Historic District
San Ygnacio: A National Register Historic Town
San Ygnacio, about 14 miles northwest of Zapata on US 83, has some of the oldest stone buildings in Texas and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
San Ygnacio is a small town on US 83, about 14 miles northwest of Zapata. It was founded in 1830 by former residents of Revilla (now Nuevo Guerrero, Tamaulipas), Mexico. Comanche raids were common back then. Builders used thick sandstone walls to protect against those raids. Many of those walls are still standing today — nearly 200 years later.
The historic district sits along the Rio Grande. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is known as the last South Texas community with a large number of 19th-century stone buildings in Mexican Ranch style. Many similar buildings nearby were lost. They went underwater when Falcon Dam was built in 1954.
If you like old Texas-Mexico border history or old buildings, San Ygnacio is worth a stop. Check the Handbook of Texas entry listed below for more details.
Source to confirm: Handbook of Texas — San Ygnacio