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ALAMO
HEIGHTS, TEXAS
Bexar County, South
Texas
Just off Highway 281
5 Miles NE of Downtown San
Antonio
Population
7,319 (2000) |
| Fernridge,
the former Brackenridge Estate has been preserved on the campus of Incarnate Word
College as a museum. Photo courtesy Sarah
Reveley, February 2007 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Once a campground for Indians (within present-day
Brackenridge Park), the headwaters of the San Antonio River begin here on the
grounds of Cathedral House. Alamo Heights was included in the original survey
of the city of San Antonio in 1836.
The following year a city ordinance autioned off city land to fund city improvements
and infrastructure.
Although it was bitterly contested, the site was
sold and was eventually bought in 1869 by Mrs. Isabel Brackenridge. Her famous
son, George
W. Brackenbridge sold the family estate in 1897 to the Sisters of Charity
of the Incarnate Word.
The former Brackenridge Family estate, Fernridge,
is maintained as a museum by the sisters.
Incarnate Word College sits
on the line that divides San Antonio
and Alamo Heights.
The Argyle Hotel, another local landmark, was originally
a ranch headquarters, built by Charles Anderson in 1860. After undergoing several
sales, the land was eventually developed.
In the early 1920s, the city
of San Antonio vigorously tried
to annex the Heights, but failed. In 1922 Alamo Heights became an independent
municipality.
The population reached 7,950 by 1950 and declining to 6,933
for the 1970 census and returning over 7,000 mark to 2000’s 7,319.
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Brackenridge
Estate on Incarnate Word CampusPhotos
courtesy Sarah
Reveley, February 2007 |
| The statue was purchased
around 1900 by George
Brackenridge to be the garden centerpiece for the family estate. |
| The
former Mobil station on the corner of Broadway and Austin Highway has always been
a landmark. It was one of four built north, east, west and south of downtown by
the Magnolia Oil Company. When the gas station went out of business the famous
Flying Horse was saved, and the location has been leased by a number of different
businesses, including a florist, realtor and a interior design company. |
Alamo
Heights Trolley StopPhotos
courtesy Sarah
Reveley, February 2007 | 
| The
Broadway / Patterson Street Bus Stop
Artist: Dionico Rodriquez
(1891-1955)
Called San Antonio’s “most accessable work of art” by Mark
Rybczyk, author of San Antonio Uncovered, this unusual structure was a
gift of the Alamo Cement Company to the city of Alamo Heights in 1931.
Dr.
Aureliano Urrutia employed Rodriquez at his estate and it was the doctor who
introduced him to Chas. Baumberger Sr., who founded Alamo Cement.
The
Gate to the Chinese Sunken Garden in Brackenridge Park was also a work by Rodriquez
as well as a fish pond / fountain and fence at the Alamo Cement Company headquarters.
Rodriquez’ tool of choice was a simple dining fork and his medium was
cement. The process was kept a secret, that some say died with the artist in 1955.
Dionico Rodriquez worked where his commissions took him. From Mexico
City to New York City and some out-of-the-way places (Hot Springs, Arkansas and
Memphis, Tennessee) between those two monumental bookends.
The trolley
/ bus stop is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Related
content that includes more on the Alamo Cement Company and the work of Dionico
Rodriquez, please see Cementville, Texas
Forum:
Re-the trolley stop by Rodriguez-he also did work on the
old mill in North Little Rock Arkansas-which is in the opening scene of "Gone
with the Wind." - George Pecan, April 23, 2008 |
 |
| The
Trolly Stop today (February 2007 photo) |
| The
Trolly Stop 20 years ago |
More
Alamo Heights ScenesPhotos
courtesy Sarah
Reveley, February 2007 |
| The
Broadway Theatre was turned into an office building 25 years ago, but the sign
remains as a local landmark across from the trolley stop. |
|
Alamo Heights is filled with charming bungalows, and an effort for a Historic
District classification is currently underway. Photos
courtesy Sarah
Reveley, February 2007. More Texas
Architecture |
A
seated statue of George Brackenridge is displayed at the entrance to Brackenridge
Park at Funston Place at 3501 Broadway. Designed in the 1930s, it sat as a plaster
model for years. After Pompeo Coppini’s death his adopted daughter, sculptress
Waldine Tauch got permission from the mayor of San
Antonio to cast the statue, and it was sent to Italy. A controversy over the
contract not being signed resulted in Tauch getting stuck with the $30,000 bill.
Funds were raised and in 1970, the statue was finally set in place.
Information from A Comprehensive Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in Texas by
Carol Morris Little.
See Statues
in Texas
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Escapes, in
its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone
wishing to share their local history, stories, and vintage/historic photos of
their town, please contact
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