Yeah, that Ripley's is an improvement.

TMI Took up the whole hill from above St. Lukes all the way to the water tower. The front of the hill, Olmos Park side, was the football field and the stands where right on the edge of the cliff.

Next was the Gym and Natatorium. Then the big white Building that was the center piece. It had classrooms, offices, Chapel, and dorm rooms.

There was a science building, cafeteria, and Library as well, they were in the front closest to the water tower.

Spent many a day there!

found this slideshow presentation of the history of the riverwalk. Thought this would be a great thread to share it on

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/riverwalk/

Very cool, thanks.

great link on the riverwalk- totally changes my opinion of it just being a tourist entraption like Oklahoma City created

the tunnel underneath- never even heard of that must have been at college during the construction

going to be in the river parade today for St Pat's and my mind is like totally blown away

hope they update the slideshow to cover the pearl expansion

There are actually two flood control tunnels under San Antonio. One is on the SA River, and the other is on San Pedro Creek.

http://www.sara-tx.org/public_services/past_projects.php

Here's another little tidbit of San Antonio lore.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Noted-S-A-piano-on-the-auction-block-4360844.php

The piano is coming home.

Easter Procession 1903. St Peter Claver. Near east side. 209 Nolan.

Guenther House with the Guenthers sitting on the patio. Early Pioneer Flower Mills behind.

Lucille Ball on the 200 block of Broadway. War Bond Drive, 1943

Good Samaritan Hospital, 1948. Dignowity Hill.
1602 Dakota St

There's a discussion on the location of the council house fight downtown and the site of union surrender of troops in Main Plaza in 1861 on the history board if anyone is interested.

[This message has been edited by p_bubel (edited 4/13/2013 6:29p).]

[This message has been edited by p_bubel (edited 4/13/2013 6:30p).]

Adams Street Home, as seen in a San Antonio Tourist Brochure

Also called the Oge House. Owned by a pioneer Texas Ranger, cattle rancher and businessman, Louis Oge, this mansion was built in 1857 and is located in the King William Historic District. The oldest such district in the state.

The district, as the story goes, was almost single-handily saved by one homeowner in the mid 20th century. He funded and/or purchased a lot of the homes in the decaying neighborhood and kept them intact finding buyers willing and able to take on the challenge of restoration.

Kampmann Building, taken in 1939.
(NE corner of Main Plaza)

Kampmann was a prolific builder in the area both before and after the Civil War. At some point the top two floors of the building were removed and the facade stripped of its ornamentation.

[This message has been edited by p_bubel (edited 4/25/2013 8:00p).]

Schuetzen Verein.
The old German gun club in or around 1895 in what is now Brackenridge Park.

The horse racetrack in the background. "The Jockey Club" functioned until the golf course was built.

A co-worker lives right by the Good Samaritan Hospital. I keep telling him to hold out another 5 years and hopefully the area will take off.

Not sure if you have been down there lately but go drive through Tobin Hill the changes in the last 6 months alone are staggering.

Yeah, Tobin Hill is coming along nicely.

That area around the Good Samaritan is still going to be a while as the locals are very much against gentrification.

As a whole, the city is starting to really come into its own.

I don't remember if I said this earlier, but I'm too lazy to look: I'd like to see historical photos of the area around w. woodlawn. That area looks like it could have been so nice back then, but so many of those houses have gone to shi-

Agreed.
I have yet to run across some usable early photos from the area yet.

It's ok. You deserve a hug for keeping this thread going

We looked at a house on the 400 block of W. Woodlawn when we first moved to SA. It was a huge house built in 1905 that had been blocked into 4 apartments. It would have been a cool house to restore, but we would have had to sink every penny we had into that house in a cruddy neighborhood.

This is probably one of my favorite threads on this site. Good Job!

quote:

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You deserve a hug for keeping this thread going

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Thank you Darlin and thank you tgray.

I enjoy doing it and in hopefully some small way it might help people appreciate what is all around them.

San Antonio is one of the more interesting towns in America history-wise, but we tend to take it for granted.

Got a bunch more coming this week.

I walked through Alazan Apache Courts to get a now shot and I've lost that photo somewhere. I don't think it made it through the download process.

Argh!

I've also been googling around for some Woodlawn images online but have not run across anything. If someone does find a decent online database of local stuff it would be appreciated.

[This message has been edited by p_bubel (edited 4/28/2013 9:15p).]

This is not an online database - but have you ever visited the "Library" at the Institute of Texan Cultures?

The last time I was there they were fairly desperate to come up with "touches" (basically, people using their archives) because they're funded by the t.u. system and are under a microscope. That said, they told me that for my StoryKeeping work, that if I ever did a project for a local family to let them know, and they'd see if they'd be able to supply some pictures for me to use in my video biography.

They really do have an impressive collection of old photos, and while I'm forgetting how they were organized, their librarian did seem to have an idea of how to find things there.

If you haven't yet, I think it may not be a bad idea to give them a call to let them know what you're up to, and, unless circumstances have changed, you'll likely find a helpful sidekick.

I am not a SA native, but am always interested in local history. bubel, if you go I might be interested in tagging along if you want some company.

Yep, the Institute has a great online database. 98% of my images come from them.

UTSA-ITC Database

I've actually been down to there to speak to them about usage agreements back when I had time and thought I might do a dedicated website for this stuff. They, of course, were not in the office that day to talk about it. I need to get back down there. Thanks, AAM for the reminder.

Burdizzo, I'm happy to have some company. When I can get a new batch together and some dedicated time for it I'll let you know.

I do, on some weekends, take a group of friends out for a bike ride along the riverwalk extensions which always turns into a history lesson. They tolerate me. I'm ALWAYS up for something like that. And bike rentals are cheap if y'all don't have one. There is beer involved too and it's an easy, enjoyable ride. In other words, I usually don't burn off the beer consumed.

[This message has been edited by p_bubel (edited 4/28/2013 10:49p).]

That sounds like an excellent A&M Club social event. Bike and Brew Tour with Bubel.

Speaking of the river walk extension, I work for a water utility in town who shall remain nameless. I worked on projects to move some of the utilities out of the way for those extensions an also the Mission Reach projects.

p_bubel...

I also want to say thanks for your work on this thread

and I'd be interested in joining the tour if you'd have me

[This message has been edited by ffco (edited 4/29/2013 5:23a).]