San Elizario, TX - 16x24 Photo - The Chapel of San Elizario, Founded in 1789-

Small grotto outside the chapel of San Elizario, founded in 1789, is often mistaken for a Spanish mission, since it lies quite near two missions in nearby El Paso. The church is an example of late adobe church architecture of the Spanish colonial period and today is the centerpiece of the town plaza in San Elizario. The community was originally part of the Camino Real de la Tierra Andentro that the Spanish used to travel between Mexico City and the New Mexico colonies. In 1581, three Franciscans led by Friar Agustin Rodriguez initiated an expedition to the north "to enter those new lands to preach the Gospel to the Indians,â €? arriving in the San Elizario area in July.

Carol M. Highsmith (born 1946) is a photographer, author, and publisher who has photographed all 50 of the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for 30 years. She specializes in documenting architecture, ranging from the monumental to the everyday and whimsical. Highsmith is donating her life ’s work of more than 100,000 images, copyright-free, to the Library of Congress, which established a rare one-person archive. Out of 14 million images, the Carol M. Highsmith collection is featured in the top six alongside of Mathew Brady and Dorethea Lange.

Credit line: The Lyda Hill Texas Collection of Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.