphere is prominent. Tiles from Spain 

and Cuba, as well as South America and Africa, decorate the 

lobby. The building is considered a premiere example of the 

adaptation of the Spanish Colonial architecture known as 

Mediterranean Revival, particular to South Florida. 

Ybor City Historic District

Tampa, Florida

Because of the popularity of tobacco in Europe, tobacco 

cultivation in North America and the Caribbean exploded 

during the 16th century.18 Cuba was and is a large producer of 

tobacco and became renowned for the production of cigars. 

United States tariffs on the importation of Cuban cigars, as 

well as liberation efforts in Cuba from 1868-1878, known as 

the Ten Years’ War, led some Cuban cigar factory owners to 

relocate operations to the U.S. 

Established in 1886, Ybor City is significant in Spanish- and 

Cuban-American immigration history. Founded by Cuban 

Vincente Marítnez Ybor, Ybor City started as a company 

town for cigar making. Located about two miles outside of 

Tampa, the factory provided subsidized housing for workers, 

as well as a secure location away from the instability in 

Cuba.19 The district is also important in American industrial 

history because it contained the largest collection of 

buildings related to the cigar industry in America and 

Listed in the National Register 

in 1979 and designated a 

National Historic Landmark 

in 2008, the Freedom Tower 

represents a place of refuge 

for Cuban immigrants to the 

United States from 1962 to 

1974. 

Courtesy of Ellen J. Uguccioni.
44 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

possibly the world. In addition to factories, the district’s 

buildings include workers’ housing; ethnic clubs organized 

by Ybor City’s population, which included Italians and 

Germans as well as Cubans and Spaniards; and commercial 

buildings that served the community. 

Historically, Ybor City was a rare multi-ethnic and multiracial industrial community in the South and is illustrative 

of manifold dimensions in the nation’s history of ethnic and 

race relations.

Historic American Buildings Survey

The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documents 

important architectural properties throughout the United 

States and its territories. The program is an integral 

component of the Federal Government’s commitment to 

historic preservation. HABS documentation, consisting 

of measured drawings, large-format photographs, and 

written history, plays a key role in accomplishing the mission 

of creating an archive of American architecture. HABS 

documentation provides a better understanding of what 

historic resources reveal about America’s diverse ethnic and 

cultural heritage.

Mission Dolores

San Francisco, California (HABS)

Also known as Mission San Francisco de Asís, Mission 

Dolores was founded by Father Francisco Palou and built 

from 1782-1791. The name Dolores comes from a nearby 

creek discovered on Viernes de dolores (Friday of Sadness, 

the Friday before Palm Sunday) and subsequently named 

Arroyo de los dolores. A temporary structure was built 

immediately, but the cornerstone for the permanent church 

was dedicated April 3, 1782. 

Gaspar Portola’s first exploration party originally 

“discovered” San Francisco in 1769. While located in one 

of the most densely populated areas of American Indian 

habitation in North America, the site was uninhabited by 

Europeans until the arrival of Juan Bautista de Anza and 

his expedition party in 1776.20 Anza’s party confirmed that 

San Francisco Bay was a viable port and immediately went 

about establishing a Spanish presence with the founding of a 

mission and a presidio.21

Founded by Spanish and Cuban 

cigar manufacturers, Ybor 

City exhibits Spanish Colonial 

architecture and planning 

within its industrial core. 

Courtesy of Gary Engelhardt.
Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 45

The mission is the oldest building in San Francisco and is 

still used as a church. According to HABS documentation, 

the church is the only remaining original structure of 

the mission. The mission is notable for the paintings by 

Miwok Indians, Indian workmanship in the structure’s 

roof tiles, and a securing system of wooden pegs and 

rawhide instead of nails. Made of adobe and covered in 

plaster and stucco, the building exhibits the melding of 

traditional Indian construction materials and Spanish 

Colonial architectural form.

Mission Dolores in San Francisco 

retains many characteristics 

from its initial construction, 

including art and architectural 

techniques of the Indian 

workers. 

Courtesy of Prints and Photographs 

Division, Historic American Buildings 

Survey, Library of Congress.

Historic American Engineering Record

The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) 

documents important engineering and industrial 

sites throughout the United States and its territories. 

The program is an integral component of the Federal 

Government’s commitment to historic preservation. HAER 

documentation, consisting of measured drawings, largeformat photographs, and written history plays a key role 

in accomplishing the mission of creating an archive of 

American engineering. HAER documentation provides a 

better understanding of what historic resources tell about 

America’s diverse ethnic and cultural heritage.
46 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

California Citrus Heritage Recording Project

Riverside, California (HAER)

The city of Riverside is intimately tied to Hispanic 

settlement because the growth of the area’s citrus industry 

largely depended upon Mexican immigrant labor during 

the 20th century. Riverside is recognized as the birthplace 

of the navel orange industry in southern California. A 

team of architects and historians from HAER identified 

and documented several significant historical features of 

the citrus-dominated landscape of Riverside, California, 

including the Gage Irrigation Canal. Completed in 1888, 

the 20-mile Gage Irrigation Canal from the Santa Ana River 

near San Bernardino to Arlington Heights provided a 

steady and reliable source of water that doubled the citrus 

production in the area.

The citrus industry in the 

Riverside area and the 

landscape is unique to southern 

California. The engineering 

technology, such as the Gage 

Irrigation Canal led the Historic 

American Engineering Record to 

undertake the California Citrus 

Recording Project. 

Courtesy of Prints and 

Photographs Division, Historic 

American Engineering Record, 

Library of Congress.

In the 18th century and through the early 19th century, the 

area that included Riverside was overseen by Mission San 

Gabriel near Los Angeles. Although citrus groves had been 

an active part of Mission San Gabriel, cattle ranching for 

hides and tallow dominated the Riverside area until the 

1870s. After mission governance ended, the lands passed 

through several hands, and continued as a thriving cattle 

ranch business until the devastating drought of 1863-65. The 

Gage Irrigation Canal created a boom in the citrus industry, 

which relied on immigrant labor to thrive.
Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 47

The shifting sources of labor created a pattern of ethnic 

concentrations throughout the region. While the citrus 

industry initially relied on American Indians, then Chinese 

and Japanese laborers, Mexican and Mexican Americans 

became the dominant source of labor in the groves and 

packing houses after 1914. Mexican and Mexican American 

families settled in the region, forming communities near 

their work. Women became the major source of labor in the 

packing houses.22

Today, the California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside 

includes 186 acres of citrus groves managed by a nonprofit 

company and maintains historic components of the citrus 

produce community. The purpose of the HAER project 

was to document the impact of the citrus industry on the 

region. In the process, it illuminated the role of the Mexican 

population in the development of a cultural landscape 

unique to California. 

Conclusion

Hispanic culture has deeply influenced the cultural 

landscape of southwestern and western United States. 

However, in the eastern United States the role of Hispanic 

culture outside of a few enclaves is less apparent. 

Government agencies and private institutions should 

increase efforts to record the cultural heritage of Hispanic 

communities so that these “landscapes of experience,” as 

Dell Upton calls them, can be commemorated.23 

The growing number of Hispanics in the country suggests 

that greater attention should be devoted to their cultural 

heritage. With emerging scholarship on the role of 

Hispanics in the labor movement, sites such as Lamasa 

Farm Workers Community should receive attention and 

documentation efforts. Already Cornell University is 

recording statistical and sociological information about 

the burgeoning number of migrant workers in the eastern 

U.S. and presented an exhibit on the topic, “Coming up on 

the Season: Migrant Farmworkers in the Northeast.”24 As 

Hispanic communities in cities such as Miami and Tampa 

exert greater political power, more sites related to their 

stories will likely be identified and documented. 
48 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

1. National Register of Historic Places, 

Lamesa Farm Workers Community, Los 

Ybañez, Dawson County, Texas, National 

Register #93000771.

2. As a result of the need for cheaper temporary 

labor in agriculture during World War II, the 

United States established an agreement with 

Mexico allowing migrant Mexican workers 

into the country as needed. National 

Register of Historic Places, Lamesa Farm 

Workers Community.

3. This style of sculpture has roots in Mexico 

and the use of rustic landscape features was 

popular in the late 19th century. While 

descriptions of the technique found in 

contemporary books indicate that the pieces 

were created by using molds, Rodriguez 

shaped his sculptures by hand. National 

Register of Historic Places, The Sculptures 

of Dionicio Rodríguez at Memorial Park 

Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, 

Tennessee, National Register #90001867. 

4. National Register, The Sculptures of Dionicio 

Rodríguez at Memorial Park Cemetery.

5. See discussion of the center in “Xochil Art 

and Culture Center” at the Handbook of 

Texas Online at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/

handbook/online/articles/XX/klx1.html, 

accessed March 22, 2007.

6. Because of its location near the Rio Grande, 

proximity to a neighboring military base, 

and easy access to South Padre Island, the 

city of Mission has been a place of interaction 

for the Mexican and Anglo communities. 

National Register of Historic Places, 

Mission, Hidalgo County Multiple Property 

Survey, Teatro La Paz, National Register 

#02000908.

7. National Register of Historic Places, Casa 

Amadeo, Antigua Casa Hernández, New York 

City, Bronx County, New York, National 

Register #01000244.

8. Victoria Hernandez previously owned 

another record store, Almancenes Hernandez from 1927-1939. The store was sold and 

the subsequent business folded. Juan L. 

Gonzales, Jr., Racial and Ethnic Groups in 

America, 5th Edition, (Dubuque, IA: Kendall 

Publishing, 2003), 262-264; National 

Register of Historic Places, Casa Amadeo, 

Antigua Casa Hernández.

9. Harry Hansen, ed., American Guide Series: 

Colorado, Guide to the Highest State, revised 

edition. (New York: Hasting House 

Publishers, 1970), 36.

10. The Colorado Historical Society’s interview 

files document the on-going conflict 

between shepherds and cattle ranchers. See 

“Western Trails #3000065: Transcript of an 

interview with Reginaldo Garcia of Conejos 

County, Colorado, talking about sheep 

ranching, Mexican livestock brands, and 

livestock thieves,” at the Colorado Historical 

Society website, http://192.70.175.134/

westerntrails/30000065%5F1.htm, accessed 

March 22, 2007.

11. According to the National Register nomination, Pedro clashed with his father over the 

father’s choice to raise sheep in what had 

been considered cattle country. Pedro’s 

choice of housing type and livestock could 

be interpreted as defiance of his father or as 

identifying with his future interest as an 

American, not a Mexican settler. See 

National Register of Historic Places, Trujillo 

Homestead, Mosca vicinity, Alamosa County, 

Colorado, National Register #03001544. 

12. Many immigrants from the Pyrenees did not 

have extensive backgrounds in shepherding. 

Some of the young Basque men who arrived 

in the U.S. learned their trade in South 

America and came to the U.S. as the demand 

for shepherds increased during the late 19th

century. Their familiarity with livestock, 

plus strong work ethic and desire for financial 

betterment, led them to live a Spartan lifestyle as shepherds. See Lisa Carricaburu, 

“Basques in Utah,” in Utah History 

Encyclopedia, at http://www.media.utah.

edu/UHE/b/BASQUES.html, accessed June 

4, 2007; William A. Douglass, “Basque 

Endnotes
Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 49

Sheepherding,” in Americanauk! Basques in 

the High Desert, at http://www.sde.state.id.

us/instruct/docs/international/

BasqueSheepherding.pdf, accessed June 4, 

2007; Elizabeth Shostak, “Basque Americans” 

in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, 

3 volumes, ed. Jeffery Lehman, volume 1 

(Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 2000).

13. The practice of transhumance—the leading 

of livestock to high mountains during 

summer months—required areas with high 

desert and wide swaths of fertile grazing 

pasture. The Intermountain West region 

of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the San 

Juan Mountains, the Cascades, and Rocky 

Mountains to the east, were ideal for 

such practices. See Douglass, “Basque 

Sheepherding.” 

Basque shepherds left markings on the 

aspen trees in those mountainous areas, 

with dendroglyphs (tree carvings) of Basque 

imagery and Spanish phrases denoting their 

loneliness and isolation, as well as message 

boards to warn off cattle ranchers, with 

whom shepherds were competing with for 

grazing land.

14. The role of regional or national network 

connections to establish one’s self in the U.S. 

played an important role in the Hispanic 

immigrant story. The first person from a 

town or region to settle in a new country 

served as a padrino or “godfather,” 

establishing a point of contact for others 

from the town. The padrino helped find 

housing and employment, while serving as a 

connection to home. This is a common 

practice among many immigrant groups. 

For other examples among Hispanics, see 

Norma Stolz Chincilla and Nora Hamilton, 

“Central American Immigrants: Diverse 

Populations, Changing Communities,” in 

The Columbia History of Latinos in the United 

States Since 1960, ed. David G. Guitiérrez 

(New York: Columbia University Press, 

2004), 191-193; National Register of Historic 

Places, Santa Fe Hotel, Fresno County, CA, 

91000287.

15. The sheer numbers of people coming from 

Cuba into South Florida overwhelmed state, 

local, private, and public institutions’ ability 

to handle them. Florida Governor Leroy 

Collins decided to involve the Federal 

Government. In 1960, $1 million of disaster 

relief was provided by President Eisenhower. 

By the time President John Kennedy signed 

the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 

1962, 1,500-2,000 people a day were entering 

the country from Cuba and 215,000 Cuban 

émigrés were living in the U.S., primarily in 

South Florida. Only 14 staff members 

processed refugees. See “Old News Tower 

Leased for Cuban Refugees” Miami Daily 

News, April 19, 1962, 1; National Historic 

Landmarks Survey, Freedom Tower, prepared by Ellen J. Uguccioni for the Florida 

Division of Historical Resources, January 7, 

2004, May 2007 (revised); Alex Antón and 

Roger E. Hernandez, Cubans in America: A 

Vibrant History of a People in Exile (New 

York: Kensington Publishing Co., 2002), 

145-165.

16. Cuban immigration to the U.S. symbolized 

in the ideological struggle between democracy and communism. The extraordinary 

immigration policy, begun under Eisenhower 

and going through Nixon provided the U.S. 

an opportunity to showcase its inclusivity by 

providing aid and shelter to those forced out 

by the Communist-backed Castro regime. 

See National Historic Landmarks Survey, 

Freedom Tower, 12-13.

17. More than one-half of all people of Cubandescent in the country live in Miami-Dade 

County. Ironically, one of the purposes of 

the center was to relocate emigrants to other 

cities across the nation, such as Philadelphia, 

New York, and Los Angeles. See National 

Register of Historic Places, Miami Daily 

News, Miami, Dade County, Florida, National Register # 7900065; Betsy Guzmán, 

“The Hispanic Population Census 2000 

Brief,” U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. 

Census Bureau, 2001.

18. The role of tobacco in the economic 

development of the Americas has been well 

documented. It was a leading reason for the 
50 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

international territorial rivalries of the 

European powers during the 16th and 17th

centuries. Tonnage of tobacco leaves were 

worth their weight in silver, if not gold. The 

establishment of African slavery in the 

Western Hemisphere is linked in part to the 

cultivation of tobacco for European markets. 

For detailed discussions on tobacco in the 

“new world,” see Alfred W. Crosby, Jr., The 

Columbian Exchange: The Biological and 

Social Consequences of 1492 (Westport, CT: 

Greenwood Press, 1972); Jordan Goodman, 

Tobacco in History: The Cultures of 

Dependence (London: Routledge Press, 

1994); and Alan Kulikoff, Tobacco and Slaves: 

The Development of Southern Cultures in the 

Chesapeake, 1680-1800 (Chapel Hill: 

University of North Carolina Press, 1986).

19. The Cuban War of Independence was 

tumultuous for many. Vincente Ybor was 

pro-independence and was at odds with the 

government. He fled Cuba for Key West in 

1869 and opened a cigar factory. Key West 

was close enough to Cuba to take advantage 

of the tobacco, without the political troubles 

and tariffs enforced by the U.S., but labor 

issues and the inaccessibility (the island was 

only reachable by ship at the time) forced 

many Cuban cigar manufacturers to find 

other locations. After conversations with 

two other Spaniards, Gavin Gutiérrez and 

Ignacio Haya, a cigar manufacturer in New 

York, Ybor and Haya built cigar factories 

outside of Tampa, which had easy access 

via train and port, fresh water, and the 

necessary humidity for cigar manufacturing. 

See Antón and Hernández, Cubans in America: A Vibrant History of a People in Exile, 

79-81; “Ybor City, Cigar Capital of the 

World,” at Teaching with Historic Places, 

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/

lessons/51ybor/51Ybor.htm, accessed March 

27, 2007.

20. According to North American Indians: A 

Comprehensive Account, Central California, 

which encompasses the San Francisco Bay 

area, held the densest Indian population 

in California, which held the densest 

population of Indians in the U.S. portion of 

North America. Miwok, Pomo, and 

Costanoans inhabited the areas surrounding 

the bay. See Alice B. Kehoe, North American 

Indians: A Comprehensive Account, second 

edition (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice 

Hall, 1992), 401-403.

The Anza expedition blazed a trail from 

Sonora, Mexico to Monterey, California that 

became the preferred route for travel to Alta 

California. For a brief discussion of Anza’s 

trek, see Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod, 

eds. Encyclopedia of the American West, 

volume 1 (New York: Simon & Shuster, 

1996), 48.

21. Spanish settlement was a tripartite system 

of missions, presidios, and pueblos that 

characterized the Spanish presence in a 

region. The missions set about converting 

the indigenous peoples and securing labor; 

the presidios provided protection and a 

ready force to launch an exploration or 

military offensive; the pueblos were for 

settlers, providing loyal subjects to support 

the Crown’s interests and provide the militia 

and clergy with provisions.

22. See Historic American Engineering Record, 

California Citrus Heritage Recording Project, 

HAER No. CA-118. (1991).

23. The National Park Service’s “Cultural 

Heritage Needs Assessment: Phase I, Draft,” 

includes interviews with African American, 

Mexican American, and Filipino American 

preservation activists across the country 

about what was needed to recognize and 

preserve their heritage. While all agreed 

that more national recognition was 

desirable, there was a consensus that some 

form of community commemoration is 

needed to mitigate the loss or lack of 

historic fabric. Historic markers, plaques, 

and art work were offered as physical 

commemorations of cultural heritage. 

Author Ned Kaufman cites examples from 

cities such as Pittsburgh, PA; Savannah, GA; 

and Jackson, MS. The state of Pennsylvania 

is developing an idea called “conservation 

districts” for areas that are acknowledged to 

be historically significance without the 
Identifying and Documenting Hispanic Heritage at Historic Places 51

requisite age or level of historic or physical 

integrity. “Cultural Heritage Needs Assessment: Phase I, Draft, April 8, 2004,” prepared by Ned Kaufman (Washington, DC: 

Department of the Interior, National Park 

Service).

The Upton quote can be found in Dell 

Upton, America’s Architectural Roots: Ethnic 

Groups That Built America, (Washington, 

DC: Preservation Press, 1986), 10.

24. “Coming Up on the Season” was developed 

by the Cornell University Farmworker 

Program, New York State Council on the 

Arts, and the National Endowment of the 

Arts as a bilingual, traveling exhibit on the 

migrant labor behind the produce on market 

shelves. Based on five years of research and 

photography, the exhibit highlights the 

people (overwhelmingly Mexican) and 

technology used by the migrants to harvest 

foods in the Northeast. The program has 

also produced a fact sheet on farm workers 

in the U.S. See “Facts on Farmworkers in the 

United States,” prepared by Coming Up 

On the Season, Cornell University Farmworker Program, produced by Media and 

Technology Services at Cornell University, 

January 2001. 

Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 53

Interpreting Hispanic Culture at 

Historic Sites

The unique nature of Hispanic ethnicity and its impact on 

the development of the United States presents opportunities 

and challenges for interpretive programs. Hispanic 

heritage can be traced in nearly every state in the nation, 

and administrators of historic sites across the nation 

are increasing their interpretation of this heritage. The 

following examples represent some of the stories of Hispanic 

culture in the U.S. With the influx of more Hispanics each 

year to more states, the range of potential interpretative 

efforts will grow.

Hispanic Heroes: National Monuments to

Great Liberators,

Washington, DC

The United States and the countries of Central, North, 

and South America have a strong connection in the fight 

for freedom and liberty. Generations of Spanish creoles 

living on the Spanish frontiers in the Americas found 

themselves increasingly isolated from Spain. Criollos, 

or those of Spanish descent born in the colonies, were in 

conflict with the pennisulares, Spanish-born magistrates 

and administrators living in the “new world” colonies. 

The Spanish caste system was such that only Iberian-born 

citizens held the highest positions in the colonies. An 

increasingly mixed-race group of people, called mestizos, 

were dissatisfied with this situation. As a result of the Wars 

of Independence in Central and South America between 1808 

and 1826, all of Spain’s holdings in the Americas, except for 

Cuba and Puerto Rico, became independent.1

The Spanish colonies in the Western Hemisphere were 

inspired by the American Revolution (1775-1783). The 

establishment of republican ideals in the Americas fostered 

a sense of camaraderie between the various nations. As 

Central and South American countries looked to the United 

States for inspiration, they also sought to learn the lessons 

of incorporating disparate peoples into a common nation. 

The nations viewed their common ancestries—biological, 

linguistic, and cultural—as a reason to work together rather 

than separately within the region.2

 The inclusion of Indians, 

mestizos, and Africans into the matrices of nationhood 

was critical to success. All of these forces played a part in 
54 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

The connection between the 

United States and the countries 

that make up Latin America 

is highlighted through the 

brochure, “Hispanic Heroes: 

National Monuments to Great 

Liberators.” 

Courtesy of National Park Service.

the creation of a national identity and sowed the seeds of 

latinidad or a pan-Hispanic view of the region. 

Located along Virginia Avenue, NW, near the National 

Mall in Washington, DC, statues of Símon Bolivar, José de 

San Martin, Benito Pablo Juárez, José Gervasio Artigas, 

and Bernardo de Gálvez celebrate the role of Spanish 

and Indian descendents in the liberation movements of 

Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, 

Uruguay, and Venezuela.3

 The statues were erected in the 

city’s monumental core between 1925 and 1976. In 1995, the 

National Park Service produced a brochure highlighting the 

significance of the statues. 

Printed in both English and Spanish, the brochure notes the 

connections between the Latin American nations and the 

U.S. through shared republican ideals, as well as a common 

history.4

 The brochure serves to illuminate Spanish and 

Indian heritage in a nation rapidly being changed by the 

increased presence of mestizo populations.

Los Adaes

Robeline, Louisiana

The typical view of Spanish missions places them heading 

westward from the Rio Grande River in Texas to northern 

California. However, dozens of missions, and the requisite 

presidios and pueblos, were established from the lower 

Carolinas to Louisiana during the early stages of Spanish 
Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 55

settlement of North America. Established in 1716 and moved 

to its current location in 1721, Mission San Miguel de los 

Adaes converted the Caddo Adai Indians to Catholicism, 

while the adjacent presidio (Nuestra Señora del Pilar 

los Adaes) was established to secure Spain’s East Texas 

(northwestern Louisiana) holdings against the French. 

Los Adaes represents the easternmost reaches of Spanish 

Southwest and is exemplary of the interconnected nature of 

missions, pueblos, and presidios in Spain’s colonization of 

North America. 

The presidio at Los Adaes in 

Robeline, Louisiana, reflects 

Spanish Colonial planning 

and local building materials. 

Drawing by Sergio Palleroni. 

Courtesy of Louisiana State 

Department of Parks.

Los Adaes served as the administrative capital of Spanish 

Texas from 1751-1770, with El Camino Real de los Tejas 

(the Royal Road) linking Mexico City to Los Adaes. In 

1762, Spain received all of France’s holdings west of the 

Mississippi River as payment for Spain’s cession of Florida to 

the British as a result of the Seven Years’ War (known as the 

French and Indian War in North America). Afterwards, the 

administration of East Texas moved to San Antonio in 1770. 

Although most Spanish citizens left, many with kinship 

ties to the region, known as Adaeseños, stayed behind. 

Northwest Louisiana’s link to the Hispanic Southwest 

continued into the 19th century, with Mexican Independence 

(1821) and when Texas joined the United States (1845). People 
56 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

traveled between the areas as the need increased for migrant 

laborers to cultivate cotton. The areas surrounding Los 

Adaes saw an influx of Mexican (and Central American) 

agricultural workers, reaffirming the area’s connection with 

Hispanic culture. 

The surrounding area has a mix of Hispanic, French, and 

American Indian cultures, which are interpreted at the 

Los Adaes State Historic Park. Los Adaes is featured in the 

National Park Service’s Cane River Travel Itinerary, noting 

the mixed heritage and ongoing connections to the previous 

inhabitants of the presidio and mission.5

 The Hispanic 

heritage of the site is prominently featured in the interpretive 

programs of the site. According to Raymond Bertholet, 

Chief of Interpretation,

At the Los Adaes . . . a major focal point of its 

mission is to interpret not only daily life and 

culture at the 18th century mission and presidio, 

but also to interpret how the 18th-century culture 

influenced the culture of the region today. A wide 

variety of programs [is] offered at Los Adaes that 

demonstrate how the Hispanic culture of the 

region came to be, including, but not limited to 

cooking demonstrations, such as tamale making,6

and programs relating to the Catholic culture of the 

region, particularly on feast days relating to the site 

such as Our Lady of Pilar Feast Day.”7

Recognizing the important contributions of other cultural 

groups, such as American Indians, Los Adaes also hosts 

events that bring the groups together to demonstrate cultural 

traditions. Los Adaes is one of three areas in Louisiana with 

a sizable Spanish-speaking population and represents one of 

the original centers of Hispanic heritage in the state.

Archaeology on the Border

The Naco, Arizona Point of Entry

http://www.nps.gov/history/naco/indexeng.htm

When the owners of Naco Border Station in Naco, Arizona, 

went about renovating the Pueblo Revival style buildings 

and expanding the facility in 1988, the archeological 

resources present on the site were recorded. The resulting 

archeological survey was developed into an interpretative 

brochure on the history of this border town, “Archaeology 
Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 57

on the Border: The Naco, Arizona Port of Entry.” 8 The 

brochure looks at the interdependent relationships of 

Mexico and the United States along the border. It is available 

through the Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC) of the 

National Park Service, which hosts a range of archeological 

surveys and related publications on its website. 

The town of Naco is actually two towns, one on each side of 

the U.S.-Mexican border.9

 Protected by U.S. Army troops 

(including Troop B, a.k.a. the Buffalo Soldiers), Naco, 

Arizona served as an observation platform for the U.S. to 

keep an eye on the conflict between the Mexican government 

and rebels. The town had many naturalized Mexican 

Americans who supported the rebels. The archeological 

artifacts included fragments of ammunition from battles 

related to the Mexican Revolution and Mexican ceramics 

dating from a later period found in midden (waste) sites, 

including finely decorated serving platters, decorative tiles, 

as well as common storage vessels. 

Positioned on the border 

of Arizona and Mexico, the 

Naco Border Station illustrates 

Hispanic heritage in its 

architecture and history. The 

building is located near the 

Camino Real from Sonora to 

Monterey, California, a heavily 

traveled route through the 20th

century. The site is associated 

with early battles of the 

Mexican Revolution and the 

international mining industry. 

Courtesy of James C. Wilson.
58 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

The borderland between the U.S. and Mexico is infused with 

the transnational nature of Hispanic heritage in the United 

States. Naco is of particular interest as a site of cultural 

confluence, with a population that is over 82% Mexicano. 

Separated by the border, the two Nacos sit near the route 

of the Camino Real from Sonora, Mexico, to Monterey, 

California, in a region with links to Coronado and Father 

Eusebio Kino, the Jesuit priest who established the original 

route from Sonora to Alta California. The two Nacos were 

linked via railroad for the copper mines in the area. Mining 

was a highly lucrative endeavor during the Spanish colonial 

period, which led to Hispanics working in mines all over the 

West.10 Later, both federal governments established custom 

houses in the two Nacos, and supporting governmental 

services became the primary economy for the towns. This 

remains true, as evidenced by its choice as the location of the 

1989 bicentennial celebration of the U.S. Customs Service. 

While not as storied as Ellis Island or Angel Island, the 

border station at Naco represents the shared Mexican and 

Anglo cultures along the border. The brochure and website 

underscore how archeological reports can interpret the role 

of small places in the larger historic context.

The Memorial Illumination at Palo Alto

Battlefield National Historic Site

Brownsville, Texas

On May 8, 1846, General Zachary Taylor and 2,300 United 

States troops clashed with Mexican General Mariano Arista 

and 3,300 of his troops at Palo Alto in the first major battle 

of the Mexican-American War. At issue was the disputed 

border between the two nations, based upon the claims 

of independence by the Republic of Texas.11 The battle 

illuminated the struggle of each young nation to define itself: 

Mexico, by the territory it governed while it was a colony 

of Spain; the U.S., in expanding its territorial reach to the 

end of the continent. At the end of the day, General Taylor’s 

troops controlled the field. By the war’s end, the U.S. nearly 

doubled its size, and 100,000 Mexicans immediately became 

American citizens.

Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site interprets the 

battle at Palo Alto—and the subsequent battle at Resaca 

de las Palmas—and is the only national park established to 

interpret the Mexican-American War. It contains a onehalf mile long interpretive trail with placards explaining 
Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 59

the battle and reasons for the war. The site addresses the 

sensitive matter of place and identity by recognizing that 

the Mexican American population “has always been here” 

and the region will always be a place of Hispanic heritage. 

Furthermore, the park’s interpretive efforts stress the fluidity 

of national borders historically and the border’s impact on 

the surrounding area.12

The paper bag lights represent 

the 8,000 soldiers on both sides 

who participated in the battles 

of Palo Alto and Resaca de las 

Palmas, at the 2005 Memorial 

Illumination at Resaca de la 

Palmas battlefield. 

Courtesy of John Scheiber.

Each year, the park hosts the Memorial Illumination 

ceremony to honor the 8,000 soldiers who participated 

in the battles at Palo Alto and Resaca de las Palmas and 

provides the park with an opportunity to address the shared 

heritage between the people of southern Texas and northern 

Mexico. Sponsors for the ceremony include the Brownsville 

Community Foundation, Matamoros (Mexico) Community 

Foundation (a member of the U.S.-Mexico Border 

Philanthropy Partnership), and other partners. The candles 

are lit by members of both communities, representing the 

ongoing connections between Mexico and the U.S.13
60 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Teaching with Historic Places: “The Forts of 

Old San Juan: Guardians of the Caribbean”

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/60sanjuan/

60sanjuan.htm

Any examination of Spain’s “new world” empire begins 

with its Caribbean holdings and Christopher Columbus’ 

explorations in 1492 and 1493. With those voyages and the 

subsequent discovery of gold, silver, and other precious 

metals and gems, European powers sent expeditions to the 

Western Hemisphere. Spain recognized the need to protect 

its holdings from other nations. It began setting up forts 

at locations throughout the Americas. The forts erected in 

Puerto Rico were the first and arguably the most important, 

due to the island’s position along the sailing routes to and 

from the Caribbean Sea. 

The National Park Service’s cultural resources program 

has developed over 100 classroom-ready lesson plans in 

its Teaching with Historic Places program. “The Forts of 

Old San Juan: Guardians of the Caribbean” highlights the 

Spanish efforts to protect its claims in the Americas, starting 

in Puerto Rico, and to establish settlement patterns that 

persisted throughout the Spanish period of dominance in 

the region. In essence, the development of Hispanic heritage 

in the Western Hemisphere was dependent upon the 250 

years of almost uninterrupted Spanish hegemony over the 

Americas, abetted by the defensive architecture of these 

forts. “The Guardians of the Caribbean” lesson plan states 

that the forts “provided the keystone to the protection of the 

Spanish Empire that spread across the Caribbean.”14

Puerto Rico was a key component of Spain’s presence in 

the Americas. While it was “discovered” by Columbus 

on his second voyage to the region in 1493, in actuality, 

Taíno Indians and other indigenous groups had inhabited 

the island of Bourinquén (the Carib Indian name for Puerto 

Rico) for 5,000 years.15 In time, Spain set up the forts to 

secure the island from external and internal threats. 16 

Spanish settlement, economic development, along with the 

eventual introduction of enslaved West Africans to Puerto 

Rico, established a blueprint for European settlement of 

Latin America.17

The forts, La Fortaleza, 

el Castillo de San Felipe 

del Morro (a.k.a. El 

Morro), and Castillo 

de San Cristóbal, are 

physical manifestations 

of Spanish control 

in the region and its 

relative frailty.
Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 61

As the lesson plan indicates, other colonies had more natural 

resources, but Puerto Rico’s strength as a colony was its 

location. The barrier island of San Juan was chosen for 

fortification because of its proximity to the Mona Passage, 

an inlet from the Atlantic Ocean. San Juan Harbor was able 

to accommodate the flotillas and galeones traveling through 

the passage to and from Spain. Due to the jagged reef on 

the ocean side and the craggy shoreline on the harbor, San 

Juan was easily defended, helping to repel opportunistic 

buccaneers from the other European powers, notably the 

English and the Dutch.18 The forts, La Fortaleza, el Castillo 

de San Felipe del Morro (a.k.a. El Morro), and Castillo de San 

Cristóbal, are physical manifestations of Spanish control in 

the region and its relative frailty.

El Castillo de San Felipe 

del Morro, or El Morro as 

it is more popularly known, 

protected the entrance to 

San Juan Harbor from the 

Atlantic Ocean. The imposing 

structure represents 250 

years of military architecture. 

Courtesy of Historic American 

Buildings Survey, Prints and 

Photographs Division, the Library 

of Congress.

The lesson plan uses maps, drawings, and historic narrative 

to outline the significance of San Juan and Puerto Rico to 

Spanish control over the region for 250 years. “Guardians 

of the Caribbean” discusses the reasons why San Juan 

became so heavily fortified, which include the history of 

external attacks that led to the evolution of the defensive 

system and the technologies developed by Spain for its 

Caribbean holdings. The forts withstood attacks from the 

Caribs, the British, the Dutch, and the French. Each attack 

and subsequent improvement of the forts further imprinted 

Spanish culture on the landscape. Because San Juan sits 

on a barrier island disconnected from the island of Puerto 
62 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Rico, construction methods and materials are hybrids of 

the known military architecture of the period. In that way, 

they are unique to the Caribbean, melding materials and 

technologies to create a singular achievement.19 The lesson 

plan also recognizes these forts as some of the earliest 

permanent examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the 

Western Hemisphere.20 

The largest Spanish fortification 

in the Americas at 27 square 

acres, Castillo de San Cristóbal, 

along with La Fortaleza and El 

Morro, made San Juan one of 

the most highly fortified cities in 

the world. 

Courtesy of National Park Service.

La Fortaleza was the first fort built by Spain, from 1533 to 

1540. While it quickly became apparent that the location 

for the fort was not ideal for the defense of the island, it 

became the traditional home of the governors of Puerto 

Rico, beginning in 1570.21 It was succeeded by El Morro, 

erected in 1539, at the entrance to San Juan Bay from the 

Atlantic Ocean, it was a better point of defense for the island. 

The hornwork design allowed for increased protection of 

the land surrounding the towers of the fort, securing the 

entrance into the harbor.22 San Cristóbal situated a mile 

east of El Morro, improved upon the hornwork design and 

became the largest Spanish fort in the Americas.23 As noted 

in “Guardians of the Caribbean,” these three forts made San 

Juan one of the most highly fortified cities in the world and 

ensured Spain’s control of the Americas. 

The military presence made possible the socio-culturaleconomic exchange between Spanish, Indians, and later 

enslaved Africans. Puerto Rico served as the Gateway to the 

Indies for Spain, and later as a strategic military post for the 

United States. As “The Guardians of the Caribbean” states, 

the forts, along with fortifications in modern Colombia, 

the Gulf Coasts of Mexico and the United States, Cuba, 

Nicaragua, and Panama, secured Spanish economic and 

cultural dominance of the region for nearly three centuries. 
Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 63

Yuma Crossing served as a link 

from Mexico to California for 

centuries. The Ocean to Ocean 

Bridge was constructed in 2005 

and continues to connect the 

American Southwest to Mexico. 

Courtesy of Brenda Barrett, National 

Park Service.

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area

Yuma, Arizona and Winterhaven, California

The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area recognizes 

the natural crossing on the Colorado River as a gateway 

to the Pacific Ocean during the Spanish Colonial period. 

Furthermore, it is significant as a Borderland, a place of 

intersection between Mexico and the United States and 

the development of Hispanic culture. The Yuma Crossing 

National Heritage Area addresses the significance of both 

the crossing and Borderland in its interpretive efforts.

When the Spanish arrived at the Yuma Crossing in the 

1500s, they found native peoples who had been living 

there for centuries. The Yuma people, also known as the 

Quechan, cultivated and lived in the fertile river lands, 

referred to as the “American Nile.” The “crossing” occurs 

at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. The 

granite outcropping of rock made the area a more secure 

crossing point over the Colorado River. Eventually, Yuma 

Crossing was established as part of New Spain’s southern 

route from Mexico to Baja California, opening the gateway 

to the Pacific Ocean.24

Located at the crossroads of the Borderland in the 

Southwest, Yuma Crossing’s history is tied to Spanish 

Colonial settlement and expansion.25 The crossing is located 

along the Sonora (Mexico)-California route used by Spanish 

travelers, and later Mexican mail carriers and traders in the 

early 1800s. As a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
64 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

thousands of Mexicans became Americans and this border 

town became a place of convergence for the two cultures. 

Yuma Crossing played a role in determining the border 

between Mexico and the U.S., as it was used by Lieutenant 

Amiel Weeks Whipple’s survey team in marking the border 

at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers.26 The 

California Gold Rush of the 1850s placed Yuma squarely 

in the midst of Westward Expansion, with the ferry 

transporting miners and their wagons across the 

Colorado River. 

The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Project 

conserves and interprets the natural resources of the 

Colorado River and surrounding landscape, as well as 

the cultural and historic resources associated with the 

city of Yuma and the Yuma Crossing. It uses its website, 

development projects, and festivals to convey the history 

of the city and the Colorado River. The project cites the 

Spanish Colonial Revival commercial and residential 

architecture of the early 20th century as an example of the 

evolving Hispanic heritage of the area. For example, the 

Brinley District contains many restored adobe buildings and 

Pueblo Revival-style structures such as the Molina Block, a 

19th-century commercial adobe building. These structures 

and their connection to the Borderland cultural landscape 

are viewed as critical to the heritage area’s interpretive plan. 

Through the multiple partners, including two Arizona 

state parks (Yuma Crossing State Historic Park and Yuma 

Territorial Prison State Historic Park), the heritage area 

interprets the history of the region from past to present. The 

parks interpret the natural resources and cultural changes 

of Yuma Crossing from the late-Spanish to Mexican and 

early U.S. territorial periods of the region. Recognizing 

the sizable Hispanic population of the town (roughly 46.2 

percent), connections are made with Mexico through 

ongoing projects on the Colorado River and agricultural 

technical assistance to the Mexican city of Sinaloa.27 From 

the wattle and daub boats used by the Quechen to ford the 

river to the arrival of Coronado and Hernan de Alarcón in 

1540 and the opening of the Ocean to Ocean Bridge in 2005, 

Yuma Crossing has been at the center of transportation in 

the American Southwest and a site of Hispanic heritage for 

nearly three centuries. 
Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 65

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail 

Nogales, Arizona to San Francisco, California

Under the leadership of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza, 244 

people traveled 1,210 miles over 2 years across the desert, 

opening a route from Sonora, Mexico to modern-day San 

Francisco. This colonizing expedition to California led to 

the founding of the mission and presidio in San Francisco, 

while establishing an overland trail linking Mexico to Alta, 

or northern California. 

A band of re-enactors travel the 

route of the Anza party near 

Vandenberg, CA, during the 

bicentennial anniversary 

of the trail.

Courtesy of Juan de Anza National 

Historic Trail, National Park Service.

Juan Bautista de Anza was a Spanish Creole born in New 

Spain, captain of the Royal presidio of Tubac, and a thirdgeneration frontier soldier. In response to British and 

Russian encroachment upon Spanish claims along the Pacific 

seaboard and at the prompting of a Franciscan priest, Anza 

gave Spain northern access to its California holdings. 

The blazing of the trail took place in two parts. The 

initial expedition began in Sonora, Mexico (formerly 

New Spain) in 1774, to find a trail to ease the difficulties of 

getting provisions and people from Sonora to Monterey, 

California.28 Along the way, Anza established connections 

between the Spanish crown and the Yuma Indians, charted 

the locations of potable water, and founded grazing pastures 

for livestock. The second stage of the expedition traveled 

with over 1,000 head of livestock, a host of military men, 

and families. The expedition arrived at Monterey on March 

10, 1776. The overland, northern route proved a better 

alternative to the water route.29 Through the route, Spanish 

culture was expanded in the American West.
66 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail presents 

the journey of the Anza party using interpretive wayside 

panels, many in Spanish and English, brochures, and annual 

celebrations in communities along the trail. In addition, 

the NPS website includes a trail guide with maps, historical 

documentation on the trek from Mexico to Alta California, 

as well as a component featuring audio clips related to the 

trail and its story.30 

The success of the Anza National Historic Trail interpretive 

efforts is a result of partnerships between NPS and more 

than 30 universities and organizations, and individuals. For 

example, descendants of members of the Anza party perform 

reenactments of the expedition or serve as interpretive 

guides for portions of the trail. With continued community 

engagement, the trail offers interpretation that reflects the 

common history and Hispanic heritage of the trail, while 

addressing the role of the 12 American Indian tribes and 

other groups related to the expedition.31 By following the 

trail and using its interpretive materials, visitors can better 

understand the connections between cities in Northern 

Mexico and those in California such as Los Angeles, San 

Jose, and San Francisco, settled after the Anza expedition. 

Conclusion

Throughout the nation, interpretive efforts related to 

Hispanic heritage are taking place in print and online. 

Interpreting Hispanic heritage at historic sites requires an 

increased understanding of the different groups that are 

identified and identify as Hispanic. Since Hispanic heritage 

is made up of at least three separate heritages, examination 

of the roles Spaniards, Indians, and Africans played in its 

development is critical. With a growing body of scholarship 

on Hispanic identity, this topic will enhance interpretation 

at historic sites around the U.S. and in Latin America.

With the advent of the Internet, historic sites related to 

Hispanic heritage have increased opportunities for their 

interpretive programs to reach a broader audience. For 

example, the online version of the “Guardians of the 

Caribbean” lesson plan expands the interpretive reach of 

the San Juan National Historic Site beyond Old San Juan and 

classrooms to interested groups and individuals worldwide. 

The use of this technology allows sites to continue to 

broaden the interpretation of Hispanic heritage throughout 

the United States.
Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 67

1. The shift from Spanish Colonial to Hispanic 

heritage essentially starts at the point of the 

criollos declaring independence from Spain. 

2. While his letter “Our America” comes much 

later than the formation of these other 

nations, José Martí sums up this feeling of a 

shared destiny. See José Martí, “Our America,” 

La Revista Ilustrada, January 1, 1891. 

3. While Artigas, Bolivar, Juárez, and Martin 

were fighting against Spain, Gálvez was the 

Spanish governor of Louisiana fighting with 

the American colonists against the British.

4. According to the brochure, Artigas carried 

copies of the U.S. Constitution and Articles 

of Confederation with him at all times. The 

United States recognized these liberated 

nations by 1823. On December 2 of that year, 

President James Monroe issued a message to 

Congress calling for the end of European 

intervention into the region. Ironically, the 

United States’ involvement in the affairs of 

Latin American and Caribbean nations (as 

well as the Pacific region within the Western 

Hemisphere) after the War of 1812, deemed 

right and necessary by the Monroe Doctrine 

and later the “Roosevelt Corollary,” could be 

interpreted as interventionist. See “Hispanic 

Heroes: National Monuments to the Great 

Liberators,” brochure (Washington, DC: 

Department of the Interior, National Park 

Service, 1995); for a brief explanation of the 

Monroe Doctrine and the subsequent 

Roosevelt Corollary, see “The Monroe 

Doctrine,” in The Columbia Encyclopedia,

6th ed. New York: Columbia University 

Press, 2001–04; www.bartleby.com/65/mo/

MonroeDo.html, accessed April 18, 2007. 

5. See “Los Adaes” at “Cane River National 

Heritage Area: National Register of Historic 

Places Travel Itinerary,” http://www.nps.gov/

history/nr/travel/caneriver/, maintained 

by the National Park Service, accessed June 

18, 2007. 

6. Tamales, considered to be a Mexican foodstuff, are true Indo-Hispanic cuisine. The 

production of tamales in the Red River 

region of Louisiana is an example of the 

Hispanic tradition in the Mississippi Delta. 

Many Hispanic practitioners use metates

(volcanic stone tools) to grind the corn to 

make masa meal, a critical ingredient in 

tamales. Spanish-speakers use nauhaulismos, 

loan words from the Aztec language, still 

spoken in south-central Mexico. When and 

how tamales became popular in the area is 

subject to debate. Some suggest the tamale 

arrived with migrant workers from Mexico 

who came to work in the cotton fields. 

Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s 

Regional Folklife Program has also 

documented this tradition. See Dominica 

Ramirez, “Travels in Louisiana: Journeys 

into Ethnicity and Heritage by Two Hispanic 

Groups,” master’s thesis, Louisiana State 

University, 2001, http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/

available/etd-04132004-185813/unrestricted/

Ramirez_thesis.pdf, accessed May 29, 2007; 

“Making Tamales in Northwest Louisiana,” 

on the Louisiana Regional Folklife Program 

website; at http://www.nsula.edu/regionalfolklife/Tamales/default.html, accessed May 

29, 2007.

7. Electronic correspondence with Ray 

Bertholet by author, April 4, 2007. 

8. The brochure was produced by the Center 

for Desert Archaeology, in Tucson, AZ, under 

contract with SEAC. See “Archaeology on 

the Border: Naco, Arizona Point of Entry,” 

at http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/naco/credits.

htm, accessed May 31, 2007.

9. The other Naco resides in Sonora, Mexico, 

just across the border created by the Gadsden 

Purchase Treaty of 1853. The treaty added 30 

million acres in southern Arizona and part 

of southwestern New Mexico to the recently 

acquired southwestern lands from Mexico, 

for $10 million. See Clyde A. Milner II, Carol 

A. O’Connor, and Martha Sandweiss, eds., 

The Oxford History of the American West

(New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 

156; “Gadsden Purchase Treaty, December 

30, 1853,” in the Avalon Project at Yale 

University Law School, http://www.yale.

Endnotes
68 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/mexico/

mx1853.htm, accessed October 4, 2007.

10. Places such as Tombstone, Bisbee, and 

Douglas in Arizona; Terlingua, Texas; 

Sonora, California; and near Dubuque, Iowa 

are mining areas that had once belonged to 

Mexico or had strong Hispanic influences. 

See references to the Hispanic mining 

tradition in Robert L. Spude, “Hispanics 

and Mining” in CRM, No. 11 (1997), 43. Cf. 

National Register of Historic Places, Naco 

Border Station, Cochise County, AZ, 

#91000026. 

11. The United States annexed Texas in 1845 and 

the Republic of Texas insisted that its border 

went to the modern border of the state of 

Texas. However, Mexico argued that it never 

recognized Texas independence and that it 

was a much smaller territory, stopping at the 

Nueces River, further south and east of the 

Rio Grande. For a brief synopsis on the 

events leading up to the battle of Palo Alto, 

see Charles M. Haecker and Jeffrey G. 

Mauck, On the Prairie of Palo Alto: Archaeology of the U.S.-Mexican War Battlefield (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 

1997), 11-22.

12. Palo Alto park staff views Hispanic heritage 

as being intrinsic to the understanding of 

the whole region. While its primary mandate 

is to interpret the war, interpretive ranger 

Doug Murphy notes, “We talk about how 

the war left 100,000 Mexicans within the 

United States and how that influenced the 

country. We point to the Spanish heritage 

of the West. We even go into some of the 

bridging aspects of the Mexican American 

population. . . Finally we cover long term 

effects on the U.S. Mexican relationship—

touching on other interventions, positive 

cooperative efforts, continuing disputes, etc. 

This can include immigration issues.” 

Electronic correspondence with Douglas 

Murphy, Interpretive Ranger, Palo Alto 

Battlefield National Historic Site, National 

Park Service, July 13, 2007. 

13. The war is viewed in a different light by 

Mexico, which saw U.S. military action 

leading up to the battle as a clear indication 

of the nation’s territorial intentions. This 

notion is further supported by President 

Polk’s request for $2 million to acquire the 

disputed territory. In an interview with the 

Brownsville Herald, Superintendent Myrna 

Palfrey said “We’re trying to do programs 

that create goodwill among people by 

honoring soldiers.” See Victoria Manning, 

“Candlelight Ceremony to Honor MexicanAmerican War Soldiers,” The Brownsville 

Herald (December 6, 2006); Jesus VelascoMarquez, “Mexican Perceptions During the 

War,” at http://www.pbs.com/kera/usmexicanwar/war/mexican_perceptions.html, 

“US-Mexican War, 1846-1848 website,” 

accessed June 27, 2007.

14. See “The Forts of Old San Juan: Guardians 

of the Caribbean,” Teaching with Historic 

Places lesson plan, at http://www.nps.gov/

history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/

lessons/60sanjuan/60sanjuan.htm, accessed 

August 29, 2007.

15. Puerto Rico was eventually settled by Ponce 

de León in 1508, with the original capital set 

up inland at Caparra.

16. Spain established a colony in Puerto Rico 

and saw the inhabitants as a viable labor 

force, at first for mining, then later for 

agricultural production and domestic labor. 

Initially, the Taínos were receptive to the 

Spanish. The Spanish conquistadores soon 

began to take land, demand labor tributes 

from the Taíno, and abduct Taíno women. 

These practices took their toll, leading to the 

failed Taíno Revolt of 1511. By the middle of 

the century, the bulk of the population was 

wiped out by exhaustion and disease, or left 

for other islands in the Antilles. 

17. The practices of encomienda and repartimento have roots in medieval Spain’s 

700-year attempt to reclaim the southern 

Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. They 

essentially rewarded accomplished and 

talented soldiers with fiefdoms to extend 

the Crown’s control and gave the right to 

acquire uncompensated labor from the 

conquered. The encomienda system of labor 
Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 69

tribute due conquistadors from the local 

population worked in concert with the 

repartimento system of distribution of resources and goods, including the indigenous 

people on the land assigned to the conquistadors. See “Encomienda,” in The Columbia 

Encyclopedia, 6th ed. (New York: Columbia 

University Press, 2001–2004), at http://www.

bartleby.com/65/en/encomien.html, 

accessed August 27, 2007; “Repartimento,” 

in The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. (New 

York: Columbia University Press, 2001–

2004), at http://www.bartleby.com/65/re/

repartim.html, accessed August 27, 2007. Cf. 

James Brooks, Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands (Chapel Hill: University of 

North Carolina Press, 2002), 45-79.

18. The British attacked San Juan in 1595, 1598, 

and again in 1797, taking El Morro in a 

pyrrhic victory in 1598, before being forced 

to withdraw. The Dutch did likewise in 1625, 

taking La Fortaleza and laying siege to El 

Morro. For brief descriptions, see “Historical 

Narrative: San Juan Historic Site,” in 

Preliminary Inventory of Spanish Colonial 

Resources Associated with National Park Service Sites and National Historic Landmarks, 

1987, Second Edition, ed. by Richard R. 

Henderson (Washington, DC: United States 

Committee, International Council on 

Monuments and Sites, 1989), 4-2 to 4-4. Cf. 

National Historic Landmarks Survey, La 

Fortaleza, San Juan County, Puerto Rico; 

Historic American Buildings Survey, Castillo 

de San Felipe, El Morro, San Juan, Puerto 

Rico, HABS No. PR-48.

19. The Association for Preservation Technology 

International conference took place 

November 2007, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

One panel discussion was devoted to the 

famous fortifications and their role in the 

development of Latin America. One abstract 

notes the development of military architecture 

conforms to the unique demands of the 

Caribbean and other coastal locations.

20. La Fortaleza was designated a National 

Historic Landmark in 1966; the San Juan 

National Historic Site became part of the 

National Park System in 1961; and the site 

was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 

1983. See National Historic Landmarks Survey, La Fortaleza; “Report of Rapporteur” 

World Heritage Committee, Seventh 

Ordinary Session, Florence, Italy, 5-9 

December 1983. 

21. The fort was deemed inappropriate as a 

primary fort early on, with construction 

on El Morro beginning in 1539. Spanish 

historian Gonzálo Fernandez de Oviedo, on 

a visit to La Fortaleza 1537 to 1538, stated that 

“Only blind men could have chosen such a 

site for a fort.” The fort became the home for 

the governors of Puerto Rico and the name 

was changed to El Real de Santa Catalina. 

See “Historical Narrative: San Juan National 

Historic Site,” in Preliminary Inventory of 

Spanish Colonial Resources 4-2 to 4-5; 4-45. 

22. The term “hornwork” comes from walls and 

casements looking like bull’s horns on the 

topography. In addition to the walls, a smaller 

fort known as El Cañuelo was established 

across the harbor on the small island of San 

Juan de la Cruz. This further defended the 

entrance to the harbor and protected the 

mouth of the Bayamón River, providing 

access to the inland settlements.

23. Construction on San Cristóbal began in 1631. 

Near the same time, King Carlos III decided 

to make San Juan a “Defense of the First 

Order.” San Crítobal and the other forts use 

a principle known as defense in depth, 

where each layer of defense supports and is 

supported by another layer. It ensures that if 

the outer barrier is broken, a higher, stronger 

one exists behind it. A series of bastions 

created a curtain wall linking San Cristóbal

to El Morro, constructed between 1766-1790. 

Much of the outwork done over 150 years on 

San Cristóbal falls outside of the historic 

site. See “San Juan National Historic Site,” 

4-3.

24. Several Spanish expeditions traveled the 

route prior to regular use of the crossing. 

Hernando de Alarcón arrived at the crossing 

in 1540 while seeking to rendezvous with 

Coronado; Juan de Oñate traveled the 
70 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

crossing during his search for the location of 

a port for supplies from Spain to New Mexico 

in 1605; finally, Father Eusebio Francisco 

Kino sought to find a passage to Baja 

California for livestock and supplies to the 

missions. The route he eventually found in 

the early part 1702, after multiple attempts, 

became the preferred route.

Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Cooke’s 

transcontinental wagon road in 1846-1847, 

brought Anglo Americans into the region, 

crossing to California during the Gold Rush 

years. In 1877, the first railway into Arizona 

arrived via Yuma. See “Supporting Reference 

Materials for the Yuma Crossing National 

Heritage Area Management Plan,” prepared 

by The Yuma Crossing Heritage Area 

Corporation, submitted September 26, 2002; 

23A-30A; National Historic Landmarks 

Survey, The Yuma Crossing and Related Sites 

(Arizona and California), Winterhaven, 

Imperial County, California and Yuma, 

Yuma County, Arizona. 

25. Franciscan fathers founded a mission, 

presidio, and village in the area in 1779, only 

to have the village destroyed in the Yuma 

Uprising of 1781. Permanent Spanish settlement never took place, but there was always 

a presence due to the importance of the 

crossing. Under Mexican control, it was 

known as Colorado City and later Arizona 

City before becoming the county seat 

following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. 

A mission church was built at the location of 

the settlement in 1922. The church, a 

significant tourist attraction and part of the 

National Heritage Area, is not included in 

the National Historic Landmark nomination. 

Charles Phillips and Alan Alexrod, eds., 

Encyclopedia of the American West, volume 4 

(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), 1807-

1808; Yuma Crossing and Related Sites.

26. The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area 

Project interprets the U.S. Boundary 

Commission’s efforts to mark the confluence 

of the Colorado and Gila Rivers near Yuma, 

Arizona. In 1849, the location determined by 

Lt. Whipple essentially gave the U.S. an 

additional 10 miles of land below the 

Colorado River. Three stone monuments 

mark the stop. See Thomas L. Schraf “Amiel 

Weeks Whipple and the Boundary Survey in 

Southern California,” in Journal of San Diego 

History Vol. 19, No. 3 (Summer 1973) online 

at http://www.sandiegohistory.org/

journal/73summer/whipple.htm, accessed 

October 10, 2007; Michael Dear, “Monuments, Manifest Destiny, and Mexico,” in 

Prologue Magazine, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Summer 

2005), online at http://www.archives.gov/

publications/prologue/2005/summer/

mexico-1.html, accessed October 10, 2007. 

27. Yuma is working with the Mexico Environmental Protection ministry on a plan to 

remove invasive floral species along the 

Colorado River. Sister city programs with 

Sinaloa, San Luis, and Mexicali encourage 

cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico 

border towns that share economic interests 

as well as cultural and natural resources. 

Conversation with Eleanor Mahoney, 

National Heritage Areas, National Park 

Service, February 15, 2008.

28. Anza, the priest, Father Francisco Garcés, 

and a group of 33 men set out with an 

exploratory expedition for Monterey. Upon 

his successful return, he led the settlers to 

the San Francisco Bay area. See Charles 

Phillips and Alan Axelrod, eds., Encyclopedia 

of the American West, volume 1 (New York: 

Simon & Schuster, 1996), 48. Cf. Herbert 

Eugene Bolton, ed., Anza’s California 

Expeditions, 5 Volumes (Berkeley: University 

of California Press, 1933). 

29. The other routes required either sea travel 

on a small boat not capable of carrying 

much or heading south through Baja, which 

was difficult to supply and dangerous. 

Coincidentally, the same Yuma who 

befriended Anza on his initial exploration 

eventually tired of Spanish rule and rebelled 

in the Yuma Revolt of 1781, closing the route 

to Spanish travelers. Phillips and Axelrod, 

Encyclopedia of the American West, 47-48; 

“Discovering the Anza Trail” at http://www.
Interpreting Hispanic Culture at Historic Sites 71

nps.gov/archive/juba/anzatrai.htm, accessed 

March 13, 2007.

30. The guide, developed in partnership with 

Sol Ideas Technology, provides travelers and 

students with interpretive resources while 

traveling along the Anza Trail. This includes 

a list of interpretive sites along the route, 

sounds, and descriptions associated with 

events along the trail during the 1776 

exploration, as well as maps, drawings, and 

photography of artifacts. See “The Juan 

Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail 

Guide,” at http://www.solideas.com/DeAnza/TrailGuide, accessed March 13, 2007.

31. “One of the goals of the National Park 

Service is to encourage and provide 

interpretation along the Anza Trail that will 

link the various communities along the 1,200 

mile route with a common history and 

heritage. The interpretation is primarily 

produced by community partner groups and 

often in conjunction with the National Park 

Service. Annual celebrations take place 

along the trail to commemorate the heritage 

spawned by the members of the 1776 Anza 

Expedition and their struggle to seek new 

opportunities for themselves. Expedition 

descendants and re-enactors invite the 

public to join in the festivities which are 

offered from Tubac, Arizona to San 

Francisco, California. Wayside panels are 

scattered along the route to inform and 

inspire people to consider the challenges 

these families endured to improve their life 

and gain status in their society. Each panel 

(some bilingual with English and Spanish) 

focuses on the local influences of this great 

journey and are produced by county offices 

and parks, state parks, non-profit organizations, towns, and other National Park 

Service sites. It was a community effort to 

make the 1776 Anza Expedition a success, 

and it is a community effort to make the 

Anza Trail a success and keep the story of 

our ancestors alive.” Electronic correspondence with Margaret Styles, interpretive 

ranger, Juan Bautista de Anza National 

Historic Trail, National Park Service, 

October 12, 2007.

Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 73

This list represents a compilation of the properties associated with Hispanic heritage 

documented in the National Park Service’s cultural resources programs (National

 Register of Historic Places, National Historic Landmarks, and Historic American 

Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes 

Survey). It is not exhaustive, but illustrates examples of Hispanic properties that have 

already been documented and/or recognized. Further investigation of the files may yield 

additional entries. 

National Register of Historic Places

Hispanic Heritage in National Park Service

Cultural Resources Programs

Arizona

Barrio Libre (Tucson, Pima County) is a 

Spanish-speaking neighborhood in Tucson, 

where the adobe architecture exhibits a 

combination of Spanish-Mexican and Anglo 

architectural influences. It was settled as 

a support for Presidio de Agustín del Tucson 

and is relatively unchanged in character 

since the mid-1800s.

El Presidio Historic District (Tucson, 

Pima County) consists of 90 buildings 

representing Spanish-Mexican vernacular 

architecture and is considered to be 

one of the country’s oldest continually 

inhabited places. Originally settled by the 

Hohokam Indians AD 700-900, the Spanish 

established Presidio de Agustín del Tucson

in 1775. 

El Tiradito (Tucson, Pima County) also 

known as the “Wishing Shrine,” is a Catholic 

shrine to the Virgin Mary built in the 1870s. 

Located in the Barrio Libre, this structure 

is steeped in Mexican traditional, religious, 

and cultural heritage.

Arkansas

Dionicio Rodríguez Sculptures at T.R. 

Pugh Memorial Park (Little Rock, Pulaski 

County) were created by the Mexican 

American sculptor Dionicio Rodríguez, who 

is best known for his work in reinforced and 

tinted concrete for outdoor structures.

The imagery in Rodriguez’s work draws 

heavily from his Mexican heritage.

California

Cabrillo National Monument (San Diego, 

San Diego County) marks the location of 

the first European maritime expedition 

off the California coast by Juan Rodriguez 

Cabrillo and his expeditionary party in San 

Diego in 1542.

Jose Maria Alviso Adobe (Milpitas, 

Santa Clara County) is a two-story adobe 

structure in the Monterey architectural 

style, combining Hispanic, Spanish 

Colonial, and Indian materials and 

ornament, with Anglo influences in the 

layout. Built in 1837, the structure is relatively 

unaltered since its construction.

Lopez Adobe (San Fernando, Los Angeles 

County) is the oldest adobe structure 

in San Fernando, erected in 1883 by 

Geronimo Lopez. The Lopez family had an 

important role in the community, including 

establishing San Fernando Valley’s first 

post office, newspaper, and Englishspeaking school.
74 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Santa Fe Hotel (Fresno, Fresno County)

was a significant Basque establishment 

that opened in 1926 to serve immigrants 

and itinerant shepherds. Basques are a 

Spanish minority that played critical roles 

in Spain’s colonial administration and later 

its agricultural endeavors. The Santa Fe 

Hotel was the Basque shepherds’ base of 

operations where the hotel keeper assisted 

them in finding work and communicating 

with Anglos.

Colorado

Trujillo Homestead (Mosca, Alamosa 

County) stands out for its less traditional 

construction as a two-story log house 

instead of the more typical adobe structure 

used for cattle ranches in the San Luis 

Valley region in the late 19th century. The 

owner, Pedro Trujillo, was a first-generation 

Hispanic American. The property is 

representative of the tense relations between 

the small Hispanic-owned family ranches 

and the larger Anglo American-owned 

cattle ranches.

Florida

Castillo de San Marcos (St. Augustine, 

St. Johns County) is the oldest masonry 

fortification within the continental United 

States and a symbol of the 250-year Spanish 

presence in the Southeast. The fortification 

protected St. Augustine and the Spanish 

intercontinental shipping routes along the 

Florida Coast.

Centro Asturiano (Tampa, Hillsborough 

County) was established as a social and 

civic club in 1902 to serve families of Cuban 

descent. A neoclassical building, the current 

structure was erected in 1914 in the Hispanic 

neighborhood of Ybor City.

Los Alamos Ranch House (Los Alamos, 

Santa Barbara County), established in 1840, 

is one of the finest surviving examples of the 

Mexican period traditional one-story adobe 

ranch house. Los Alamos was a favorite 

overnight stopping place for wayfarers 

passing over El Camino Real between Santa 

Barbara and Monterey, California.

Los Rios Street Historic District (San Juan 

Capistrano, Orange County) contains 

40 structures built in the 18th century that 

housed American Indian mission laborers 

while they constructed the nearby San Juan 

Capistrano Mission. The district includes 

the Montanez adobe structure, used by the 

village midwife, nurse, and spiritual leader.

Luis Maria Peralta Adobe (San Jose, Santa 

Clara County) is the last extant structure 

in San Jose built before 1800. It is named for 

the soldier and ranch owner, although the 

original builder is believed to have been the 

Apache Indian, Manuel Gonzalez.

Mission Dolores (San Francisco, San 

Francisco County), was completed in 1791 

by Indians, using adobe and traditional 

building techniques. Founded by Father 

Francisco Palou as a part of the missionbuilding campaign of Father Junipero 

Serra, Mission Dolores stands as one of the 

oldest buildings in San Francisco and still 

contains a number of paintings by former 

native residents. 

Padua Hills Theatre (Claremont, Los 

Angeles County), opened in 1930, promoted 

Mexican and Mexican American culture to 

a largely Anglo audience for nearly 40 years. 

The plays were performed in Spanish, with 

a synopsis of the performance written in 

English for the Anglo audience. The theater 

complex was designed to reflect Spanish 

Colonial and regional architectural trends of 

the 20th century. 
Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 75

De Soto National Memorial (Bradenton 

vicinity, Manatee County) marks the 

landing site of Hernando De Soto’s 

expedition in 1539. The memorial preserves 

the story of the four-year, 4,000-mile 

odyssey, and interprets its significance in 

American history.

New Mexico

El Cerro Tome (Tome, Valencia County)

consists of a hilltop decorated with four 

crosses called the calvario and contains 

stones with petroglyphs depicting Christian 

iconography. Believed to be the products 

of Hispanic shepherds, the property is a 

destination for religious pilgrims as well as 

recreational hikers. 

El Morro National Monument (El Morro, 

Valencia County) is significant as a place of 

rest and as a marker for Spanish, then later, 

Anglo Americans travelers through what 

was northern Mexico in the 1500s. Juan de 

Oñaté, the first governor of New Mexico, 

and other travelers carved their signatures, 

dates, and left messages in the soft rock. It 

is also the site of two significant Anasazi 

(Ancestral pueblos) pueblos and contains 

hundreds of petroglyphs that predate 

European contact in the area.

El Rancho de las Golondrinas, Acequia 

System (La Cienega, Santa Fe County) is a 

still-active irrigation ditch dating from the 

18th century. Its construction is an example 

of a combination of Spanish, Mexican, and 

Indian building traditions used in an 18thcentury New Mexican hacienda.

Pecos National Historical Park (Pecos, 

San Miguel County) preserves 12,000 years 

of cultural history, including the ancient 

pueblo structures of Pecos, two Spanish 

Colonial missions, Santa Fe Trail sites, 

and 20th century ranch history of Forked 

Lightning Ranch. 

Santa Fe Historic District (Santa Fe, 

Santa Fe County) served as the seat of the 

Spanish government of Mexico in 1610 and 

is the oldest capital city in the United States. 

Spanish, Pueblo, and Anglo traditions shape 

the city’s architecture and city plan.

Taos Historic District (Taos, Taos County)

was established between 1780 and 1800 as 

a Spanish fortified plaza ringed by low-rise 

adobe buildings. Over time, the town grew 

beyond its original fortification walls and 

became an important center for trade on the 

Santa Fe Trail.

New York

Casa Amadeo, Antigua Casa Hernández 

(New York, Bronx County) is identified 

as the oldest Puerto Rican-owned music 

store in New York City. Opened in 1941, the 

store represents the dissemination of Puerto 

Rican and Hispanic musical traditions in the 

United States. 

Oklahoma

Mass Grave of the Mexican Miners 

(McAlester, Pittsburgh County), located 

in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, represents the 

tragic mining explosion that took the lives 

of 32 Mexicans on December 17, 1929. 

Mexican miners played a major role in the 

area’s coal mining industry–some 1,200 

Mexicans worked southeastern Oklahoma 

mines, migrating from Mexico, Texas, and 

Colorado. Twenty-four Mexican miners are 

interred at the site. 

Puerto Rico

San Juan National Historical Site (San 

Juan, San Juan Municipality) in the 

early 16th century was an early Spanish 

municipal government in the “New World,” 

as well as the first military presidio in 

Spanish America. 
76 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Rhode Island

Touro Synagogue National Historic 

Site (Newport, Newport County) is the 

oldest synagogue in the United States and 

considered one of the finest examples of 

18th-century synagogue architecture. The 

synagogue was used by descendants of 

Marranos, Sephardic Jews who fled Spain 

to avoid persecution during the Inquisition. 

The original congregation was established 

in 1658.

South Carolina

Charlesfort-Santa Elena Site (Parris 

Island USMC Depot, Beaufort County)

contains the remains of a 1566 Spanish 

settlement, established by Pedro Menéndez 

de Avilés. The site is significant for its 

association with the 16th-century wars 

between Spain and France. The historical 

archeology of the site provides insight into 

the town plan and operations of a 16thcentury Spanish settlement in the Americas.

Tennessee

Dionicio Rodríguez Sculptures at 

Memorial Park Cemetery (Memphis, 

Shelby County) consists of numerous 

sculptures created over a period of 8 years 

(1935-1943) that are integrated throughout 

the cemetery landscape, including a crystal 

shrine grotto. Heavily influenced by folk 

traditions learned in his native Mexico, 

Rodriguez is believed to be the most 

skillful practitioner of the el trabajo rustic 

tradition—the use reinforced and tinted 

concrete for creating outdoor structures—

during the period 1925-1950.

Texas

Barrio Azteca Historic District (Laredo, 

Webb County) is one of the oldest 

neighborhoods along the Rio Grande, 

containing properties illustrating Hispanic 

building traditions and reflecting the 

cultural heritage in this Borderland region. 

The barrio exhibits a diverse range of 

structures with a mixture of Mexican 

and Anglo American architectural 

forms including jacales, bungalows, and 

ranch houses.

Castolon Historic District (Big Bend 

National Park, Brewster County) is 

significant as a place of intersection for 

Mexican and Anglo farmers and ranchers 

settlers at the end of the 19th century. During 

the Mexican Revolution, the historic district 

served as a United States army compound to 

protect residents from potential attack. 

Chamizal National Memorial (El Paso, 

El Paso County) honors a milestone in 

diplomatic relations between Mexico and 

the United States. In 1963 the neighboring 

countries signed the Chamizal Treaty and 

ended a boundary dispute over land between 

El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico 

dating back to the Treaty of Guadalupe 

Hidalgo of 1848.

Cine El Rey Theater (McAllen, Hidalgo 

County) was built in 1947 to meet the 

demands of a growing Mexican population. 

The theater served the segregated 

Spanish-speaking community of Mexican 

immigrants, mostly braceros, or legal 

migrating agricultural workers. 

Fort Stockton Historic District (Fort 

Stockton, Pecos County), founded in 

1859 near a military fort, was formerly 

known as Comanche Springs. By 1870, 

the town population numbered 420 

residents, predominantly Irish, German, 

and Mexican Catholics who had arrived 

by way of San Antonio.

Genero P. and Carolina Briones House 

(Austin, Travis County) is also known as 

the Casa de sueños or, House of Dreams. 
Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 77

the site reveal the cultural commingling of 

Christianized Indians and Spanish Colonials.

Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic 

Site (Brownsville, Cameron County)

commemorates the first battle of the 

Mexican-American War and interprets 

the battle and its circumstances from 

both perspectives.

Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreto de 

la Bahia (Goliad, Goliad County) was 

constructed in 1749 and is considered one 

of the best examples of a presidio in the 

United States. This post later played an 

important role in Mexican revolutionary 

efforts against Spain.

Rio Grande City Downtown Historic 

District (Rio Grande City, Starr County)

is the commercial district for the town located 

on the U.S.-Mexican border. The vernacular 

architecture is particular to late 19th-century 

south Texas and exhibits influences from 

Mexicans as well as other ethnic groups who 

settled the area.

San Ygnacio Historic District (San Ygnacio, 

Zapata County) was the site of violent 

battles from the Civil War to the Mexican 

Revolution. Settled in 1830, the district is 

distinguished by its numerous sandstone 

structures exhibiting a vernacular character 

with Spanish and Mexican influences popular 

in this part of the Lower Rio Grande valley.

Sculptures by Dionicio Rodríguez in Texas 

(Bexar, Brazoria, Harris, and Jefferson 

Counties) feature his concrete outdoor 

sculpture, known as faux bois or 

el trabajo rustico, the use of reinforced 

and tinted concrete for creating outdoor 

structures, in parks and public areas in the 

San Antonio area. 

The house was designed and built by Genero 

Briones, who studied with the sculptor 

Dionicio Rodríguez in the late 1940s. The 

house is significant as an example of an 

architectural style and design method from 

Mexico that uses tinted and sculpted stucco 

on concrete. 

Jose Antonio Navarro Complex (San 

Antonio, Bexar County) consists of 

buildings that represent the blended heritage 

of San Antonio in the mid 19th century. The 

site was named after Jose Antonio Navarro, 

a Texan of Mexican descent, one of only two 

native Texans to sign the Texas Declaration 

of Independence. 

Lamesa Farm Workers Community 

Historic District (Los Ybañez, Dawson 

County) is a farm workers community 

built in the early 1940s by the United 

States with the goal of centralizing 

the area’s migrant labor industry and 

improving living conditions for Mexican 

workers. The historic district was home 

to two Spanish-language theaters. The 

community continued cultural practices 

such as celebrating traditional Mexican 

holidays and festivals. The Federal and state 

governments combined to provide a highlevel of service and facilities unknown in 

other labor camps.

Mariscal Mine (Big Bend National Park, 

Brewster County) supplied mercury 

essential to the war efforts of the First 

and Second World Wars. Between 1919 

and 1923, the mine employed Mexican 

citizens who had fled to Texas to escape 

the Mexican Revolution.

Old Mission Socorro/El Paso “Lower 

Valley” (El Paso, El Paso County) was 

established as a refuge for the fleeing Piro 

Indians from Socorro, New Mexico, during 

the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Artifacts at 
78 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Shafter Historic Mining District (Shafter, 

Presidio County) was a silver and a lead 

mine in the late-19th century and early-20th 

century, staffed by Mexican laborers who 

lived in the numerous structures at the site. 

The structures were built of native adobe, 

stone, and timbers salvaged from the mine. 

Teatro La Paz/Xochil Art & Cultural 

Center (Mission, Hidalgo County)

provided the local community with 

entertainment, including traveling artists 

and performers from Spain and Mexico. 

The site was one of the earliest Chicano art 

centers in Texas, dating from 1915.

National Historic Landmarks

Arkansas

Arkansas Post (Gillet Vicinity, Arkansas 

County) was built in 1683 and served as a 

Spanish Colonial fortification from 1771 

until 1800. The fort was involved in the 

only Revolutionary War battle in Arkansas, 

Colbert’s Raid, in 1783.

Arizona

Coronado National Memorial (Bisbee, 

Cochise County) commemorates the 

explorations of Francisco Vásquez de 

Coronado. His vain search for the “Seven 

Cities of Cibola” led him from Mexico City 

as far northeast as Kansas and into contact 

with several Indian groups. 

Mission Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi 

(Nogales, Santa Cruz County) is associated 

with the 17th- and 18th-century early Jesuit 

missionary effort to Christianize the Pima 

Indian groups of the northwest frontier. 

San Bernardino Ranch (Douglas, Cochise 

County) is located in the center of a cattle 

ranching empire that straddled the U.S.-

Mexico border. This ranch illustrates the 

continuity of Spanish and American cattle 

ranching in the Southwest. The ranch also 

is tied to the settling of the Wild West, as 

Arizona evolved from Mexican frontier to 

territory to statehood.

San Xavier del Bac Mission (San Xavier 

Indian Reservation, Pima County)

completed in 1797, is one of the finest 

Spanish Colonial churches in the United 

States, combining European Baroque 

design with local building materials. The 

adobe brick structure, constructed in the 

ecclesiastic traditional cruciform design by 

Papago Indian laborers, continues to serve 

the community.

Sierra Bonita Ranch (Bonita, Graham 

County) was founded in 1872 by Col. Henry 

C. Hooker to supply beef to Army posts, 

mining camps, and Indian agencies. This 

was the first permanent American cattle 

ranch in Arizona, built on the site of a 

Spanish hacienda destroyed by the Apache 

in the early 1800s.

Tumacácori National Historical Park/

Tumacácori National Monument (Nogales 

vicinity, Santa Cruz County) is a part of 

the Juan Bautista de Anza Historic Trail. 

This National Historic Landmark in a 

national park consists of several examples 

of Spanish mission architecture, including 

the last mission built by the Spanish in the 

southwestern United States. 

Tumacácori Museum (near Nogales, 

Santa Cruz County) was designed and 

built by the National Park Service as an 

interpretive center for the mission ruins 

in 1937-1939. Its significance lies in the 

NPS design of the center to interpret and 

protect the park’s fragile ruins, while 

staying true to its architectural heritage. 

The thoughtfully designed Mission Revival 

center incorporates architectural elements 

of the Sonoran mission chain founded by 

Father Eusebio Kino in the late 1700s. 
Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 79

California

Carmel Mission (Carmel, Monterey 

County) was founded in 1770 by Father 

Junípero Serra. It is the second in the chain 

of California missions that stretched from 

San Diego to San Francisco and served as the 

headquarters from which Serra directed the 

expanding mission system of California. 

Estudillo House (San Diego, San Diego 

County) was completed in 1829 by Don Jose 

Antonio Estudillo, who served as mayor 

and justice of the peace for San Diego. 

Considered one of the finest houses in 

Mexican California, the Estudillo House is 

an example of a large Spanish-Mexican onestory town house. 

Forty Acres (Delano, Kern County)

was the first national headquarters for the 

first agricultural labor union in the United 

States, the United Farmworkers of America 

(UFWA), from 1966-1970. Forty Acres is the 

site most closely associated with the career

of labor and civil rights leader César Chávez. 

The UFWA was a multiethnic organization, 

uniting Hispanic, Pinoy (Filipino American), 

and other laborers in efforts to obtain 

fair labor practices and securing the first 

federally-recognized collective bargaining 

agreement for farm workers.

Juan de Anza House (San Juan Bautista, 

San Benito County) is one of the earliest 

surviving examples of a traditional Mexican 

house in this area of California. Erected in 

1830, the original one-story, two-room 

adobe house was enlarged in the 1850s, 

reflecting the influence of “Americanized” 

design ideas.

La Purísima Mission (Lompoc, Santa 

Barbara County) was established in 1787, to 

convert the Chumash Indians. It highlights 

the transformation of the mission system 

from being primarily evangelical to its later 

role as economic and logistical support 

for presidios and pueblos as Spain’s ability 

to supply its colonies began to wane. The 

mission consists of adobe structures 

that were reconstructed by the Civilian 

Conservation Corps in 1942.

Los Cerritos Ranch House (Long Beach, 

Los Angeles County) is an example of the 

more contemporary Monterey Colonial 

Style ranch house (two stories, with a second 

story covered balcony, and low-pitched roof) 

within the older hacienda/farming complex 

plan common to California. Built in 1844, it 

is one of the largest adobe and frame ranch 

houses in what was Mexican California and 

now serves as a museum and home for the 

city’s historical collection.

Mission San Miguel Arcangel (San 

Miguel, San Luis Obispo County) was 

founded by Fray Fermín Francisco de 

Lasuén, second president of the California 

missions on July 25, 1797. The mission 

contains murals painted by Native 

Americans on the walls and ceilings that are 

considered to be among the best preserved 

of this period in California. The mission still 

serves as a parish church. 

Monterey Old Town Historic District 

(Monterey, Monterey County) developed 

from 1776 to 1847, served as the Spanish, then 

Mexican capital of California. Within the 

district are several dozen 19th-century adobe 

structures, as well as the first brick building 

in California and the first theater in the state.

New Almaden Mining Historic District 

(San Jose, Santa Clara County) is the 

site of California’s first mining operation, 

predating the gold rush of 1849. Established 

in 1845 at Rancho San Vincente after the 

identification of quicksilver (mercury), 

the mining company was named for the 

mercury-producing mines in Spain and 
80 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

was staffed by Mexican miners. One 

of the notable buildings is the CarsonPerham Adobe, the home of the company’s 

bookkeeper, which was built by Mexican 

miners from 1848 to 1850.

Old Mission Dam (San Diego, San Diego 

County) was completed in 1817 and diverted 

water from the San Diego River to irrigate 

the fields and provide fresh water for 

the Mission of San Diego. Constructed 

according to Spanish techniques, this 

cobblestone and cement dam was critical to 

the success of the mission and is one of the 

first major irrigation-engineering projects 

on the Pacific Coast of the United States. 

Petaluma Adobe (Petaluma, Sonoma 

County) is the largest example of domestic 

adobe architecture in the country. It was 

completed in 1846 by the commandant of the 

Sonoma Pueblo, Mariano S. Vallejo, as his 

personal residence. Called El Palacio or the 

palace, it was built using Indian labor and 

building techniques.

Presidio of San Francisco (San Francisco, 

San Francisco County) was established by 

the Spanish military in 1777 to defend the 

western portion of the United States against 

British claims. It was the oldest continuously 

operated military facility west of the 

Mississippi River.

Rancho Camulos (Piru, Ventura County)

was originally a Tataviam Indian village 

known as Kamulus. The ranch represents 

the early era of settlement and agricultural 

development of the former Spanish-Mexican 

estate lands in the greater Los Angeles area. 

It is also known as the “Home of Ramona,” a 

popular 1880 novel by Helen Hunt Jackson.

San Juan Bautista Plaza Historic District 

(San Juan Bautista, San Benito County) is 

a striking example of a 19th century village 

built according to a traditional SpanishMexican colonial plaza plan. The district 

is composed of five buildings, all facing the 

Plaza and completed between 1813 and 1874. 

San Diego de Alcalá Mission Church (San 

Diego, San Diego County) was founded in 

1769. As the first of the twenty-one missions 

established by Father Junípero Serra, it is 

known as the “Mother of All Missions” in 

California. After the mission was shut down, 

the church was used as an Indian school 

from 1887-1907, and in 1941 was restored as a 

parish church.

San Diego Presidio (San Diego, San Diego 

County) served as the base for Spanish 

exploration in California’s interior. It 

served as the Mexican Governor’s residence 

from 1825 to 1829. Established in 1767, 

the presidio’s importance lies in its ties to 

Gaspar de Portola’s claiming all of Alta 

California for the Spanish crown and 

making Spain the first European power to 

reach the Pacific Ocean.

Florida

Cathedral of St. Augustine (St. Augustine, 

St. Johns County) was established in 1594 

and is the oldest parish in the United States. 

The present Cathedral of St. Augustine 

was constructed in 1797 in the Spanish 

Mission style. 

El Centro Español de Tampa (Tampa, 

Hillsborough County) served as a social 

club for the Spanish elite as well as those 

coming from Cuba who remained loyal to 

Spain in the late 19th century. The building 

represents the role of social and mutual 

assistance organizations in the daily life of 

immigrant populations.

Fort San Carlos de Barrancas (Pensacola, 

Escambia County), a semicircular brick 

fortification, was an important element in 
Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 81

the defenses of Spanish Pensacola prior to 

its capture by U.S. General Andrew Jackson 

in 1814.

Fort San Marcos De Apalache (St. Marks, 

Wakulla County) is the site of successive 

wooden and masonry fortifications occupied 

throughout the Spanish and British Colonial 

periods and by American troops during the 

Second Seminole War (1835-1842). The fall 

of the fort in 1818 was a critical event in the 

American acquisition of Florida from Spain 

in 1821.

The Freedom Tower (Miami, Miami 

Dade County) was the home of the Miami 

Daily News, from 1925 to 1957. From 1967 to 

1974, the U.S. government used the building 

as a refugee processing center for Cuban 

immigrants. The building is fashioned in the 

Mediterranean Revival style, detailed with 

Spanish Baroque treatments, and inspired by 

the Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain. (Also a 

National Historic Landmark)

Gonzalez-Alvarez House (St. Augustine, 

St. Johns County) is the oldest surviving 

house in St. Augustine. The original singlestory dwelling was built prior to 1723, using 

tabby, a common building material in the 

Spanish-American period consisting of a 

mix of lime, shell, and sand. 

San Luis de Apalachee (Tallahassee, 

Léon County) was the principal mission 

of 14 missions in Florida, Georgia, and the 

Carolinas, and the administrative center of 

the Spanish province from 1675 to 1704. It 

includes a reconstructed Spanish colonial 

mission, presidio, and house site. 

St. Augustine Town Plan Historic 

District (St. Augustine, St. Johns 

County) encompasses the site of the 

oldest continuously occupied, non-native 

settlement in the United States. Part of 

Ponce de León’s 1513 claim to La Florida, St. 

Augustine was established as the site of a 

Spanish military base in 1565 and became the 

seat of Spanish rule in North America for the 

following 200 years. 

Ybor City Historic District (Tampa, 

Hillsborough County) consists of seven 

blocks surrounding the Ybor Factory 

Building on land purchased by Spanish 

cigar manufacturer, Vincent Martinez Ybor. 

Ybor brought Cuban workers to Tampa in 

substantial numbers and developed a city to 

house, entertain, and support the growing 

Cuban and cigar-worker population. (Also 

documented in the Historic American 

Buildings Survey)

Georgia

Saint Catherine’s Island (South Newport 

vicinity, Liberty) witnessed the turbulent 

history of Spanish missionary attempts to 

convert the native Guale peoples since 

1568. By 1684 the Spanish and Indians 

abandoned the site after numerous raids 

by British forces. The island was then 

converted into a plantation during the 18th 

and 19th centuries. 

Louisiana

Presidio de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de 

los Adaes (Robeline, Natchitoches Parish)

was established by the Spanish as a defense 

against French and Indian attacks. The 

presidio was the capital of the province 

of Texas from 1722-1773 and represents 

the eastern-most boundary of the Spanish 

Southwest. 

New Mexico

Barrio de Analco (Santa Fe, Santa Fe 

County) dates back to the recolonization of 

New Mexico by the Spanish in the late-17th 

century. Settled by Nauha-speaking allies 

of the Spaniards, the district contains 
82 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

several examples of Spanish-Pueblo 

architecture, the most notable being the 

Chapel of San Miguel. 

El Santuario de Chimayo (Chimayo, Santa 

Fe County) is considered to be one of the 

most beautiful examples of Spanish Colonial 

architecture in New Mexico. Built in 1816, it 

is notable for original interior decorations 

that reflect a mixture of Spanish and Indian 

influences. The church performs daily

mass and receives more than 200,000 

visitors annually. 

Las Trampas Historic District (Las 

Trampas, Taos County) is one of the 

few remaining sites in New Mexico that 

retains its distinct plaza plan. Settled 

in 1751 by 12 families from Santa Fe, the 

Spanish-American agricultural community 

preserves many of its 18th- and 19th- century 

characteristics.

Palace of the Governors (Santa Fe, Santa 

Fe County) was erected (1610-12) as the 

fortress of the royal presidio of Santa Fe. 

The Palacio Real is the oldest public building 

built by European settlers in the continental 

United States. It served as the residence 

of the Spanish, Mexican, and American 

governors of New Mexico until 1907, and 

illustrates Pueblo Indian and Spanish 

methods of construction and design. 

Salinas Pueblo Missions National 

Monument (Gran Quivira, Socorro 

County) was a site of interaction between 

thriving Pueblo communities and 17thcentury Franciscans who found the area ripe 

for their missionary efforts. By the late 1670s, 

both Indians and Spaniards had left the area.

San Estevan Del Rey Mission (Acoma, 

Valencia County) was established in 1642 

by Spanish missionaries who settled in New 

Mexico. The mission occupies the site of 

Pueblo Acoma, which dates back to AD 1100, 

making it one of the oldest continuously 

occupied settlements in the United States. 

Its unique architectural style combines 

natural construction materials and details 

with European plan and form.

San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church 

(Ranchos de Taos, Taos County) was 

completed in 1816. It is an excellent example 

of the New Mexican Spanish Colonial 

church, renowned for its massive whitestuccoed adobe walls. It is considered the 

best example of Franciscan architectural 

design with New World building techniques.

San Gabriel del Yunque-Ouinge (San 

Juan Pueblo, Rio Arriba County) was the 

first European settlement established in 

New Mexico. It subsequently served as the 

Spanish capital of the colony. It was founded 

within an abandoned Tewa pueblo and was 

occupied by Spanish colonists from 1598 

until about 1609. 

San Jose de Gracia Church (Las Trampas, 

Taos County) was erected between 1760 

and 1776. It is one of the best-preserved 

and most- representative examples of the 

Spanish Colonial churches in New Mexico. 

Interior decoration includes paintings on 

carved wooden reredos (wooden screen 

behind the altar) and sidewalls and under 

the balcony.

Puerto Rico

Caparra (Guaynabo Municipality) or 

La Ciudad de Puerto Rico as it was known 

originally, was the island’s first capital. Juan 

Ponce de León, Puerto Rico’s first governor, 

established this first European settlement on 

the island in 1508. 
Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 83

South Carolina

Charlesfort-Santa Elena (Beaufort, 

Beaufort County), was founded in 1566 and 

served as the first capital of Spanish Florida 

until 1587. The site is significant for its role in 

the competition between Spain and France 

for North American territories. 

Texas

Mission San Antonio de Valero (San 

Antonio, Bexar County), also known as 

the Alamo, ceased to be an active mission 

in 1793. It was used by the Mexican military 

in 1802 and played a pivotal role during the 

Texas revolution against Mexico in the 1836 

Battle of Alamo.

Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la 

Bahia (Goliad, Goliad County) was built 

in 1749 on a hill just south of present-day 

Goliad. Also known as La Bahia, it was one 

of the major links between Mexico and east 

Texas and was the principal military post 

between San Antonio and the Rio Grande.

Treviño-Uribe Rancho (San Ygnacio, 

Zapata County) was originally built as a 

ranch by Jesús Treviño in 1830. Over the 

years, the building evolved into a fortified 

ranching complex and is one of the nation’s 

most significant examples of Hispanic 

vernacular architecture. 

San Antonio Missions National Park (San 

Antonio, Bexar County) consists of more 

than 80 structures, 4 which are Spanish 

colonial missions. The frontier missions, 

part of a colonization system that stretched 

across the Spanish Southwest in the 17th, 

18th, and 19th centuries, helped Spain 

administer its colonial holdings. 

They include the following:

Mission San Jose y Miguel de Aguayo

is the best known of the missions, 

founded in 1720. Viewed as the model 

of mission organization and with its 

unique Baroque architecture, Mission 

San Juan earned the name of “Queen of 

the Missions.”

Mission San Juan Capistrano was the 

headquarters of the chief administrator 

of the Texas missions. Established in 

1731, Mission San Juan is important 

to the understanding of the mission 

system in the American Southwest.

Mission San Francisco de la Espada is 

the southernmost of the mission chain, 

nearly unchanged since its founding 

in 1690. Mission Espada pursued the 

Spanish missionary policy into the 

1800s, developing viable agricultural 

production and with spiritual and 

vocational training of the Indians. 

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purisíma 

Concepcion de Acuña is one of the oldest 

surviving mission churches in the 

American Southwest. It once served as 

the centerpiece of a large missionary 

compound. (Also documented by the 

Historic American Buildings Survey)

Espada Acequia and Espada Aqueduct

are part of the only remaining Spanishbuilt irrigation system of its type in 

the United States and are included in 

the San Antonio Missions National 

Historical Park. Built by Indian 

converts, the acequia channeled 

potable water from the nearby San 

Antonio River through the sturdy 

masonry aqueduct that served five area 

missions. (Also documented by Historic 

American Engineering Record)

Spanish Governor’s Palace (San Antonio, 

Bexar County) was originally built in 1772 

to protect Mission San Antonio de Valero, 

and its surrounding colony. It served as 

the seat of the Texas government and the 

capitol building and is the only remaining 

example in Texas of an early aristocratic 

Spanish house.
84 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Virgin Islands

Columbus Landing Site (Christiansted, St. 

Croix Island) is the only known place where 

members of Columbus’s expedition set foot 

on what is now U.S. territory. It was the site 

of the first documented conflict between 

Europeans and Indians. 

Historic American 

Buildings Survey

California

Royal Presidio Chapel (Monterey, 

Monterey County) was established in 1795. 

It is the only remaining presidio chapel in 

California and the sole surviving structure 

of the original Monterey Presidio. It served 

as the State Church of Spanish California 

and held state-sponsored ceremonies.

Pico House (Los Angeles, Los Angeles 

County) is named for Pio de Jesus Pico 

who was the last Mexican governor of Alta 

California in 1831. Believed to be of mixed 

heritage, Pico helped transform Los Angeles 

into a metropolitan city (1834-1880). The 

three-story, palazzo-style structure was built 

as a hotel venture to attract local merchants. 

District of Columbia

Farragut Square (Washington D.C.) was 

named in honor of Civil War hero Admiral 

David Glasgow Farragut, son of Spanish 

parents, who was raised in Tennessee. 

President Andrew Johnson and the U.S. 

Congress commissioned Farragut the Navy’s 

first full admiral in 1866. Farragut is famous 

for the phrase, “Damn the torpedoes, full 

speed ahead!” A statue of Admiral Farragut 

stands in the square.

Florida

Gulf Islands National Seashore (Santa 

Rosa, Pensacola) includes an archeological 

site of a Spanish village, Santa Rosa. The 

site was identified by the Spanish in 1528. 

However, a permanent settlement in 

Pensacola Bay was not established until 

1698. Control of the bay area changed hands 

among the Spanish, French, and British 

during the 18th century. 

The F. Mayo Building (Tampa, 

Hillsborough) housed one the major 

Spanish theaters in the area. The theater 

was popular with the cigar workers, many 

of Cuban descent, and is the last surviving 

theater in Ybor City.

Ybor Cigar Factory (Tampa, Hillsborough 

County) was built in 1866 and was the largest 

hand-rolled cigar complex in Florida during 

its period. The factory employed a large 

number of Cubans and other Hispanics, and 

by 1900, became the cigar capital of the U.S.

Puerto Rico

Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción 

of Cayey (Guayama Municipality)

was completed in 1779 and is one of the 

oldest buildings in the town of Hatillo. It 

represents the Spanish colonial ecclesiastical 

architectural tradition in Puerto Rico.

Faro de Punta Borinquén (Aguadilla 

Municipality) was originally built in 1889. 

The lighthouse provided navigation for 

ships through the Mona Passage and into 

the Caribbean Sea. The strait between the 

islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico was 

dangerous and the lighthouse provided a 

vital marker for sea-bound ships.

Hacienda Buena Vista (Ponce 

Municipality) encompasses the basic 

processing elements for a corn and coffee 

plantation in mid-19th-century Puerto 

Rico. It is significant for its role in 

agricultural practices. 
Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 85

SS ANTONIO LÓPEZ (Dorado Vicinity)

was an important blockade runner during 

the Spanish-American War. Its significance 

lies in engineering and architecture, with 

its steel construction and electrical lighting 

system, as well as being the only Caribbean 

shipwreck from the war that has been 

located and investigated. (This property is 

also a National Historic Landmark)

Texas

Leocadia Leandro Garcia House (Roma, 

Starr County) was built during the 1850s 

and exemplifies the period of transition in 

the Southwest, post Mexican-American 

War. Border troubles in Texas during the 

19th century encouraged movement in both 

directions across the Rio Grande. 

Mission Nuestra Señora del Socorro 

(Socorro, El Paso County) is believed to be 

the oldest continuous settlement in Texas. 

It was first settled by Spanish and Piro 

Indian refugees from the 1680 Pueblo 

Uprisings in New Mexico. The current 

mission was reconstructed by Mexican 

missionaries and their Indian converts 

in 1840, using the ceiling beams from the 

original 18th century building. 

San Augustin de Laredo District (Laredo, 

Webb County) was the capital of “The 

Republic of the Rio Grande,” a short-lived 

attempt along the Texas-Mexico border 

to break from Mexico in 1839-1840. Many 

buildings in the district reflect Spanish and 

Mexican influences, using local building 

styles and technologies.

Historic American 

Engineering Record

California

California Citrus Heritage Recording 

Project (Riverside, Riverside County)

identified and documented several 

significant historical features of the 

citrus-dominated landscape of Riverside, 

California, including the Gage Irrigation 

Canal. The industry is linked to Spanish 

Colonial technological heritage and 

mission policies, and the Hispanic labor 

heritage in California.
86 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Books

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Reflections on the Origins and Spread of 

Nationalism. Revised edition. New York: 

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Barton, Craig E., ed. Sites of Memory: 

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Brear, Hally Beachley. Inherit the Alamo: 

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Brooks, James F. Captives and Cousins: 

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Cadaval, Olivia. Creating a Latino Identity in 

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Carter, Thomas. Images of an American 

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Chávez, Thomas E. An Illustrated History 

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De León, Arnoldo. Mexican Americans in 

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Forrest, Suzanne. The Preservation of the 

Village: New Mexico’s Hispanics and the 

New Deal. Albuquerque: University of 

New Mexico Press, 1989.

Fox, Geoffrey E. Hispanic Nation: Culture, 

Politics, and the Constructing of Identity.

Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 

1996.

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González, Juan. Harvest of Empire: A History 

of Latinos in America. New York: Penguin 

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González, Juan L., Jr. Racial and Ethnic 

Groups in America. Fifth edition. 

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Gordon, Colin, ed. Major Problems in 

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Griswold del Castillo, Richard. The Los 

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1979.

Grosfoguel, Ramón. Colonial Subjects: 

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Gutiérrez, David G., ed. Columbia History of 

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York: Columbia University Press, 2004.

Gutiérrez, Ramón. When Jesus Came, the 

Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, 

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1991.

Hayden, Dolores. The Power of Place: Urban 

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Lane, James B. and Edward J. Escobar. 

Forging a Community: the Latino 

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1975. Chicago: Cattails Press, 1987.

Meier, Matt, and Feliciano Ribera. Mexican 

Americans, American Mexicans: From 

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edition. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. 
Hispanic Heritage in the National Park Service Cultural Resources Programs 87

Meyer, Doris. Speaking for Themselves: New 

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Menard, Valerie. The Latino Holiday Book: 

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Menchaca, Martha. The Mexican Outsiders: 

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_________. Recovering History, Constructing 

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Monroy, Douglas. Thrown Among Strangers: 

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Novas, Himilce. Everything You Need to 

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Oboler, Suzanne. Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives: 

Identity and the Politics of (Re)presentation 

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University of Minnesota Press, 1995.

Olmos, Edward James, Lea Ybarra, and 

Carlos Fuentes. Americanos: Latino Life in 

the United States. Boston: Little Brown and 

Company, 1999.

Rosales, Francisco A. Chicano!: The History 

of the Mexican American Civil Rights 

Movement. Houston, TX: Arte Publico 

Press University of Houston, 1996.

Ruiz, Vicki L. From Out of the Shadows: 

Mexican Women in Twentieth Century 

America. New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1998.

Ruiz, Vicki L. and Virginia Sanchez Korrol. 

Latina Legacies: Identity Biography and 

Community. New York: Oxford University 

Press, 2005.

Sanchez, Mario L., ed. A Shared Experience: 

The History, Architecture and Historic 

Designations of the Lower Rio Grande 

Heritage Corridor. Austin: Los Camino del 

Rio Heritage Project and Texas Historical 

Commission, 1991.

Shorris, Earl. Latinos: A Biography of the 

People. New York: Avon, 1992.

Upton, Dell, ed. America’s Architectural 

Roots: Ethnic Groups that Built America.

Washington, DC: Preservation Press, 1986.

Vento, Armando Carlos. Mestizo: The 

History, Culture, and Politics of the 

Mexican and the Chicano: The Emerging 

Mestizo-Americans. Lanham, MD: 

University Press of America, 1998.

Vigil, James Diego. From Indians to Chicanos: 

The Dynamics of Mexican American 

Culture. Prospects Heights, IL: Waveland 

Press, 1998.

Villa, Raúl Homero. Barrio-Logos: Space 

and Place in Urban Chicano Literature and 

Culture. Austin: University of Texas Press, 

2000. 

Weber, David J. The Spanish Frontier in 

North America. New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1997.

___________, ed. Foreigners in Their Native 

Land: the Historical Roots of Mexican 

Americans. Albuquerque: University of 

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__________. Myth and the History of the 

Hispanic Southwest. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press, 1988 

[2002].

White, Richard. “It’s Your Misfortune and 

None of My Own:” A New History of the 

American West. Norman: University of 

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88 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Articles, Periodicals, and Reports

American Association for State and Local 

History. History News, Diversity in and for 

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Brear, Holly Beachley. “The Alamo’s 

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9-11.

Civil Rights in America Theme Study: Racial 

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Crespi, Muriel (Miki). “Raising Muted 

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Conserving Earthen Architecture/

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the Nation-State, Mexico and the United 

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History Vol. 86, No. 2 (September 1999).

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the United States Theme Study. National 

Historic Landmarks Survey, National 

Park Service, U.S. Department of the 

Interior, August 2000.

Vasquez, Miguel. “Latinos—¡Viva La 

Diferencia!” CRM Vol. 24, No. 5 (2001): 

22-24.

Winks, Robin. “Sites of Shame: Disgraceful 

Episodes From our Past Should be 

Included in the Park System to Present 

a Complete Picture of our History.”

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Young, Lola. “Rethinking Heritage: Cultural 

Policy and Inclusion.” In Museums, 

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Sandell. New York: Routledge, 2002.

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Guzmán, Betsy. Census 2000 Brief: Hispanic 

Population. Washington, DC: U.S. Census 

Bureau, 2001.

Henderson, Richard R., ed. Preliminary 

Inventory of Spanish Colonial Resources 

associated with National Park Service 

Units and National Historic Landmarks, 

Second Edition. In association with US/

ICOMOS. Washington, DC: United States 

Committee, International Council on 

Monuments and Sites, 1987. 

Kanellos, Nicolás, ed. The HispanicAmerican Almanac: a reference work on 

Hispanics in the United States. Detroit: 

Gale Research, 1993. 
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Mesa-Lago, Carmelo, ed. Cuban Studies / 

Estudios Cubanos. [Annual, 1970- ] 

Recording a Vanishing Legacy: The Historic 

American Buildings Survey in New Mexico, 

1933-today. New Mexico Architectural 

Foundation & the American Institute of 

Architects, in association with the New 

Mexico Historic Preservation Division. 

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2001.

Shinagawa, Larry Hajime and Michael Jang, 

eds. Atlas of American Diversity. Walnut 

Creek, Calif.: Alta Mira Press, 1998.

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United States. Foster, David William, ed. 

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Wheeler, Lucy Pope and Chambers, S. 

Allen, Jr., editors. Texas Catalog, Historic 

American Buildings Survey. Compiled by 

Paul Goeldner. San Antonio, TX: Trinity 

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Woodbridge, Sally B. California Architecture,

Historic American Buildings Survey. San 

Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1988.

A

acequia system, 18, 31–32n54, 75, 83

Adaeseños, 55

Africans

in American identity creation, 53–54, 66

civil rights activism by, 21, 30n46

settlement of Texas by, 25–26n11

 as Spanish slaves, 8, 10, 12, 49n18, 

60, 62

agriculture, 5–6, 14–15, 26nn15–16. 

See also migrant farm labor

Alarcón, Hernan de, 64, 69n24

Almances Hernandez, 48n8

Alvarado, Pedro de, 11

Amadeo, Mike, 39

American culture, Hispanic influences 

on generally, 12–14, 67n6

American Revolution, 19, 53, 78

Anazazi, 25n3, 75

Anderson, Benedict, 32n62

Antonio López, SS, 85

Anza, Juan Bautista de, 45, 50n20, 65–66,

70nn28–29

Anza Expedition of 1776, 65–66, 70–71nn28–31

Anzaldúa, Gloria, 22

Anza National Historic Trail, 65–66, 

70–71nn28–31, 78

Apache Indians, 78

arborglyphs, 23

Archaeology on the Border: The Naco,

Arizona Port of Entry, 56–58

architecture styles

Barrio Azteca Historic District, 76

Castillo de San Marcos, 74

Franciscan, 82

Hispanic influence on, 15–17, 31nn48–49

Hispanic vernacular, 83

Jose Maria Alviso Adobe, 73

Juan de Anza House, 79

La Purísima Mission, 79

Lopez Adobe, 73

Los Alamos Ranch House, 74

Los Rios Street Historic District, 74

Luis Maria Peralta Adobe, 74

mission, 17, 75, 78, 80

Mission Dolores (Mission San Francisco

 de Asís), 44–45, 65, 74

Monterey Colonial Style, 79

Monterey Revival, 17

Nebraska, 16, 31n50

Pueblo Revival, 17, 64

Renaissance, 81

Spanish Baroque, 81

Spanish Colonial, 15–16, 31n49, 60–62, 

 74, 75, 82

Spanish Colonial Revival, 16, 31n50, 64

Spanish Eclectic, 17

Spanish-Mexican colonial plaza, 80

Spanish-Pueblo, 80–81

Arista, Mariano, 58

Arizona

Archaeology on the Border: The Naco,

 Arizona Port of Entry, 56–58

Barrio Libre, 73

Coronado National Memorial, 78

El Presidio Historic District, 73

El Tiradito (Wishing Shrine), 73

history of, 2–5

Mission Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi, 78

San Bernardino Ranch, 78

San Xavier del Bac Mission (San Xavier

 Indian Reservation), 78

Sierra Bonita Ranch, 78

Tumacácori Museum, 78

Tumacácori National Historical Park

 National Monument, 78

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, 

 63–64, 70n26

Arkansas

Arkansas Post, 78

Dionicio Rodríguez Sculptures, T.R. Pugh 

 Memorial Park, 73

Artigas, José Gervasio, 54, 67nn3–4

Association for Preservation Technology 

International conference, 69n19

Index 91

Index
92 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

B

Bahamas, 1

Barbados, 1

Barbéra, Juan Bautista, 37

Barrio Azteca Historic District, 76

Barrio de Analco, 81–82

Barrio Libre, 73

Basques, 40–42, 48n12, 49n13, 74

Bastidas, Rodrigo de, 12

Batista, Fulgenico, 9

Bertholet, Raymond, 56

Biltmore, Havana, 43

Bolivar, Símon, 29n34, 54, 67n3

Borderland crossing, 63–64

Borderlands/La Frontera (Anzaldúa), 22

Bracero History Project, 23

Bracero Program, 7, 14, 26–27n19, 36

Brinley District, 64

Briones, Genero, 77

C

Cabrillo, Juan Rodriquez, 3, 73

Cabrillo National Monument, 73

California

Cabrillo National Monument, 73

California Citrus Heritage Recording 

 Project, 46–47, 85

Carmel Mission, 79

Estudillo House, 79

Forty Acres, 79

history of, 2–5

Jose Maria Alviso Adobe, 73

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic 

 Trail (Anza National Historic Trail), 

 65–66, 70–71nn28–31, 78

Juan de Anza House, 79

La Purísima Mission, 79

Lopez Adobe, 73

Los Alamos Ranch House, 74

Los Cerritos Ranch House, 79

Los Rios Street Historic District, 74

Luis Maria Peralta Adobe, 74

Mission Dolores (Mission San Francisco 

 de Asís), 44–45, 65, 74

Mission San Miguel Arcangel, 79

Monterey Old Town Historic District, 79

New Almaden Mining Historic District, 

 79–80

Old Mission Dam, 80

Padua Hills Theatre, 74

Petaluma Adobe, 80

Pico House, 84

Presidio of San Francisco, 19, 80

Rancho Camulos, 80

repatriation programs in, 26n18

Riverside, 46–47

Royal Presidio Chapel, 84

San Diego de Alcalà Mission Church, 80

San Diego Presidio, 80

San Francisco, discovery of, 45, 50n20, 

 70n28

San Juan Bautista Plaza Historic District, 80

Santa Fe Hotel, 41–42, 74

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, 

 63–64, 70n26

California Citrus Heritage Recording Project, 

46–47, 85

California Gold Rush, 6, 64, 70n24, 79–80

Canary Islands, 25n1

Cane River Travel Itinerary, 56

Caparra, 82

Caribbean Islands

influences on Hispanic culture, 1, 20–21

mining in, 26n17

population statistics, 4

preservation efforts, 22, 69n19

Spanish discovery of, 12

as Spanish territory, 3–4, 8, 10

strategic importance of, 1, 8, 27n23, 84, 85

Teaching with Historic Places program, 

 60–62, 66, 67n4

tobacco cultivation in, 43

Caribs, 12, 60

Carlos III (King of Spain), 69n23

Carmel Mission, 79

Carson-Perham Adobe, 80

Casa Amadeo, Antigua Casa Hernández, 

39, 48n8, 75

Castillo de San Cristóbal, 61

Castillo de San Marcos, 74

Castolon Historic District, 76

Castro, Fidel, 9, 42

Cathedral of St Augustine, 80

cattle ranching, 39–40, 48nn10–11, 74, 78
Centro Asturiano, 74

Chamizal National Memorial, 76

Chamizal Treaty, 76

Chapel of San Miguel, 81

Charlesfort-Santa Elena Site, 76, 83

Chávez, César, 15, 31n47, 79

Chibchuas, 12

Chicano Park, 14, 30n44

Chicanos, 7, 32n63, 78

Christianity, conversion of natives to, 1–3

Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción 

of Cayey, 84

cigar industry, 43–44, 49–50nn18–19, 81, 84

Cine El Ray Theater, 76

Civilian Conservation Corps, 79

Civil War, 19, 77

Colbert’s Raid, 78

Cold War, 42–43

Collins, Leroy, 49n15

Colorado

arborglyphs in, 23

Spanish settlement of, 2, 70n25

Trujillo Homestead, 39–40, 48nn10–11, 74

Colorado Historical Society, 48n10

Colorado River, 63, 64, 70nn26–27

Columbia/Columbians, 12, 29nn35–36

Columbus, Christopher, 1, 9, 41, 60

Columbus Landing Site, 84

Coming up on the Season: Migrant 

Farmworkers in the Northeast, 47, 51n24

Cooke, Phillip, 70n24

Cornell University, 47, 51n24

Coronado, Francisco Vásquez, 3, 64, 69n24, 78

Coronado National Memorial, 78

Costanoan Indians, 50n20

Costa Rica, 29n34

criollos, 53, 67n1

Cuban Assistance Center (Freedom Tower, 

“El Refugio”), 42–43, 81

Cubans

history of, 9–10, 28n27

immigration to Florida, 49nn15–17

population statistics, 4, 13, 28n28

War of Independence, 50n19

cultural heritage commemorations, 50n23

D

dendroglyphs, 49n13

De Soto National Memorial, 75

Diaz, José, 27n20

Dionico Rodriguez sculptures

Memorial Park Cemetery, 37, 48n3, 73, 76

Texas generally, 77

District of Columbia, 13–14, 84

Dologaray, Martin, 41

Dominican Republic, 1, 10–11, 28nn29–30

Dominicans, 4, 10–11, 13

Duarte, Juan Pablo, 11

Dunn Mexican Repatriation Program, 26n18

E

Eisenhower, Dwight, 49n15

El Camino Real, 55, 58, 69–70n24, 74

El Cañuelo, 69n22

El Centro Español de Tampa, 80

El Cerro Tome, 75

El Morro National Monument, 75

El Presidio Historic District, 73

El Rancho de las Golondrinas, 

Acequia System, 75

“El Refugio” (Cuban Assistance Center, 

Freedom Tower), 42–43, 81

El Salvador, 11, 28–29nn31–33. 

See also Salvadorans

El Santuario de Chimayo, 82

El Tiradito (Wishing Shrine), 73

el trabajo rustic (faux bois) tradition, 76, 77

encomienda system, 25n10, 68–69n17

Espada Acequia, 18, 31–32n54, 83

Estudillo, Jose Antonio, 79

Estudillo House, 79

F

F. Mayo Building, 84

Farm Security Administration, 36

farm workers. See migrant farm labor

Faro de Punta Borinquén, 84

Farragut, David, 19–20, 31nn57–58, 84

Farragut, Jorge, 19

Farragut Square, 84

Index 93
94 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

faux bois (el trabajo rustic) tradition, 76, 77

Flores, Enrique, 38

Florida

Castillo de San Marcos, 74

Cathedral of St Augustine, 80

Centro Asturiano, 74

Cuban immigration to, 49nn15–17

De Soto National Memorial, 75

El Centro Español de Tampa, 80

F. Mayo Building, 84

Fort San Carlos de Barrancas, 80–81

Fort San Marcos De Apalache, 81

Freedom Tower (Cuban Assistance 

 Center, “El Refugio”), 42–43, 81

Gonzalez-Alvarez House, 81

Gulf Islands National Seashore, 84

history of, 32n56

San Luis de Apalachee, 81

St. Augustine Town Plan Historic 

 District, 81

Ybor Cigar Factory, 84

Ybor City Historic District, 43–44, 74, 

 81, 84

FMLN (Farabundo Martí Front for 

National Liberation), 11

Forked Lightning Ranch, 75

Fort San Carlos de Barrancas, 80–81

Fort San Marcos De Apalache, 81

forts in Puerto Rico, 61–62, 69nn18–23

“Forts of Old San Juan: Guardians of the 

Caribbean, The,” 60–62, 66, 67n4

Fort Stockton Historic District 

(Comanche Springs), 76

Forty Acres, 79

Four Point Plan, 27n23

Franciscan architecture, 82

Freedom Tower (Cuban Assistance Center, 

“El Refugio”), 42–43, 81

French and Indian War (Seven Year’s War), 

32n56, 55

G

Gadsden Purchase Treaty of 1853, 67n9

Gage Irrigation Canal, 46

Gálvez, Bernardo de, 12–13, 19, 54, 67n3

Garcés, Francisco, 70n28

Genero P. and Carolina Briones House 

(House of Dreams), 76–77

Georgia, 81

Gila River, 63, 64, 70n26

Giralda Tower, 43, 81

Goméz, Juan, 30n46

González, Juan, 22, 25n2

Gonzalez, Manuel, 74

Gonzalez-Alvarez House, 81

Gordillo, Francisco, 2

Guale Indians, 81

Gulf Islands National Seashore, 84

Gulf War, 19, 20

Gutiérrez, Gavin, 50n19

Guyana, 29n34

H

Hacienda Buena Vista, 84

Haiti, 10, 28n29

Harvest of Empire (González), 22, 25n2

Haya, Ignacio, 50n19

Hernández, Jesùs, 39

Hernández, Rafael, 39

Hernández, Victoria, 39, 48n8

Hinds, E. Clovis, 37

Hispanic cultural evolution, 20

Hispanic Diaspora, 41

Hispanic Heroes: National Monuments 

to Great Liberators, 53–54, 67n4

Hispanic vernacular architecture, 83

Hispanic vs. Latino, 3–4, 25n4

Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), 

44, 84–85

Historic American Engineering Record 

(HAER), 45, 85

historic districts, 6. See also specific districts

Hooker, Henry C., 78

hornwork, 69n22

I

immigration

Cubans, to Florida, 49nn15–17

importance of connections in, 49n14

Immigration and Nationality Act, 12, 28n30
J

Jackson, Andrew, 81

Jamaica, 1

Johnson, Andrew, 84

Jones-Shafroth Act, 8, 27n24

Jose Antonio Navarro Complex, 77

Jose Maria Alviso Adobe, 73

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic 

Trail (Anza National Historic Trail), 

65–66, 70–71nn28–31, 78

Juan de Anza House, 79

Juárez, Benito Pablo, 54, 67n3

K

Kennedy, John, 49n15

Kimball, Thomas, 31n50

Kino, Eusebio, 58, 69–70n24, 78

Korean War, 19, 20

L

labor unions

historical sites, 79

history of, 14–15, 30–31nn46–47

La Fortaleza, el Castillo de San Filipe del 

Morro (El Morro), 61, 62, 69nn18–23

Lamesa Farm Workers Community 

Historic District, 35–36, 47, 77

land claims, history of, 26n13

La Purísima Mission, 79

Laredo, TX, 4

Las Trampas Historic District, 82

Lasuén, Fray Fermín Francisco de, 79

Latin America, 1–3, 32n62

Latino, Hispanic vs., 3–4, 25n4

Laws of the Indies (Ordinances for 

New Towns), 15, 17, 31n48

Leocadia Leandro Garcia House, 85

León, Ponce de, 68n13, 81

Leonard Schultze and S. Fullerton Weaver, 43

lighthouses, 84

Lopez, Geronimo, 73

Lopez Adobe, 73

Los Adaes, 19, 54–56, 69–70n24, 81

Los Alamos Ranch House, 74

Los Angeles, CA, 84

Los Cerritos Ranch House, 79

Los Rios Street Historic District, 74

Louisiana, 19, 54–56, 69–70n24, 81

Luis Maria Peralta Adobe, 74

M

Maldonado, Cpt., 1–2

Mariscal Mine, 77

Marranos, 76

Martí, José, 67n2

Mary Rogers Kimball House, 16

Mass Grave of the Mexican Miners, 75

Mediterranean Revival architecture, 43

Memorial Park Cemetery, Dionico Rodriguez 

sculptures, 37, 48n3, 73, 76

Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro, 76

mestizos, 53, 54

metates, 67n6

Mexican-American War, 4, 20, 58–59, 77

Mexicans

history of, 4–7

migrant farm workers (See migrant 

 farm labor)

population statistics, 4, 13

Mexico (New Spain)

conquest of, 1–3

Revolution, 35, 76, 77

in Texas War for Independence, 58–59, 

 68nn11–13

Mexico City, 3

Mier, TX, 4

migrant farm labor

Cornell University exhibit, 47, 51n24

history of, 5–6, 14–15, 26nn15–16, 35–36, 

 48n2

Lamesa Farm Workers Community 

 Historic District, 35–36, 47, 77

Los Adaes, 54–56, 69–70n24

tamales and, 67n6

Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962, 

42, 49n15

military history, 19–20, 31nn57–59

mining

Hispanic heritage in, 5–6, 26n17, 58, 68n10

historical sites, 75, 77–80

Index 95
96 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Misfortunes of Alonso Ramìrez, The (Siqüenza y 

Góngora), 12, 29n37

Mission, TX, 37, 48n6

Mission Dolores (Mission San Francisco 

de Asís), 44–45, 65, 74

Mission Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi, 78

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purisíma d

e Acuña Concepcion, 83

Mission Nuestra Señora del Socorro, 85

Mission of San Diego, 80

missions

architecture, 17, 75, 78, 80

establishment of, 3, 5, 31n53, 41

historical impact of, 2, 3, 15, 18, 25n2

maps, 2

purpose of, 50n21

Mission San Antonio de Valero 

(the Alamo), 19, 83

Mission San Francisco de la Espada, 83

Mission San Jose y Miguel de Aguayo, 83

Mission San Miguel Arcangel, 79

Mission San Miguel de los Adaes, 54–56, 

69–70n24

Miwok Indians, 45, 50n20

Molina Block, 64

Monroe, James, 67n4

Monroe Doctrine, 67n4

Monterey Colonial Style architecture, 79

Monterey Old Town Historic District, 79

Monterey Revival architecture, 17

Mt. Calvary Cemetery, 75

murals, 14, 30n43, 79

N

Naco, AZ/Mexico, 58, 67n9

National Historic Landmarks, 42, 78–85

National Latino Festival, 14

National Park Service, 54, 56, 60, 71n31, 78

National Register of Historic Places, 35, 73–78

nauhaulismos, 67n6

Návarez, Pánfilo de, 1

Navarro, Jose Antonio, 77

navel orange industry, 46–47

Nebraska, 16, 31n50

New Almaden Mining Historic District, 

6, 79–80

New Mexico

Barrio de Analco, 81–82

El Cerro Tome, 75

El Morro National Monument, 75

El Rancho de las Golondrinas, Acequia 

 System, 75

El Santuario de Chimayo, 82

history of, 2–5

Las Trampas Historic District, 82

Palace of the Governors, 82

Pecos National Historical Park, 75

Salinas Pueblo Missions National 

 Monument, 82

San Estevan Del Rey Mission, 82

San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church, 82

San Gabriel del Yunque-Ouinge, 82

San Jose de Gracia Church, 82

Santa Fe Historic District, 75

Taos Historic District, 75

New York, 39, 48n8, 75

O

Ocean to Ocean Bridge, 64

Ojeda, Alonso de, 12

Oklahoma, 75

Old Mission Dam, 80

Old Mission Socorro/El Paso 

“Lower Valley,” 77

Oñate, Juan de, 3, 69–70n24, 75

141st Infantry Regiment, 20, 32n59

Operation Wetback, 7

Ordinances for New Towns (Laws of 

the Indies), 15, 17, 31n48

Orozco, Jose, 14

“Our America” (Martí), 67n2

P

pachucos, 7

padrino (godfather), 49n14

Padua Hills Theatre, 74

Palace of the Governors, 82

Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site 

Memorial Illumination, 58–59, 68nn11–13, 

77
Palou, Francisco, 44, 74

Panama-California Exposition, 16

pan-Hispanic identity, 20–21, 30n42, 32n61, 

54, 67n2

Papago Indians, 78

Pecos National Historical Park, 75

pennisulares, 53

Pennsylvania, 13, 27n26, 30n40

Pensacola Bay, FL (Puerto d’Ancusi), 1–2, 84

Petaluma Adobe, 80

petroglyphs, 75

Philippines, Spanish cultural influence 

on, 25n1

Pico, Pio de Jesus, 84

Pico House, 84

Pima Indians, 78

Piro Indians, 77, 85

place names, Spanish influence on, 3, 12–13

Polk, James, 68n13

Pomo Indians, 50n20

Ponce de León, Juan, 1

Portola, Gaspar de, 45, 80

Presidio de Agustín del Tucson, 73

Presidio de Nuestra Señora del Pilar los Adaes, 

19, 54–56, 69–70n24, 81

Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la Bahia, 

77, 83

Presidio of San Francisco, 19, 80

Presidio of Santa Fe, 82

presidios

historical impact of, 15, 19

purpose of, 50n21, 55

San Juan National Historical Site, 75

Pueblo Acoma, 82

Pueblo Indians, 3

Pueblo Revival architecture, 17, 64

Pueblo Revolt (1680), 4–5, 25n10, 77, 85

pueblos, 15, 18, 50n21, 55

Puerto Ricans

history of, 8–9, 27nn23–24

population statistics, 4, 8, 13, 27n26

Puerto Rico

Antonio López, SS, 85

Caparra, 82

Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción 

 of Cayey, 84

Faro de Punta Borinquén, 84

forts in, 61–62, 69nn18–23

Hacienda Buena Vista, 84

history of, 8–9, 27nn23–24, 60–62, 68n13, 

 68n16, 69n19

San Juan National Historical Site, 75

Q

Quechan Indians (Yuma), 63–66, 70n25, 70n29

quicksilver (mercury), 79

R

racial tensions, 7, 39–40, 48nn10–11, 74

Rancho Camulos, 80

Reagan, Ronald, 29n33

repartimento system, 68–69n17

repatriation programs, 6–7, 26nn18–19

Revolutionary War, 19, 53, 78

Rhode Island, 76

Rio Grande City Downtown Historic 

District, 77

Rio Grande River, 76

Rio Grande Valley, 5

Rio Theater (Teatro La Paz/Xochil Art 

and Culture Center), 37–38, 78

Rivera, Diego, 14

Riverside, CA, 46–47

Rodriguez, Dionicio, 37, 48n3, 73, 76, 77

Rodriguez, Richard, 23, 33n70

“Roosevelt Corollary,” 67n4

Royal Presidio Chapel, 84

ruby red grapefruit, 37

S

Saint Catherine’s Island, 81

Salinas Pueblo Missions National 

Monument, 82

Salvadorans. See also El Salvador

history of, 11, 28–29nn31–33

population statistics, 4, 11, 13

San Antonio de Bexar, 19

San Antonio Missions National Historical 

Park, 18, 83

San Augustin de Laredo District, 85

San Bernardino Ranch, 78

Index 97
98 National Park Service | Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

San Cristóbal, 62, 69n23

San Diego, CA, 79

San Diego de Alcalà Mission Church, 80

San Diego Presidio, 80

San Estevan Del Rey Mission, 82

San Francisco, discovery of, 45, 50n20, 70n28

San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church, 82

San Gabriel del Yunque-Ouinge, 82

San Jose de Gracia Church, 82

San Juan, PR, 60–62, 69nn18–23

San Juan Bautista Plaza Historic District, 80

San Juan Capistrano Mission, 74

San Juan National Forest, 23

San Juan National Historical Site, 75

San Luis de Apalachee, 81

San Martin, José de, 54

Santa Fe Historic District, 75

Santa Fe Hotel, 41–42, 74

Santa Fe Trail, 75

Santo Domingo, 10

San Xavier del Bac Mission (San Xavier 

Indian Reservation), 78

San Ygnacio Historic District, 77

scholarship, Hispanic influence on, 21–24

Second Seminole War, 81

Sephardic Jews, 76

Serra, Junipero, 5, 26n12, 79, 80

Seven Year’s War (French and Indian War), 

32n56, 55

Shafter Historic Mining District, 78

sheep herding, 41, 48–49nn10–13

Sierra Bonita Ranch, 78

Siqueiros, David, 14

Siqüenza y Góngora, Carlos, 12, 29n37

Sleepy Lagoon Incident, 7, 27n20

Soto, Hernan de, 1–2, 75

South Carolina, 76, 83

Southeast Archeological Center, National 

Park Service, 57

Spanish-American War, 8, 9, 20, 28n27

Spanish Colonial architecture, 15–16, 31n49, 

60–62, 74, 75, 82

Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, 

16, 31n50, 64

Spanish creoles, 32n62

Spanish Eclectic architecture, 17

Spanish Frontier in North America, 

The (Weber), 22

Spanish Governor’s Palace, 83

Spanish Inquisition, 76

Spanish-Mexican colonial plaza architecture, 80

Spanish-Pueblo architecture, 80–81

Spanish settlement system, 50n21

St. Augustine, FL, 1, 74, 81

St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District, 81

St. Cecelia’s Cathedral, 16

St. Kitts, 1

St. Philomena’s Cathedral, 16

Stavans, Ilan, 23, 33n69

T

Taíno Indians, 8, 10, 60, 68n16

Taíno Revolt of 1511, 68n16

tamales, 67n6

Taos Historic District, 75

Taylor, Zachary, 58

Teaching with Historic Places program, 60–62, 

66, 67n4

Teatro La Paz/Xochil Art and Culture Center 

(Rio Theater), 37–38, 78

Tennessee, 37, 48n3, 76

Texas

Barrio Azteca Historic District, 76

Castolon Historic District, 76

Chamizal National Memorial, 76

Cine El Ray Theater, 76

Fort Stockton Historic District 

 (Comanche Springs), 76

Genero P. and Carolina Briones House 

 (House of Dreams), 76–77

history of, 4–5, 25–26n11

Jose Antonio Navarro Complex, 77

Lamesa Farm Workers Community 

 Historic District, 35–36, 47, 77

Leocadia Leandro Garcia House, 85

Mariscal Mine, 77

Mission Nuestra Señora del Socorro, 85

Mission San Antonio de Valero (the 

 Alamo), 19, 83

Old Mission Socorro/El Paso “Lower 

 Valley,” 77

Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la 

 Bahia, 77, 83

Rio Grande City Downtown Historic 
 District, 77

San Antonio Missions National Park, 

 18, 83

San Augustin de Laredo District, 85

San Ygnacio Historic District, 77

Shafter Historic Mining District, 78

Spanish Governor’s Palace, 83

Teatro La Paz/Xochil Art and Culture 

 Center (Rio Theater), 37–38, 78

Treviño-Uribe Rancho, 83

War for Independence, 5, 58–59, 

 68nn11–13, 83

tobacco industry, 43–44, 49–50nn18–19, 81, 84

Tobago, 1, 29n34

Touro Synagogue National Historic Site, 76

transhumance sheep herding techniques, 41, 

48–49nn10–13

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 26n13, 40, 

63–64, 70n25, 76

Treaty of Paris, 8, 9, 28n27

Treviño, Jesús, 83

Treviño-Uribe Rancho, 83

Trinidad, 1, 29n34

Trujillo, Pedro, 39–40, 48n11, 74

Trujillo, Rafael, 11, 28n30

Trujillo Homestead, 39–40, 48nn10–11, 74

Truman, Harry, 27n23

Tumacácori Museum, 78

Tumacácori National Historical Park/

National Monument, 78

U

United Farm Workers of America, 15, 31n47, 79

U.S. Census Bureau, 3, 4, 25n4

U.S. Customs Service, 58

V

Vallejo, Mariano S., 80

Venezuela, 29n34

Vietnam War, 19, 20

Virgin Islands, 84

W

War of 1812, 67n4

Wars of Independence, 53, 67n4

Wars of South American Independence, 29n34

Washington, DC, 13–14, 84

Weber, David J., 22

Whipple, Amiel Weeks, 64, 70n26

Wilson, Woodrow, 8

Works Progress Administration, 14

World War I, 19, 20, 77

World War II

Mariscal Mine, 77

Mexican-American service in, 7, 19, 20

migrant farm workers in, 48n2

Y

Ybor, Vincente Marítnez, 43, 50n19, 81

Ybor Cigar Factory, 84

Ybor City Historic District, 43–44, 74, 81, 84

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, 63–64, 

70n26

Yuma Uprising of 1781, 70n25, 70n29

Z

Zoot Suit Riots, 7, 27n20

Index 99