Rard Robert - San Antonio Uncovered: Fun Facts And Hidden Histories

Published by Maverick Books,
an imprint of Trinity University Press
San Antonio, Texas 78212

Copyright 2016 by Mark Louis Rybczyk

Foreword copyright 2016 by Robert Rivard

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Book design by Anne Richmond Boston

Image credits: San Antonio Light Collection, Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio Texas, pages 2, 49, 70, 83, 101 bottom, 116 bottom; Nayeli Perez, pages 11, 13, 99 top and bottom, 101 top, 147, 178, 190 top and bottom; Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio, Texas, pages 31, 49 top and bottom, 137, 158; University of Texas at Dallas, page 58; Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, HABS, TX-3173, page 112; Zintgraff Collection, Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio, Texas, pages 116 top and 145

ISBN-13 978-1-59534-758-9 ebook

Trinity University Press strives to produce its books using methods and materials in an environmentally sensitive manner. We favor working with manufacturers that practice sustainable management of all natural resources, produce paper using recycled stock, and manage forests with the best possible practices for people, biodiversity, and sustainability. The press is a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit program dedicated to supporting publishers in their efforts to reduce their impacts on endangered forests, climate change, and forest-dependent communities.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI 39.481992.

CIP data on file at the Library of Congress

20 19 18 17 16 | 5 4 3 2 1

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

If youd like to introduce a newcomer to San Antonio and its rich history or help a friend or neighbor develop a deeper love and appreciation for the city, give them the newest edition of San Antonio Uncovered.

Ive been privileged to hold a front-row seat on this citys evolution and development for nearly three decades, first as an editor at the now-defunct San Antonio Light, then as the longtime executive editor of the San Antonio Express-News, and for the last three years, as the founder of the online hyperlocal media site Rivard Report. The pace of change is accelerating in San Antonio, and the percentage of the population new to the city is climbing each year. That makes the citys history, heritage, people, and places all the more important to preserve and to share.

The original edition of San Antonio Uncovered was published in 1992 by author Mark Rybczyk. It was an immediate hit in a city that cherishes its history. That first edition is on my bookshelf, as is the updated edition published in 2000. Now comes a third edition of the essential armchair guide to San Antonioits history, unique places, and quirky secrets. Given the citys extraordinary growth and change, this newest edition is most welcome. Its my honor and pleasure to introduce it to you.

When San Antonio Uncovered was last issued, the Museum and Mission Reach of the San Antonio River had hardly hit the drawing board. The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts was still the Municipal Auditorium, dark and empty most days and nights. Thoughts of redeveloping HemisFair, expanding the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, and updating the Alamodome for its twenty-fifth anniversary werent even being discussed.

Southtown was still in its early stages of redevelopment, and Broadway was lined with fast-food outlets and former automobile dealerships. The Pearl was an abandoned brewery. Brackenridge Parks transformation was just an idea. Make a list of the citys top twenty-five restaurants. Most had not yet opened when the last edition was published. The Decade of Downtown was, well, nearly a decade away. Farther out, Hardberger Park, the Shops at la Cantera, and many of the newer buildings on the UTSA campus didnt exist. Neither did Texas A&M UniversitySan Antonio on the citys south side. Brooks City Base was still an air force base. Port San Antonio still looked like Kelly AFB closed.

Reading each edition of San Antonio Uncovered is like opening another time capsule and finding a fresh harvest of new stories, some forgotten, some updated. Even natives and lifelong residents will learn things they somehow never knew.

Red McCombsthe billionaire auto magnate, rancher, and businessmanwas responsible as a young man for recruiting corporate sponsors for HemisFair 68? Yes.

There is a still-standing aqueduct near Mission Espada? Yes.

The citys Polish and German communities were once so lively they each had newspapers in their own languages? Yes.

The well-preserved Spanish Governors Palace, half hidden in the shadow of City Hall, once housed a Chinese immigrant mission? And a Chinese-language school once operated nearby? Yes and yes.

No place in San Antonio has more interesting nineteenth-century history than Fort Sam Houston, which sadly remains closed to the general public. With proper photo ID, however, members of the public can still enter the base under certain conditions. (See the Fort Sam Houston website for visitor information.) And one can take in the vast parade grounds where General John J. Blackjack Pershing dismounted the horse cavalry in World War I and incorporated mechanized vehicles.

The historic Quadrangle is still roamed by white-tailed deer and peacocks, and one of the states most glorious Spanish oak trees still offers shade as it did when Geronimo, the famous Apache warrior, was held prisoner there.

Take a leisurely walk in downtown San Antonio, with San Antonio Uncovered in hand, and challenge yourself to visit all of the citys early places of importance that still stand today. You will soon realize that visiting all the sites in a single day is simply impossible. Youll just have to come back.

San Antonio Uncovered is like no other book about the city, which has been the subject of so many volumes. It is a thorough and comprehensive compendium that covers 300 years of history, yes, but its also highly entertaining, quirky, and filled with surprises, anecdotes, and amusing trivia. Never boring, its fun-size bites of information make it easily digestible and suitable for all ages, from schoolchildren to old-timers.

San Antonio Uncovered is atop the stack of bedside books in our homes guest room. With this new edition, we will no longer have to tell visitors about the citys many new attractions, such as the Museum and Mission Reaches and the Pearl, not covered in the last edition. We are good for another decade.

It has often been said that much of history falls through the cracks. If that is true, then San Antonio Uncovered is historical caulking. When you thumb through this book, you will notice that the missions and the Battle of the Alamo are rarely mentioned. Many fine books have been written about those subjects, and I have chosen not to duplicate those efforts. I prefer to concentrate on San Antonios lesser-known history and stories off the beaten track, such as the one about the Travis Club Cigar or the how the Worlds Largest Boots ended up here. Separately, these stories mean very little; yet, when woven together, they help explain the complex fabric of life in San Antonio.