San Ygnacio

San Ygnacio (Ignacio), the oldest town in Zapata County, is on the Rio Grande and U.S. Highway 83, thirty miles south of Laredo and fourteen miles northwest of Zapata. It was settled in 1830 by former residents of Revilla (now Nuevo Guerrero, Tamaulipas) under the leadership of Jes?s Trevi?o. The site was in the southwest corner of the original Hacienda de Dolores, a grant made in 1750 by Col. Jos? de Escand?n to Jos? V?zquez Borrego , and was named for the patron saint of Guerrero, Saint Ignatius Loyola. In 1830 Trevi?o built a sandstone home, known as Fort Trevi?o, 100 by 140 feet. Jos? Villarreal placed a sundial at the home in 1851; the timepiece has become a tourist attraction.