Museum Foundation of Hebbronville

06/04/2026

The Sacred Heart Mission, Bruni, Texas, Webb County. The town was named after Antonio Bruni, an Italian immigrant who arrived in the area around 1877 and owned a general store and a ranch. Bruni became a station stop-over on the Texas-Mexican Railway about 1881, and by 1939 the population had increased with the discovery of the South Bruni oilfield. The first chapel was built in 1916 on land donated by the Bruni family. When the Franciscans arrived in Hebbronville in 1926, they took responsibility for the mission and started to build a new chapel made of wood and dedicated it to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. That same year, Bishop Ledvina blessed the chapel and celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. In 1973, the sacristy was added and in 1982, a brick exterior was added. It continues to be part of the Parish in Hebbronville and it is still under the care of the Franciscans.

06/02/2026

We are so very proud to announce that the Jim Hogg County Historical Commission has earned the Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Historical Commission for the 15th year in a row!! Idalia Davila, county Chair, working side by side with the Museum Foundation, has proven to be the most faithful in her service to the preservation of the history of our community and region. Congratulations to the team!

06/02/2026

I’m sharing this on our page because Greenhill Cemetery is a sacred place where many of our founders and pioneers are buried. Many of the families whose loved ones are buried there maintain their plots to honor their memories. Anyone who would steal from this place should be charged and prosecuted for theft. If you have any information regarding who took the fencing, please report it to the authorities.

Original post:

The Greenhill Cemetery Association was notified that PROPERTY WAS TAKEN FROM GREENHILL CEMETETERY

If you thought you were doing the Wied and Colwell families a favor by hauling off their galvanized cattle panels and tposts they removed to install a beautiful fence around their loved ones gravesites, you are mistaken. Please return their property.
If you saw the person(s) responsible for taking the property on Saturday afternoon May 30 or Sunday May 31, please let them know.

05/31/2026

We so appreciate his commitment to the history in our region and efforts and strides he has made in promoting the Franciscan story. Congratulation, Father Juan Jose, we love you and pray blessings on you for all your future endeavors.

05/25/2026

Remembering our very own -

Cristero Coffee sits across the street from the Jim Hogg County Veterans Memorial Plaza, with veterans memorials standing on either corner as reminders of the cost carried by small communities like this one.

This Memorial Day, we remember those from Jim Hogg County who gave their lives in service, including WWII fallen Eduardo Alaniz, Kelly H. Brown, Carlos H. Gallardo, Roberto Garza, Arnoldo Gomez, Ermilo Guzman, Allen C. Long, Edmundo Martinez, Rufino S. Muñoz, and Vietnam fallen Marcos Hinojosa.

This may not be a complete list, but it is enough to remind us that these were not abstract sacrifices. They were sons, brothers, uncles, neighbors, and classmates.

In our own family, my wife’s uncle Rigoberto Chacon was killed in Vietnam in 1965 before he had even become a United States citizen. His younger brother would later name his own son after him — a son who himself went on to earn a Bronze Star while serving in Afghanistan.

Today we pray for all who made the ultimate sacrifice so that our nation might remain free, independent, secure, and prosperous for future generations.

May they all rest in peace. 🇺🇸

05/25/2026

Did you know?

For every flag placed beside a headstone…
for every coin left behind in silence…
there is a story of sacrifice, brotherhood, courage, and loss.

This Memorial Day, we pause to honor the men and women who gave everything for a nation they believed in.
May they never be forgotten, and may their families always know their sacrifice matters.

Remember them. Honor them. Carry them with you.

05/21/2026

05/20/2026

The first stone for the new church of Our Lady of Guadalupe was blessed and laid on September 18, 1946. The construction started a few months later with Fr. Domingo Muñoz as the pastor. The construction lasted over eighteen years and several pastors contributed to the project: Fr. Domingo Muñoz (1946-1948, 1953-1954), Fr. Aloysius Morán (1948-1949), Fr. Juan Rábago (1950-1953), Fr. Manuel Romero (1954-1957), Fr. José Mercado (1957-1959) and Fr. Luis Velásquez (1960-1966). Pictured here is Fr. Domingo Muñoz, on his second term as pastor in 1954. He is reviewing the blueprints of the construction of the church with one of the contract workers. The roof was not yet constructed. The main entrance to the church is in the background. Above the entrance is the choir loft and stairs that will lead to the roof and bell towers.

05/20/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1E6PsxCa75/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Most people drive right past it without a second glance, but this humble stone arch in San Antonio is one of the most remarkable structures in all of North America. 🏛️⭐

Built by Franciscan missionaries and Native laborers around 1745, the Espada Aqueduct is the oldest European-built aqueduct still in use in the United States. That's right, still in use. Water has flowed through this hand-carved stone channel for nearly 300 years, originally carrying irrigation water from the San Antonio River to the fields of Mission San Francisco de la Espada.

Here's the part that'll stop you cold: while the American Revolution hadn't even happened yet, Spanish missionaries and the indigenous Coahuiltecan people were already engineering a working water system in Texas that would outlast every empire that tried to claim this land. 💧🌵

Have you ever visited the Espada Aqueduct? Drop a 🤠 below if you think more Texans should know about this incredible piece of our history!

02/04/2026

Wonderful exhibit! It will be on display until April 30th. Please try to go see it!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GJSHcHoKx/?mibextid=wwXIfr