San Antonio Architecture

I loved the historic architecture in San Antonio.  This building obviously has had a facelift but it was one of my favorite commercial buildings in the downtown area.

Smile - It's Friday!

Tower Life Building - San Antonio

One of San Antonio's landmarks is the Tower Life Building, an eight-sided neo-Gothic historic structure which was completed in 1929.  It is reported to have gargoyles, but I must say I missed those while I was riding the trolley.  Thirty stories and 403 feet tall, it has a coppe top which supports a 100-foot flagpole.  In earlier days it housed San Antonio's first Sears Roebuck store which occupied the first six floors.  I loved the mixture of old and new in San Antonio's downtown.

Waiting for Spring

Mission Conception - San Antonio

One day while in San Antonio over Christmas my daughter and I took a trolley ride to two of the San Antonio Missions.  Today I'll post a few photos of Mission Conception.

A chain of five missions established along the San Antonio River in the 18th century became the largest concentration of Catholic missions in North America. Four of the missions were originally founded in East Texas.  As those missions succumbed to drought, malaria, and French incursions, there were eventually located to San Antonio.  One of the five, known as San Antonio de Valero, later came to be known as the Alamo.

Developed by Franciscans and after a tenuous existence and several moves, Mission Conception, originally founded in 1726, was transferred to its present site in 1731.  The quarry from which the mission Indians dug the stone to build their community is located on the mission grounds.  The church walls are 45 inches thick.

Conception today appears today very much as it did over two centuries ago.  It is the oldest unrestored stone church in America.  In its heyday, colorful geometric designs covered the surface, but the patterns have long since faded or have been worn away.  However, original frescos are still visible in several of the rooms.

Today four of the missions, the only exception being the Alamo, are active parishes with many members tracing their roots to the mission residents of long ago.  The altar of Conception is simple but magnificent.

The New Lady Justice

On the day the doors of the Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio opened in 1896, a statue of Justice above a fountain greeted those entering the east courtyard.  In 1927 the statue and fountain was moved further downtown and sat there for the next 70 years until 1997 when it was knocked over by vandals and shattered into pieces and the fountain base was damaged.  In 2008 a new statue was commissioned and the fountain was returned to its original spot in the east courtyard.  The original sculpture was of the Goddess Venus (Aphrodite) but after much research the sculptor of the new bronze statue is of Themis, Aphrodite's half-sister.  Themis was later known as Justitia because she was the first counselor and gave advice on the natural laws and order.  Her blindfold, sword, and scale are gold leaf.

Having been repaired, the base of the iron fountain is original.  The three daughters of Themis represent spring, winter, and summer because fall was not recognized in Greek/Roman mythology.

Bexar County Courthouse (Texas No. 42)

One of the most beautiful of the Texas historic courthouses which still stand today is the Bexar County Courthouse (the "X" is silent and it is pronounced "Bear") in San Antonio.  It was the number one photo op on my Christmas trip.  Alas, the weather was horrible the entire time we were there and my photos are disappointing.  The washed-out, white, glaring skies were pretty much an everyday feature.  These are the best I have to offer.

It is a huge edifice occupying the south side of Main Plaza, once called La Plaza de las Islas which was laid out by the Canary Islanders who settled in the area in 1731 by royal decree of the king of Spain.  Then and now this plaza has been the administrative and judicial heart of what is now known as Bexar County.  The fourth structure to house the county government was authorized to be constructed for the sum of $621,000 and was completed in 1896.  The architect submitting the award-winning Romanesque design was James Riely Gordon who designed Texas' most beautiful courthouses.  Basic materials are Texas granite and red sandstone and the towers are roofed in green and red tile.  Its architecture features columns, arches, and carvings.

This photo shows some of the detail of the carvings.  Additions to the original building made in 1914 and 1926 continued the use of granite and sandstone; expansions in 1963, 1970, and 1973 employed other materials and also altered portions of the original design.

This photo of the south side of the courthouse from the Riverwalk shows some of the expansion work that has been added in more modern times.

I believe the only solution for me is a return trip to San Antonio on a day when the lighting is more amenable and some of those blue Texas skies are bright.  Also on this trip I did not take either of the "good cameras," opting instead for the lighter weight Nikon Coolpix.

284 years after the arrival of those 16 families comprised of 55 immigrants from the Canary Islands, San Antonio has grown to the seventh most populous city in the United States with a population of 1.4 million.

Lion Mural - San Antonio

Way back when there was a business called The Lion Drugstore in San Antonio with a mural of a pride of lions.  It was razed in 1970.  But in 2000 Goodwill commissioned the "New Chapa Lion Mural" on the side of its building near the El Mercado to represent the growing community.  The tile mosaic was created by San Antonio artist Jesse Trevino, a veteran who lost his hand in combat during the Vietnam  War.  The figures seen lifting the mural in place (including Trevino on the lower right) represent the Goodwill mission, "To help change lives through the power of work."  I spotted this mural during a trolley ride on the way to visit the San Antonio missions and learned of its background through the Internet.

Vintage Walgreen Sign

Downtown San Antonio

Charolais Family

Baby, Papa, Mama

These beautiful Charolais cattle belong to one of my cousins.

Elegance and Simplicity of Black and White

This is not a black and white photo.  The wrapping paper and ribbons were black and white and found in the street side window of Boudro's Texas Bistro in San Antonio.  Most businesses which are located on the Riverwalk have both a street side entrance and a Riverwalk entrance, although I believe the street side entrance is no longer open at Boudro's.  I'm thinking it was once a department or clothing store because of the large plate glass window which was decorated with this elegant Christmas wrap.

The Duchess

I was surprised to find many new murals in Phoenix on my visit last November. This piece is called "The Duchess" and it happens to have been drawn by a friend of my daughter's, Chele Hil, who signs her work "CHill."  It is located in the Roosevelt Historic District just north of downtown.

It's Always Christmas at Mi Tierra

One day while in San Antonio on a trolley trip to the missions, on the way back to the city we hopped off at the Market Square stop to enjoy some lunch.  We walked into Mi Tierra not knowing what to expect but fearing it was just a tourista joint that happened to attract a lot of people.  We were so surprised to discover that their food was authentic and delicious and the decorations enough to write home about.  After all, it's Christmas every day at Mi Tierra.  I thought the place was just decorated for the holidays but my daughter was astute enough to deduce that the tinsel, the colorful lights and the servers' uniforms just might be an everyday affair.  Sure enough, our friendly server advised that the tinsel is up year-round, changing occasionally from silver to gold, red or green and that there is only one uniform for all servers with the only alternative being that certain days of the week they wear a red blouse and the remaining days they ware a green blouse.  There's no deciding what to wear to work!  Our food was good, reasonably priced and excellent.  We both know what we like and we both ordered flautas!

Mi Tierra is the oldest restaurant in San Antonio, having been operated by the same family since 1940!  Wow, that's even older than me!

The restaurant is huge and there is an ongoing, constantly updated mural that wraps around the center of the restaurant depicting many people from past and present times.  The only one I recognized in this portion of the mural is Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer, who is depicted here right below the fiery cauldron in the lower left portion of the mural holding a white poodle!

I'm thinking in the second full row from the bottom on the right in the sombrero and colorful sash is Pancho Villa.  Do you recognize anyone from this panel of the mural?  There were at least two more sections of the mural which I didn't get a chance to photograph because we discovered the trolley was waiting to pick us up and if we missed the ride we would have to wait another hour for the next one!

Lavaca County Courthouse (Texas No. 41)

This was my best photo from the San Antonio trip.  At least on this day there were some clouds, rather than the gray/white sky that I experienced every other day of the trip.  I made a point of traveling through Gonzales and Halletsville east of San Antonio with the sole purpose of seeing the courthouses.  This one was a beauty.

Strikingly similar, although diminutive in size, the Lavaca County Courthouse in Hallettsville was designed by the same architect who built the courthouse in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  Henry Hobson Richardson died shortly after completing this structure, his last project, at the age of 42.  The courthouse tower stands 170 feet from ground level and was constructed in 1897 and features incredible Romanesque arches.

The clock tower, featuring windows which are two stories tall, can be seen from miles away.  The crowning jewel is the 7-foot diameter Seth Thomas Clock which was installed a year after completion of the building.  The courthouse was described as being "well-furnished, including every room having its own hat rack and spitoon."

The first case tried in the courthouse was on June 5, 1899, after Charles McMurry shot Charles Ledbetter right out on the courthouse square.  "Killed him dead."  The old jury room was on the third floor where the jury slept, ate, and relieved themselves in their "handsomely equipped bathrooms."

In 1913 some local residents discovered that the number 13 had great significance in their city.  Hallettsville had 13 letters in its name, had a population of 1300, had 13 newspapers and an equal number of churches and saloons at 13 each.  Ripley's Believe It Or Not called it the "13" city.

As of today Hallettsville has a population of 2,550, and is the only place in the world named Hallettsville.  The founding fathers had the surname Hallett.  It is the home of the Texas Championship Domino Hall of Fame.  The 2000 census reported that 4.6 percent of the population of Lavaca County speak Czech as their first language.

Hallettsville is 250 miles south of Dallas,  110 miles east of San Antonio, 110 miles west of Houston, and 260 miles southwest of where I live.  It was a long day.

NOTE:  For those of you who are new to this blog and who also admire beautiful courthouses, if you click on "Courthouses" on the top right sidebar you can visit the other 40 courthouses I have photographed in Texas.  Texas has a total of 254 counties but my goal is to photograph the remaining 1800 courthouses which number between 75 and 80.

Old San Antonio National Bank Building

This gorgeous building was constructed to house the San Antonio National Bank in 1886.  The bank was the first federally chartered banking institution in San Antonio, having been established in 1866.  This Victorian design structure featuring Moorish arches and ornate ironwood and a decorative corner tower was occupied by the bank until 1970.  It is now the home of a law firm.

When I first saw this wrought iron fence as we descended from a parking garage across the street, I knew it was worth of Teresa's Good Fences meme.  I love the brass rosettes on the top of the posts.

The fence becomes even more ornate as it approaches the corners.

This photo, taken from the fourth floor of the parking garage where I left a lot of my money in San Antonio, reveals a patio rooftop entertainment area.

Linking to this week's Good Fences.

Mr. Red

The Fixer-Upper

Are there any fans of HGTV's "Fixer Upper" out there?  I love the show, mostly because it focuses on a couple who renovates houses in the Waco, Texas, area.  I stumbled on this cute little Queen Anne house as I was driving through Bartlett, Texas, on one of my road trips.  It could probably be bought for a song, and I'd love to see what magic Chip and Joanna could create if they got their hands on it. Bartlett is only about 60 miles south of Waco so maybe I should tip them off that there is a jewel down on the south 40!

The Emily Morgan Hotel - San Antonio

Standing tall over the Alamo is the Emily Morgan Hotel.  When it opened in 1926 after two years of construction it was called the Medical Arts Building.  Some of the floors were used as a psychiatric hospital, thus giving rise to the many theories that the building is haunted.  Others believe that the ghosts of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, whose bodies were burned in a mass grave near the Alamo after the famous battle, walk the halls.  It later became an office building and today is a hotel.

But who was Emily Morgan?  Folklore says that a young beautiful indentured servant whose legendary "activities" during the Texas Revolution which have come to be identified with the song "The Yellow Rose of Texas" may have helped contribute to the defeat of General Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto leading to Texas independence.  A link to the hotel's website gives a short synopsis of this legend, some of which may be true and some of which may be exaggeration.  Click here for the story.

San Antonio City Hall

San Antonio City Hall sits in the middle of Military Plaza in downtown San Antonio.  It was constructed in 1888.

San Antonio River Walk

The San Antonio River Walk is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River as it winds its way through historic downtown San Antonio. The 2.5-mile-long path one level below the streets, winding and looping under bridges, is lined with bars, shops, and restaurants.

The colorful river taxis take tourists for a ride through the city at all hours of the day and night.  It was too cold to spend too much time on the river during our visit. At least the cold kept the crowds away.

The walkways are lined with lush gardens and trees.  Cypress trees abound which turn a brilliant orange in autumn but look almost dead in the winter.  But even in winter they are still colorful.  During the annual Fiesta San Antonio in the spring floats of flowers form a parade throughout the city.

The historic Bexar (pronounced "Bare") County Courthouse is shown in the background.

The Orphan

This sweet little bull calf was born at my neighbor's farm in early December.  Unfortunately his mother died right after his birth, so my friend bottle-fed him for several weeks.  She is a dispatcher at the Nacogdoches Police Department and starts her shift every day at 6.  This meant she had to get up about 4:30 every morning before leaving for work at 5:30 to feed him and then of course rush home after her shift ends at 2 to feed him again.  He was beginning to think she was his mother, but luckily, for both of them, another cow, one with a dairy heritage calved about a month later and adopted him as her own and started feeding him successfully.  He is now out of the barn, in the pasture with his friends and relatives, and growing steadily.

Old Gonzales County Jail

The Old Gonzales County Jail in Gonzales, Texas, sits very near the courthouse pictured in yesterday's post.  The jail is older than the courthouse by nine years.

Today the jail houses the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce.

Another couple of interesting facts about Gonzales:
1.  It is the only city of its size in Texas which still retains its name from the days of Spanish rule.
2.  Gonzales was the only town to send reinforcement to the Alamo.  All 32 men perished in the siege by Santa Anna.

Gonzales County Courthouse (Texas No. 40)

While visiting San Antonio over the Christmas holiday I had the opportunity to sneak in a few more photos to add to my Texas historic courthouses series, and the Gonzales County Courthouse in Gonzales, Texas, proved to be one of the winners.

This 1894 beauty was designed by my favorite courthouse architect, J. Gordon Reily.  The Romanesque Revival structure is constructed of red brick and limestone.

Gonzales is a small town rich in Texas history.  It was the site of the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution in 1835 between 18 Gonzales citizens and 100 Mexican soldiers who had been sent from San Antonio, 75 miles to the west, to retrieve a small cannon which had been granted to the settlement in 1832 for protection against Indian attacks.  A few months later Gonzales contributed 32 volunteers to the defense of the Alamo in San Antonio, all of whom lost their lives.  The widow of one of the  Alamo defenders fled back to Gonzales with news of the massacre, and Gen. Sam Houston, who was in town organizing Texas forces, anticipating Gonzales would be the next target of the Mexican army, ordered the town to be burned to deny it to the enemy.  Gonzales was eventually rebuilt on the original site throughout the 1940s.

The Clock Tower

Gonzales has many Tudor Revival, Greek Revival, and Queen Anne style homes.  I think it deserves a return visit when I have more time to spend a whole day exploring this wonderful little city of 7,000 people.

Gonzales is 260 miles south of Dallas and 135 miles west of Houston.

The Alamo

My daughter and I spent several days in San Antonio during the Christmas holiday and we of course visited the city's most famous spot, the Alamo.  More than 2.5 million people come to the Alamo every year, the former Mission San Antonio de Valero.  First established in 1718, the current structure was constructed on its present site in 1724.  It is the place where approximately 200 Texas revolutionaries/freedom fighters were massacred by the Mexican Army in 1836. The defenders, all of them volunteers and among them Jim Bowie, designer of the Bowie knife, and Davy Crockett, the Tennessee frontiersman and congressman, lost their lives after a 13-day siege by over 1800 Mexican soldiers.  It is estimated that the Texans killed between 400 to 600 of their attackers.  The history of this Texas shrine is simply too long and too complicated to be explained here.  No photographs are allowed inside the Alamo because it has been designated by the State of Texas as a shrine and a place of reverence and reflection.

Many first-time visitors are surprised to see how small the structure is.  Today it is surrounded by high-rise office buildings and hotels.  We visited on the Monday before Christmas but were back downtown on Christmas Day and were astonished that nearly a hundred people seemed to be on the grounds in the late afternoon, although it was closed to the public.

The exterior walls of the compound, both inside and out, are beautifully landscaped with live oak trees and gardens.

Waiting for the Lunch Buffet

This Is What I Did Over The Weekend

Relaxing on a cold winter afternoon

When you are absent from blogging for a while, there can be some surprises when you return.  For me I see that the verification villain has return and attached himself to most of the blogs I follow and has also magically appeared on my own site.  A few blogs seem to be free of this phenomenon that so many of us considered a scourge just a few months ago.  Can anyone shed any light on this mystery and why no one seems to be upset about it?  I do notice the verification text seems to be easier to read and sometimes just checking the I Am Not A Robot box is all that's required.  What are your thoughts about it?