USA > Texas > Bexar County > San Antonio > San Antonio de Bexar; a guide and history > Part 2
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Restaurants -Good ones are Harnisch & Baer's, on Alamo Plaza; the Elite, at the corner of Soledad street and Main Plaza; and Lang's Dining Room, on Commerce street.
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SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR.
Street Car Lines and Street Railways.
The Belknap System of Lines comes first. For years-since 1878 almost up to the present time-this system was the only one which San Antonio had. It was inaugurated by the late Col. Augustus Belknap, formerly such a popular and genial figure in our community. It is now under the management of the able president of the company, Mr. W. H. Weiss. We have other systems and lines, and still others are projected. This system serves about all parts of the city, and all its lines, except the Flores street line, focus on the Alamo Plaza. Taking, therefore, the Alamo Plaza as a starting point, we will describe this system, mentioning principal streets, in progress and the termini.
The Scarlet Lake Cars, named San Pedro line, take Houston street, turning north to Acequia street to San Pedro avenue and San Pedro Springs, turning east awhile down Locust street, then north again through Crockett Place and encom- passing Laurel Heights, back to and terminating on San Pedro avenue, far above the Springs. Night light, red; fare, a nickel. Electric line.
The Green Cars, named Avenue C line, take Houston street, shortly turning north on Avenue C to the Southern Pacific depot, following Austin street to Carson street to Grayson street to Government Post, terminating at the southwest corner of the New Post. Night light, green; fare, a nickel. Electric line.
The Orange Cars, named City Hall line, take Houston street, Sole- dad street south, across Main Plaza to Military Plaza, Dolorosa street, West Commerce street to the I. & G. N. depot, where it terminates. Night light, orange; fare, a nickel. Electric line.
The Dull Red Cars, named S. A. & A. P. R. R. line, takes Alamo street south to Mill street to the S. A. & A. P. R. R. depot. Night light, red; fare, a nickel.
The white cars, named Cemetery line, take East Commerce street to ceme- teries. Fare, a nickel; color, yellow and green1.
The Yellow Cars plying between San Pedro Springs to North Flores street, to Military Plaza, to South Flores street and Arsenal, to S. A. & A. P. R. R. depot terminating on South Flores street south of that depot. Night light, purple ; fare, nickel.
The McCrillis, or Alamo Electric Street R. R. System, is next in impor- tance. Going south from the heart of the city it crosses Houston and Commerce streets on Navarro street, crosses the Mill bridge down Garden street, turning on Mill street to Presa street, going far down that street, terminating at the Fair and Exposition grounds and Riverside Park. Fare, nickel.
The McCrillis System also starts from the Alamo Plaza out Avenue E. a short distance to Third street, making a turn down that street crossing Avenue C., then into Martin street, inaking a junction on that street with its main line, then crossing the river over the bridge by the Convent on to Richmond Avenue, Madison Square, to Main Avenue, to Howard Street and Crockett Square, turning south at Laurel street across the San Pedro creek to the Fredericksburg road to Key-
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STREET CARS AND PLACES OF INTEREST.
stone Park. Another line of the same system starts from Alamo Plaza east on Crockett Street to the Cemeteries. Fare, nickel.
The West End System, built principally for the accommodation of the West End Town Company's passenger traffic, is a good line of Thompson-Houston Electric System. Starting from the corner of Houston and Acequia streets it goes west out Houston street, skirting the western limits, to the West End Lake, where it terminates. Styled "Houston Street and West End." Color, blue; night light, blue; fare, nickel.
The Alamo Heights System. This line, starting from the Alamo Plaza out Avenue E. into Austin street, past the Southern Pacific R. R. depot into River Avenue past the head of the river, encompassing that property to the Alanıo Heights, a new and important addition to the improved suburbs of the city. Color, yellow; night light, purple; fare, nickel.
There is a short car line from the I. & G. N. depot to the summit of Prospect Hill. Also one called the Cross Town R. R., little used, from the Southern Pacific Railroad to the bottom of San Pedro Avenue.
What There is to See and How to See It.
The visitor once housed to his satisfaction in the city, so much around him is so interesting and so different to what he has hitherto seen, that he is sure to be early asking questions and enquiring generally as to the lions of the neigh- borhood, what there is to see and how best to see it. Here is a list and following a more extended description with mention of the attractions of San Antonio and Western Texas.
The Alamo of course leads the list, that is a shrine before which every pil- grim to San Antonio bows. The First and Second Missions should not be missed, and the Third with its substantial old Aqueduct, and the Fourth with its more per- fect fortifications, if time will allow, should be visited. All four Missions have different points of interest and will'repay a thousand times in pleasure any diffi -. culty in getting to them. The San Fernando Cathedral, the extensive Irrigation Ditches, are worthy of note. The Plazas, the curious custom of the all-night out- door Supper on the Plazas. The stranger should certainly take a Mexican supper. The Mexican quarter and its denizens, trans-San Pedro creek, should be done. Riverside Park and Exposition Grounds, the San Pedro Springs, the Head of the River, a peep at the Horse and Stock Yards, two or three fine Public Buildings, and last but not least the Government Military Post and Depot, with its extensive grounds and works, drills, parades, music and barracks. This Post is probably the most important in every respect of any in the United States.
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SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR.
The Alamo Church as it is in 1890 .*
The foundation stone of the Church was laid on May 8th, 1744. A stone in the carved front bears a date of 1757 ; it is uncertain what this date means; it may be the date of the Church's dedication. Giraud shows (Yoakum's History, App. IV.) that the Mission was founded in 1703, on the Rio Grande, and after being twice removed to different sites it was finally brought to San Antonio by order of the Viceroy of New Spain, the Marquis of Valero, May 1st, 1718. A printed copy obtained from Rev. Father Bouchu, Padre at the Mission Espada, of "Informe Oficial del Conde Revilla-gigedo, Virey de Méjico al Rey de España, 1793," concerning the Missions of Texas, relates that the " ereccion " of this Mission dated 1716. The Mission was secularized with the others by decree of Don Pedro de Nava, April 10th, 1794. The famous siege began February 22d, 1836. The " Fall of the Alamo " occurred March 6th, 1836.
A visitor to-day at " The Alamo," will be met at its entrance by the worthy janitor, Capt. Tom Rife, a Texan of pioneer days. He guards the building with a jealous care it is indeed a pleasure to note in these days of the irrepressible relic hunter and wall scribbler. The visitor will be given in short the particulars of the foundation of the Mission and the church. A description will be given him of the desperate stand to the last man of Travis, Bowie (the inventor of tlie cele- brated bowie knife), " Davy" Crockett, Bonham, and their companions, in de- fense of their countrymen's liberties and the independence of Texas. One hun- dred and seventy or more men, with sublime recklessness, decided that they would never surrender or retreat. Death to each was the cost of this magnificent temer- ity. He will be shown the arch pillars upon either side, evidences of a massive arched roof and dome, the remains of the towers, with the vaulted ceilings to the ground floor cells, the connection of the place with the convent from the choir, the cruciform of the Church, the site of the dome, the room used as a powder magazine during the siege, which is interesting for its massive walls and strong, vaulted stone roof or ceiling, and for the fact that it was here that Evans was shot in a last vain endeavor to set fire to the residue of the ammunition and that "in all probability it was here that Bowie was bayoneted on liis sick bed too ill of typhoid fever to do anything but set a high example of admirable fortitude and courage. The present roof, some of the upper windows and floorings and other improvements, the visitor will be reminded are modern. The captain will be found ever ready to answer the questions that naturally arise to those not too familiar with the Alamo's eventful history.
Some Further Notes on the Alamo.
"And their flag floated out on the breeze Like tremulous hands stretched forth to bless."
The building now commonly known as the Alamo, and which is really the Church of the Mission of the Alamo, or of San Antonio de Valero, is on the east side of the Alamo Plaza, its carved front faces west ; it stands at a point a little
* "Alamo " is the Spanish name for the cottonwood tree, a species of poplar quite common upon the banks of Texas rivers and creeks ; its timber is in demand for the beauty of its texture ; on account of the height of its close foliage it makes a favorite roosting place for wild turkeys. The Alamo seems to have been built in a grove of thes trees,
LIBRARY
العيد
MISSION DE LA CONCEPCION (FIRST MISSION).
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THE ALAMO.
north of midway on the east side of this Plaza, as at present constituted. As will be seen on reference to the plan of the Mission as it originally was, both the Alamo Church and the Convent yard were outside the eastern boundary of the ancient enclosure known as the "Square of the Mission." This enclosure ex- tended its northwest corner down Avenue D one hundred feet or more, embracing with the north-west walls a good portion of the actual building site of the new federal building. Its western boundary was almost exactly along the sidewalk past the Maverick homestead across Houston street past the Maverick Bank and the row of buildings following on the west side of Alamo Plaza. The boundary all along here, as is most frequently the case with these Missions, consisted of dwellings and barracks for the use of those connected with or dependants of the old Missions. Two irrigation ditches or acequias, both of them abandoned many years ago, ran upon each side of this row of · dwellings, one a branch of a branch and the other a branch called the Acequia del Alamo of the Villita ditch, 110W running under the eastern wall of the Church through the Menger hotel on to " La Villita," which ditch, by the way, is itself a branch of a main acequia (Acequia Madre del Alamo) which passes farther east from the head of the river and on to Water street. All these ditches were used not only for irrigating the lands in the immediate vicinity and belonging to the Missions, but provided water for the domestic uses of the Padres and their numerous dependants and coadjutors. Similar dwellings and buildings to those mentioned formed the northeastern corner of the square. The southern boundary was more prominent on account of the strongly built entrance and sally-port of the square being there. The build- ing each side of the entrance were most commonly used as a prison and strong- hold ; further mention of this building will appear later. Hardly a vestige of these enclosing walls of the Mission Square could be found to-day. The eastern wall or boundary was also conspicuous for the Convent buildings which it in- cluded, and upon these Convent foundations Honoré Grenet, in the year 1878, built for a grocery warehouse the inartistic erection now occupied by the firm of Hugo & Schmeltzer. This property has been condemned by the city (1889) so that these remnants, too, will in all probability soon disappear before the mandates of improvement committees; when, all that will be left of this once prominent and always most famous of the Texas Missions will be those walls in the form of a cross, which with " ears to hear," caught to themselves the secrets of the closing scenes of a sublime tragedy. They alone know the last personal results of a unanimous resolve of desperate but calmly deliberate. heroism. Old, battered, time-worn, silent walls, no word of any single hero's prowess, or separate and supreme feats do your portals tell. They are carved with emblems and signs of quite another story. Those deeds are your secret. Nevertheless, echoed from you, shall be heard the whispers adown the farthest "corridor of time" of a mag- nificent story of reckless and immovable self-sacrifice.
East of the Convent building, projected from its walls the Convent yard, a rectangular enclosure, about 100 feet square, surrounded by strong walls, it touched and joined with its southeast corner the wall of the near corner of the north wing of the cross formed by the walls of the Mission Church. The Convent building was 191 feet long, running to the south line of East Houston street, so no doubt on the north side of the Convent yard was another enclosure proba-
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SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR.
bly fenced with a wall, but not of the importance of the main Convent yard. The Convent, the Convent yard, the prison building already mentioned, and which was existing till 1866, (when a storm blew the roof off) or later, the space imme- diately in front of the Alamo Church which was protected by a temporary battery stockade of cedar posts and earthworks stretching from the prison build- ing to the southwest corner of the Church, and lastly, the Church itself, were the chief scenes of the siege of February and March, 1836. In the Church the last desperate stand of the remnant of the defenders was made. These portions of the Mission were those that in these later troubles were commonly understood to constitute the fortress of the Alamo. While some of the dwellings might have been used and undoubtedly were used as barracks by larger forces, it could not have been but impossible for a handful of men (less than 180) to have manned the whole extensive original walls of. the Mission square. Indeed, tradition says that much of the western and northern boundaries of the large Mission square had been destroyed in 1835, before the siege, and that even the prison portion was abandoned quite early in the siege, though still covered by unerring marks- men with the long rifles which the Texans knew so well how to handle. Before, General Cos did much to damage the place as a tenable fortress and during and after the siege, the walls were dismantled. Piecemeal, " here a little and there a little," the old Mission has been improved off the face of the earth. Very for- lorn and dilapidated must it have appeared when it left the hands of Santa Anna and his myrmidons in the spring of 1836. "The Alamo," says Kendall, writing of 1841 "is now in ruins, only two or three of the houses being inhabited." For thirteen or fourteen years after "the fall," the place remained in a state of almost absolute ruin. For much less than a century had this church stood in the beauty of completeness. There are strong evidences that the Alamo Church in original general design resembled the Church of the Mission Concepcion, that is to say, it had a carved front, on either side of which was a tower with baptismal or vestry rooms at their bases, with belfries in their second stories. Both Churches were built in the form of the cross and had similar arches and arched stone roofs. The Alamo Church, probably like the Mission Concepcion Church, had a dome at the intersection of the cross arches. Here, perhaps, the resemblance between the two Churches ceased. Now, long before the siege, tradition says, the towers had disappeared, the roof and dome had mostly fallen in, but what was left of the walls stood bravely up. These thick, strong walls, the Convent with its yard and the carcel or prison entrance were recognized by the many military leaders of the various factions and armies in the struggles and troublous times of the early part of the present century as about the safest harbor of refuge the neighborhood afforded, as at times others of the Missions were considered good frontier fortresses.
About the year 1849, Major E. B. Babbitt, acting Quartermaster of the Eighth Military Department, and father of the present popular commander of the Arsenal, Major Lawrence S. Babbitt, took possession of the Alamo buildings in the name of the U. S. Government to use them as a Quartermaster's Depot. The ownership of the Alamo was disputed at this time, the city claiming it on the one side, the Roman Catholic Church upon the other. The city claimed from Major E. B. Babbitt, on January 3d, 1850, rents due for the occupation of
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THE ALAMO.
the " buildings and property known as the Alamo." In a subsequent suit which the city lost, Bishop Odin, on behalf of his Church, proved her title to the property.
Major Babbitt, as has been said, found the whole place in appearance an ab- solute ruin. The Church building was choked with debris, a conglomeration of stones, mortar and dirt forming on the inside a slanting heap from the base of the rear wall to the top of the front " so that a person could run up and look over the top of the front." Much work was necessary to put the place into anything like the shape necessary for offices and depot houses, and sheds. The Major set to work to do this. The Church was first cleared, and deep down in the debris were found two or three skeletons that had evidently been hastily covered with rub- bish after the fall, for with them were found fur caps and buckskin trappings, undoubted relics of the ever memorable last stand. In a later year, March 29, 1878, other skeletons buried at an earlier and apparently more peaceful period, were unearthed in the Church, and a beautifully carved baptismal font was brought to light, November 15, 1878. What varied scenes in the life of man it had witnessed ! One would be tempted to moralize writing for anything else but the pages of a bald historical guide. The next work done was the repairing of the front. To restore the upper part of it to its original form was impracticable. Bare practical utility is the desired feature of any Government Military work. So the top was finished off in its present modest shape, the rest of the walls were raised to an equal height, a roof was added, and to assist in bearing up this roof, two stone pillars were built inside at points in the wings of the cross in line with the arch pillars. A second floor was added, and in the southwest tower, once a belfry, an office was made. Other offices were added on the ground floor. A few troops were at first quartered in the Church, the Convent and yard were also fitted up for storerooms, stables and sheds. The carcel was also roofed and cleared, and a serviceable granary was made of it and used as such by the Quar- termasters for many years. It was demolished soon after the war, the wind be- ginning this work of destruction in 1866. This old prison building used to stand east and west across the north end of the garden of the Alamo Plaza and its foundations were brought to light in 1889, when the leveling of the Plaza, prepar- atory to laying mesquite blocks, began. The buildings as restored by Major Babbitt, were used as a Quartermaster's Depot by the United States troops until the breaking out of the war, when the Confederate authorities used it for a similar purpose. After the war it was again used by the United States Govern- ment until the new Quartermaster Depot was ready on Government Hill, on January 31, 1878.
In 1877 Grenet purchased the Convent portion of the Alamo property, and shortly (October 5, 1878) erected the atrocious lumber building before noticed. Objection1 was made on the part of the Church authorities to using, the Alamo Church building as a mercantile storeroom, yet it undoubtedly was used for this at times. Early in 1883 the State began negotiations for the purchase of the old Church, and under Act of April 23, 1883, this was done, and on May 16, the final transfer to the State for $20,000 was made. This was the right and proper thing to do, and it was but a slight recognition of the valor of the men to whom
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SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR.
Texas owes so much, not to mention the many other historical associations that its walls embody. Many particulars and details of the foundation and earlier history of this Church and the Mission will be found in Sidney Lanier's histori- cal sketch. These notes are intended in part to supplement and fit into his ex- cellent description.
The Cathedral of San Fernando.
This structure, once merely a Parish Church, now a Cathedral (the first Bishop of San Antonio was installed here Christmas eve, 1874), is a mixture of the old and new régimes. All that is left of the old building is the rear part, easily dis- tinguished by its marked Moorish characteristics, its dome and massive walls and octagonal design. The first Parish Church seems to have been built by subscription and the " subject of the construction was first considered in the Royal Presidio of San Antonio de Bexar, February 17th, 1738 .* Don Prudencio de Orobio Basterra being Governor and Captain-General of the Spanish State of Texas, and Don Juan Rezio de Leon being Curate, Vicar and Ecclesiastical Justice of the town of San Fernando (without the Presidio of San Antonio), and it was resolved that this Parish Church should be erected under the invocation of the Virgin and our Lady of Guadalupe." Many Spanish names which appear in the original list of contributors are names well known in the present day, held by descendants. This old Church stood upon much the same ground as the modern structure does, that is, midway between the two Plazas, the Main and the Mili- tary. It bore, however, a nearer relation to the Military Plaza and its habitants than to the other, for it was here mostly that Spain's soldier-guardians of her border colonies dwelt, and it was for their use, more especially, that the Church was designed .;
The corner stone of the new structure was laid on September 27th, 1868. The old main dome was destroyed April 29th, 1872, and the new walls went up outside the old, so that the Church was only for a short time in disuse. July 3d, 1873, the old front was torn down. F. Giraud, who was Mayor of San Antonio at the opening, October 6th, 1873, had furnished the architect's plans and speci- fications. It was the intention of the architect to have two similar towers, yet only one was partially completed. These towers were to have additional struc- tures of wood surmounting the masonry, twenty-five feet above the summit of the tower now erected. In this tower are several bells that chime out morning, noon and evening, telling to all the city the time of day. Daily services are held, the Sunday morning congregation is, as a rule, large, and then the music is good and well worth hearing. The Church is open all day and under the care of a sacristan. There is an old and interesting font and several large pictures and other notable decorations. The present Bishop is San Antonio's second - the Right Reverend J. C. Neraz.
* Another authority says that the foundation stone of this old Church was laid May 13th, 1734.
-(San Antonio Herald, July 17th, 1872).
+ There was formerly mention existing in the church records of a still older church building on a different site, at about No. 500 North Laredo street ; all traces of this foundation have entirely disappeared. It was the origin of the old San Fernando Parish Church, and in a measure the building of the latter was probably a re- moval merely from the Laredo street site.
KURTZ
MISSION SAN JOSÉ DE AGUAYO (SECOND MISSION).
+ au countries, Texas
REESE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY
OF CA:
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THE MISSIONS.
The Missions.
" Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, * *
%
Blest be the man that spares these stones." * * * *
A protest must be recorded here against the wanton mutilation of the sculp- ture of the Missions by thoughtless relic hunters. The shameful chipping of the beautiful carving has been going on for years. At San José whole figures have been stolen and others made headless ; the fine old carved cedar paneled doors of this Mission were entirely wrecked and carried away piecemeal. Can any good use warrant such senseless robbery ? Good friend, forbear ! forbear even to add your name to the thousands scratched, scribbled and penciled on walls not meant for such a purpose.
How to Get to the Missions.
How can I get to see the Missions ? is the anxious inquiry of almost every traveling sightseer that comes to San Antonio.
The idea that if one is seen all are seen is erroneous.
Each Mission has its distinctive features, and all are well worth a visit. Time, of course, is of great consideration to most people, and they would rather see one than none, which is reasonable enough, but if the time can possibly be spared none of the four Missions should be missed. There is nothing of the kind of equal interest on this continent. It is an experience of a lifetime, especially so to him who is engaged in the rush and torrent of business life. Let him then sacrifice a little to this object and he may be sure that, far from regretting the time, it will be a memory to be long cherished. It is a simple matter to get to the Missions, except after a heavy rain, and then the muddy roads, as everywhere else in the world, are a little unpleasant. The way for a stranger to go, to thoroughly enjoy the time, is to hire a buggy, or, if a small party is made up, a larger conveyance. Northern visitors are often seen making themselves very un- comfortable by going out to the Missions on horseback thinking that it is the thing to do in Texas. If you are a good rider, all right, but don't make yourself miserable by putting yourself for the first time in a Texas saddle to see the Missions, or you are very sure not to appreciate what there is to see. The ride should be made a separate number on the program. Granted,-that you have made up your mind to hire a buggy and to see all the Missions. Start in the morning after breakfast taking a light lunch with you. You take Garden street going south, and noting as you leave town the wide old Concepcion Ditch on the left hand side of the road. You still follow the same street crossing the Southern Pacific Railroad track and bearing slightly to the right ; cross the S. A. & A. P. Railroad track, still following the same road, until you see the Towers of the Mission Concepcion standing conspicuously up on the left hand side of the road, just two and one quarter miles from the centre of the city. Having seen all that there is to be seen here, you make your way along the same road towards the Riverside Park, then down to the River, crossing a new county bridge there at the old ford.
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