History
Benjamin Rush Milam
(Front) Benjamin Rush Milam (Right) Preeminent Hero of Texas a man of rare initiative and courage. Of a modest and willing personality a devoted friend. Born in Frankford Kentucky in 1788 a soldier in the War of 1812. (Back) Trader with the Texas Comanche Indians in 1818 was a Colonel in the long Trespalacios expedition in 1820. Texas Colonizer 1826 to 1835.
History
Bexar County under Nine Governments
The administrative government of Bexar County, besides being the oldest in Texas, is distinguished by having served under nine governments. The community served under Spanish rule from May, 1718, until January, 1811, when it was taken over by the revolutionary "Casas regime".
History
Biesenbach House
A German immigrant, August Biesenbach (1848-1915) and his wife, Louisa (1852-1916), began construction of this house in 1880. The walls of the house are stucco over brick with a hipped roof and Gothic Revival details. From 1910 to 1955, the house was owned and occupied by members of the Guenther Mill family.
History
Boldtville Schoolhouse
Land for this schoolhouse was given to Bexar County in 1919 by Albert F. Boldt. During that year this two-room building was constructed by local resident Fritz Gembler. From 1919 until 1960 it served as an educational facility for the children of nearby rural families. An example of a typical early 20th-century, two-room Texas schoolhouse, the structure features a pedimented porch with a cupola.
Architecture
Book Building
During the 1850s, the U.S. Army occupied several stone and adobe buildings which stood at this site. Dwight Dana Book (1869-1955), a civil engineer and veteran of the Spanish-American War, bought the property in 1904. He had this red brick commercial building erected in 1906. Attorney's, realtors, architects, physicians and other tenants leased office space here.
History
Bowen's Island
This tract of land is a natural peninsula in the San Antonio River. It once was bounded by the river on three sides and on the fourth by the Concepcion Acequia. In 1845 John Bowen, a native of Philadelphia, bought the property from Maria Josefa Rodriguez de Yturri for $300. Bowen and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, built a seven-room home on the island for their family of six children.
Military
Brooks Air Force Base Hangar 9
Built early in 1918 for JN-4 (Jenny) planes used in World War I pilot training. In later classes here were many great pilots, including Chas. A. Lindbergh, first man to solo across the Atlantic. "Old 9" was initiation site of Blind Flying instruction. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967
History
Bueche Cemetery
Swiss immigrants Abram Louis (1824-1921) and Anna Barbara (Kaderli) (1825-1905) Bueche, and family, settled in this area, known as Fratt, in 1854. Their infant granddaughter, Frieda A. Bueche, died in 1892 and is said to be the first buried at this site one-half mile east of their homestead. In 1902, when son-in-law Chris W.
Transport
Building 100 "Taj Mahal"
In 1928 the San Antonio Airport Company purchased 2300 acres of land near the city and donated it to the United States Army Air Corps for development of a consolidated flight training facility. Called "the West Point of the air", Randolph Field was dedicated June 20, 1930. One month later, construction was begun on an administration building, designated as Building 100.
History
Capt. Jose Antonio Menchaca
A veteran of San Jacinto. Born in San Antonio 1797. Died November 1, 1879. His wife Teresa Ramon Menchaca. Born in July, 1796. Died February 7, 1874. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Captain Lee Hall
Captain Lee Hall (October 9, 1849-March 17, 1911) Heroic defender of honor of Texas and the United States. Born in Lexington, N.C., came to Texas in 1869. Gained national fame as Grayson County Marshal and Deputy Sheriff, 1871, 1876. Served with frontier battalion, Texas Rangers, 1876-1880, hunting such outlaws as Sam Bass, King Fisher, John Wesley Hardin, and feuding Taylor-Sutton gangs.
History
Carl Wilhelm August Groos House
One of the founders of the Groos National Bank, Carl W. Goos (1830-1893) came to Texas from Germany in 1848. The Groos home designed by Alfred Giles, was built in 1880 by John H. Campmann. Porch detailing on the Victorian residence reveals Gothic Revival influence.
History
Casino Club
Property of Casino Association, organized 1853 among cultured German settlers. Club house and opera building, erected 1858, had a theatre; a hall seating 700; banquet rooms; club rooms. Setting during Civil War for military balls, entertainments, suppers; tableaux, concerts and minstrel shows to benefit the Confederate cause; and meetings of ladies to roll bandages.
History
Central Catholic High School
This school originated at a time when San Antonio lacked a boys' school of any kind. Bishop Jean-Marie Odin obtained teachers in France from the Society of Mary: Nicholas Koenig, Jean-Baptiste Laignaux, and Xavier Mauclerc. Andrew Edel, another Marianist from Ohio, was principal; San Antonio layman Timothy O'Neal also joined the staff. he school opened Aug.
History
Chabot House
Originally from England, George Stooks Chabot (1821-1902) was a commission merchant dealing in cotton, wool, and hides. He and his wife Mary (Van Derlip) (1842-1929) built this two-story stone house in 1876. The design includes several galleries with carved bracketing.
History
Charles Frederick King
Served in the Texas Army, 1836. Was Mayor of San Antonio, 1847-1849 and 1852-1853. Born in New Hampshire, January 17, 1811. Died in San Antonio, May 13, 1869.
History
Chihuahua Trail
This is route of an old Indian road, often path for Apache and Comanche depredations in Texas. Passed Castroville, Uvalde, Horsehead crossing on the Pecos; went through Presidio into northern Mexico. In some stretches, water holes were 40 miles apart. Men chewed boots, to slake thirst. At smell of water, oxen ran. Texans' commercial use began in 1835.
History
Christ Episcopal Church
Episcopalians first worshipped in this Laurel Heights neighborhood in 1907, under the auspices of St. Mark's Church downtown. Christ Episcopal Church was formed in 1911, with the Rev. John D. Ridout as its first Rector. In 1913, ground was broken for this Gothic Revival sanctuary, designed by architect Atlee B. Ayres in the spirit of an English Parish Church.
History
Christopher Columbus Italian Society Hall
Constructed by the Christopher Columbus Italian Society in 1927 to complement the San Francesco Di Paoa Catholic Church next door, this building was dedicated in January 1928. Designed by Richard Vander Stratten and built by Luigi L. Guido and Vincezo Falbo, the hall is a fine example of the classial form, with decorative brick work, pilasters, and stone detailing.
History
Clara Driscoll (April 2, 1881-July 17, 1945)
A descendant of early Texas colonist, including a veteran of San Jacinto, Clara Driscoll was born in Refugio County and grew up as a wealthy rancher's daughter. In 1903, soon after returning from school in Europe, she learned that the Long Barrack, part of the historic Alamo, was about to be sold as a hotel site.
History
Coker Cemetery
South Carolina native John "Jack" Coker came to Texas in 1834 and fought in the Battle of San Jacinto. In gratitude for his service, Coker received from the Republic of Texas a one-third league, which totalled 1,920 acres and was situated along the banks of the Salado Creek, approximately ten miles north of downtown San Antonio.
History
Col. Jose Francisco Ruiz
Officer in the Mexican Army, 1831. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence 1836. Senator of the first Congress of the Republic 1836-37. Born in San Antonio January 29, 1783. Died January 20, 1840. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Committee on Public Safety
Texas and the Civil War Committee on Public Safety Created by Texas Secession Convention, Jan. 1861. A committee of 15 men to prevent public disorder and--in the face of open hostility from Governor Sam Houston--enforce Secession Convention mandates. On Feb.
History
Confederate Cemetery
This cemetery is located within part of a 40-acre grant of land given to the city of San Antonio by the King of Spain. The property was later subdivided into twenty-nine separate cemeteries by City Aldermen, and this area was designated as City Cemetery Number Four. This section became known as the Confederate Cemetery after its purchase in 1885 by the Albert Sidney Johnston Camp No.
History
Confederate Tannery
To fill footwear, harness and saddlery needs of the South; established 1863 on this site, then 2 miles above city limits. Operated in summer as well as winter, because tanning agent, a soup made of chopped mesquite wood, soaked deeply into hides. Thus, unlike other tannins, this prevented loss in hot weather. Plant treated 6,000 hides at a time.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
