Heritage Trail Walking Tour

The Heritage Trail is made up of historic sites that are significant to the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, and to the community of San Antonio. The first Sisters arrived in San Antonio in 1869 and opened Santa Rosa Infirmary. In 1897, Mother Madeleine Chollet negotiated the purchase of 297 acres of the George W. Brackenridge, including his home. The Sisters moved their administrative offices and formation house to this location, immediately starting the construction of a Motherhouse (1900). A few years later, needing a large space for all of the Sisters to worship together, the Motherhouse Chapel was built (1907). The two sites are included in this walking tour; other sites are the convent cemetery, the Heritage Center exhibit (A Life for God and a Heart for Others), the Brackenridge Villa, Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, the Headwaters at Incarnate Word, and the Blue Hole (the headwaters of the San Antonio River).