La Purísima is home to the Socorro Mission, one of three Spanish missions under the stewardship of the Diocese of El Paso.  The mission is a registered Texas historic landmark and listed in the national register as a site with national significance.  In addition to the mission, La Purísima Parish includes a rectory and cemetery dating from the 1800s, as well as a parish hall and grotto.  Originally, Nuestra Señora del Socorro was established near Fabens and was moved to present day Socorro in 1683.  In 1691, Governor Diego de Vargas gave the name of Misión de Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepción de los Piros de Socorro to the mission.  By 1766, the Socorro Mission was being referred to as La Purísima Concepción del Socorro.  In 1829, flooding on the Rio Grande shifted the river’s course, leaving the towns of Ysleta, Socorro and San Elizario on the future American side of the river and destroying the church in Socorro.  The mission was rebuilt in 1843 about half a mile to the west using the vigas of the original mission church.  Today, the oldest original relics in Texas are the ceiling beams in the Socorro Mission.

For more information, please visit http://www.elpasodiocese.org/la-purisima-socorro-mission.HTML