The original Franciscan mission, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción del Socorro, was founded in 1682 by the Franciscan order, to serve displaced Spanish families, American Indians (the Piro, Tano and Jemez) from New Mexico, who fled the central New Mexico region during the Pueblo Revolt.

The finely painted and decorated beams, or vigas, are from the 18th-century mission and were reused when the present church was constructed.

The massing, details and use of decorative elements of the Socorro Mission show strong relationships to the building traditions of 17th-century Spanish New Mexico.

A full-size replica of the Socorro Mission was featured in El Paso's exhibit in the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

This article about a property in Texas on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.