Located on the banks of the San Antonio River, the Old Ursuline Convent was established around 1850 by the sisters of the cloistered Teaching Order of Ursulines. It was the second Ursuline community established in the state of Texas, solely for the education of young girls. The first Ursuline school was established in Galveston, Texas, in 1847. The complex of Gothic Revival one and two-story buildings dates from 1851 to 1885 and is constructed of native limestone. Earlier structures were designed by the French trained architect, Francois Giraud. The Old Ursuline Convent was documented with measured drawings and photographs by a Historic American Buildings Survey in 1968 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, November, 1969. The Ursuline complex was saved from demolition in 1965 when the San Antonio Conservation Society purchased a portion of the property, which included the “Poinsard House,” chapel, sacristy, vestibule and the Priest’s House buildings. Purchase of the original 1853 building, identified as the east end of the Poinsard structure, was accomplished by the San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation in 1971.   San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation in 1971.  That same year, the Foundation also purchased the stones of the Angel Arches. Restoration of the facades of four buildings in the complex was started in 1974, through a grant from the Economic Development Administration, together with matching grant funds from the Foundation. This was the first time in the United States that such federal grant funds were used for restoration purposes. In 1975, the buildings in the Ursuline complex were sold to the Southwest School of Art &Craft , which had been leasing the structures on a rent-free basis for four years. The Center operates a creative arts and crafts school and has continued to restore the buildings and adapt them for school purposes. Visitors are welcome to tour the property.

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