that would be great, AgDev

It looks like the photos from the Light in the book i have aren't digitally archived yet, so i took some pictures with my phone and added the shots from Street view for a modern perspective. Sorry for the quality.

A quick history of my neighborhood.

The 1890's marked a period of major change San Antonio. Perhaps the most important change in shaping the development of San Antonio was the railroad coming to town in 1890. Along with the railroad this period saw the influx of many black settlers to SA. Many of these individuals moved to the area just to the south of the train depot on the East Side in what is known as the Eastside Promise Neighborhood. Residents of the first suburb in San Antonio, Dignowity Hill, weary of their new neighbors began to look elsewhere. Residents of King William district, another prominent neighborhood at the time, also felt their neighborhood was in decline and looked for greener pastures. Like almost all San Antonioans through out our history these residents headed north to what was an old goat pasture into the new neighborhoods of Tobin Hill and Monte Vista. Most of the development in Monte Vista occurred in what Mark Twain termed the "Gilded Age". This was the age of the roaring twenties and a lot of unprecedented wealth. Like most areas settled during this time Monte Vista reflected this new wealth and extravagance.

When the city couldn't afford to provide utilities or other infrastructure the residents of this neighborhood paid for it out of their own pockets. Part of the infrastructure included a a whopping, at the time, 32,500 payment to bring the San Pedro street car out to Laurel Heights. As part of the the deed restrictions all houses were required to have separate servant quarters on the property. Many of these structures can still be seen today on various properties or lining the south side of Hildebrand. Fences were not allowed in the neighborhood in order to foster a open and welcoming community.


First up is a map of the original plots that make up the historic neighborhood of Monte Vista and when they were created.




A advertisement for the new neighborhood.




The entrance to the homes off Summit Ave with a current picture of a similar structure off Gramercy.




The homes of Monte Vista.

One of the first homes off W French Place that no longer stands also happens to be the same spot where i currently reside. Owned by rancher Alfred Gage it built in 1899.




A home at the corner of French Pl and San Pedro on the western boundary of the neighborhood. Owned by Floyd McGowan built in 1907.




A small Victorian house off Craig Place build in the late 1800's. As you can see the house as it currently stand has seen better days.




A house at 605 Belknap across the street from the previous house built in 1919.




A Victorian house off Woodlawn that is currently a lawyers office.




Laurel Heights Methodist Church. Notice the steeple no longer stands.




A tudor style house off 230 W Summit built 1925.




A home off E Kings Highway built 1929.




The home of cattleman John W Kokernot built 1911.




The Strauss home built 1923 at 315 W Lynwood. This home is amazing and the pictures do not do it any justice.



A view inside the Strauss home looking at the entrance to the reception hall.




The Bushnell Apartments built in 1926.




[This message has been edited by AgDev01 (edited 3/21/2012 9:43p).]

*applause* for this thread. Good work y'all.

Amazing pics, AgDev. I keep meaning to just take a day off and drive down random streets all around downtown and just imagine how things used to be/look. I'd love to check those places out in person.


Side note: Dignowity area...is.....interesting.

Love this thread.

[This message has been edited by Speedbird087 (edited 11/24/2013 3:18p).]

Awesome.

I do believe that's Barton Springs, not San Pedro though. The sloped grass is what makes me think that...and it's pretty freakin' large too.

yea, I think you are right after looking at Google earth.

I will try and dig up a few more slides, I think he has a few on the NW side long before development took place. Unfortunately I can't post "Now" shots as I am not in S.A.

I'm more than happy to try if you want.

These are awesome. Thanks for sharing.

We used to walk down to that station from our home on Lynwood to watch the trains when I was a kid. It was mom's way of tiring us out after dinner.



Gig 'em Aggies!

A train derailed at the 'station' Feb 23.

House in picture is also in pic above - from the mysa.com article

Any historical information and photos for St. Anthony’s old days?

You can see the “Catholic Church purchase, 1890” in AgDev01 post.

There was a fire in the original main building but not sure if it was completely destroyed and rebuilt to what stands today or if it was just renovated.

My understanding is that the upper field of the St. A’s campus near Trinity was fill from digging out the river walk. We were told that the trucks would run out McCullough to dump the material out on the north side. The priests at the time wanted to build up the field so they had the trucks stop and dump it on campus. School got dirt for free and the dump truck drivers got more trips in (more $).

The school eventually built school buildings, pool and a soccer field up there. They were demolished recently as all classes are now in the main building. I believe Incarnate Word is leasing or selling the empty land to Trinity for parking.

Great thread guys.

The Emmy Dittmar residence...now a Wellmed Clinic. I do some consulting for Wellmed and got to go through that place when it was converted a few months ago. The doctor didn't take the greatest care of the place. They stored so many records upstairs that it caused some structural problems. Wellmed taking over actually improved things by cleaning things out, but there is a ways to go. Lots of old stuff stashed in every nook.

Great pictures! I know there is a story behind every one.

Fantastic thread!

[This message has been edited by Speedbird087 (edited 11/24/2013 3:20p).]

Found one more. Bexar County Courthouse. The VW bus is Alamo Piano Company.

Not a San Antonio native, we're military transplants so forgive me...

Is this at Hildebrand & Broadway, across from UIW?

It is.

Speaking of Broadway...found this picture on the web of JFK in SA.

Wow, AgDev, my jaw just dropped with your photo. That picture was taken facing east. The side street where all of the cars are parked in the background is Flamingo Drive - I grew up about 200 yards behind the angular building...although not until 1964. But my parents moved onto that street in 1961. I wonder if my folks are in the crowd?

FYI for those of you who are curious to see what the houses are like on the inside the EN has a home of Kings Highway featured today.










Another house for sale in the neighborhood that is unreal.

Nice. Thanks for posting

tgray, that building is now occupied by AT&T.

I saw some plans for that building recently. According to those plans, there was supposed to be a tunnel from the building to the parking lot on the other side of Broadway just south of the Jim's.

Does anyone know anything about the old TMI (Texas Military Institute) that was in Alamo Heights? I keep seeing it referenced on old maps.

Anything specific you want to know about it?

Douglas MacArthur as a student at West Texas Military Academy (now TMI—The Episcopal School of Texas), in the 1890s



The second campus overlooked Olmos Park, just east of what is now 281. (the fist was in Government Hill) For years, you could still see the castle in the trees long after the school moved out to the far NW side. The building was razed to make room for new, and very expensive, homes.


[This message has been edited by p_bubel (edited 6/25/2012 7:41p).]

TMI with a Bat Roost.

Basically, if you're looking at a map it's on the west end of College Blvd in Alamo Heights.

The wikipedia entry said it was at Government Hill before it was in Alamo Heights.

Just curious if there are any pictures. I was looking at some information today that most of the houses in the "TMI Subdivision" were built in the 1990's. Everything in the immediate vicinity was a lot older.

I know they are out there as I have seen them, but I can't find **** tonight.

Another CCHS grad, class of 72.
Great job with the pictures.

Then....

Based on the parking lot, I'd guess that the Handy Andy shot was of the store on Austin Hwy at Harry Wurzbach, where the H-E-B currently is. That Handy Andy opened in the late 50s or early 60s before the rest of the shopping center was built along the Harry Wurzbach side of the property.

PLEASE keep these photos coming! We natives of San Antonio love seeing things we either haven't seen in years or never got to see.

quote:

---

Another CCHS grad, class of 72.
Great job with the pictures.

---

Sweet. We're everywhere.

I've got 400 more photos to do, but I am really busy with the new job. Maybe this weekend. Hopefully.