Founded in 1720 and later relocated to its permanent site, Mission San Jose grew into the largest and most self-sufficient of the San Antonio missions, often called the "Queen of the Missions." Its walled compound, built with defensive perimeter walls roughly 611 feet per side and corner towers after Apache and Comanche raids intensified in the 1760s, enclosed some 84 stone apartments where Coahuiltecan families lived and worked. Residents were trained in farming, carpentry, masonry, and weaving, producing textiles and goods for the mission economy. A functioning gristmill ground grain grown in irrigated fields, while a granary stored surplus harvests and a sugar mill processed cane into syrup, making the mission largely self-sustaining. With only a handful of presidio soldiers assigned to protect it, residents themselves took up lances, bows, and eventually firearms and cannon to defend the community during raids. Population and productivity declined through the later 1700s and into the early 1800s as disease and disruption took their toll, and the mission was fully secularized in 1824, ending its role as an organized indigenous community. The stone church and granary, including the noted Rose Window, remain among the best-preserved mission structures in Texas. Today the church is an active Roman Catholic parish maintained by the Archdiocese of San Antonio, while the National Park Service operates the surrounding grounds as part of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, with a visitor center, museum exhibits, and interpretive trails drawing tourists year-round.