Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, established in 1720 and known as “The Queen of the Missions” in San Antonio, supported over 300 residents at its peak. After final secularization in 1824, ownership of the mission remained in flux for nearly a century, during which the site was physically altered through various construction campaigns and accumulated graffiti, resulting in a palimpsest of markings from the late nineteenth-century to the present. Although researchers have recommended studying historic graffiti in the San Antonio Missions, no standardized protocols have existed for park management. This pilot study seeks to contribute a management framework for determining significance and establishing periodization, while also guiding decisions regarding conservation, research, and removal of modern graffiti, starting with the San José Convento. The San José Convento was chosen for this pilot due to its more than 150 graffiti panels and loci on diverse masonry substrates, including Wilcox red sandstone, brick, plaster, and various types of limestone, many of which appear in similar forms at other missions throughout the park. For this study, graffiti is defined as any informal marking applied or inscribed onto a surface, regardless of whether the creator’s intent or expressive purpose can be clearly determined. Field documentation combined visual survey, standard photography, infrared photography, and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) to record shallow, weathered, or obscured inscriptions, which were then used to generate line drawings clarifying lettering and symbology. Archival research supported refined dating, identification, and contextualization of graffiti. These data informed typological and chronological charts and graphs distinguishing historic from modern graffiti. Findings demonstrate that graffiti spans multiple periods, from the Post-Secularization Period (1824–1911) through the State Park Period (1941–1978) and into the present. This methodology provides National Park Service management guidance for advancing research on historic graffiti while addressing modern inscriptions. In doing so, it supports the park’s mission to preserve and protect the Spanish colonial and Indigenous heritage of the missions, including their evolving history as sites of heritage tourism.

Link to Vol I: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pgy87e05jcHvJFL6LkDcU2QhlyOCUITA/view?usp=drive_link