San Antonio’s 26th annual MLK March enjoyed beautiful weather on Monday, January 21. The 2.7 mile march started at the MLK Academy and ended at Pittman-Sullivan Park. Marchers enjoyed a program and festival at the park following the march. Photos were taken by Peter Ray.
When I first moved to San Antonio in 1987 I worked for a city development agency located in St. Paul’s Square. Now 20+ years later I’m back, living nearby. The area is much quieter now that the trains no longer blow their horns as they pass through.
The historical district seems to be on the verge of becoming a popular destination for tourists and locals. Hopefully the influx of UTSA football fans beginning this Saturday will increase the visibility of the area.
Entertainment options in St. Paul Square includes shows at the Cameo Theatre and live music at Sunset Station. Restaurants in the district include Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Aldaco’s Sunset Station. Prime Bar and Alibis’ Sports & Spirits provide drink specials and outside patios. VIA’s yellow trolley line and the Hop On Hop Off tour bus make regular trips from downtown to St. Paul Square. Amtrak passenger trains depart from the station located between Sunset Station and the Alamodome.
Texas Born Musicians Mural
It would be great to have more restaurants open in St. Paul Square. I would love to patronize a small pizza place or a homey bookstore/cafe in the neighborhood.
Posted in Downtown, Food, History, San Antonio, sports, Texas, theater, Travel
Tagged Cameo Theatre, St. Paul's Square, Sunset Station
Marc Lamont Hill
Wednesday evening Trinity University hosted Dr. Marc Lamont Hill as the annual MLK Jr. Commemorative Lecture. I greatly admire and appreciate people who are good speakers, and Dr. Hill proved to be one of the best speakers I have ever heard. He was very funny and also very serious and passionate.
Dr. Hill’s lecture was entitled “Leading, Learning and Loving in the Hour of Chaos: Understanding King’s Legacy in the 21st Centry.” Dr. Hill pointed out that MLK, Malcolm X and Che Guevara all died at the age of 39 years. He said that social change is always done by young people. Dr. Hill noted that political activity on college campuses is dwindling. He challenged the Trinity students in the audience to go out in the community to engage with and help people.
Dr. Hill touched upon many other topics in his lecture. He said that America has 1st class jails and 2nd class schools. He noted the large number of poor and /or minority people incarcerated which he attributed in large part to a War on Drugs going on since 1984. Dr. HIll said that democracy needs poeple to ask tough critical questions. But he also noted that there is too much talk in American right now and not enough conversation. Dr. Hill described how Martin Luther King Jr. engaged in “deep listening.” Dr. Hill also noted that older people tend to want to sanitize the past for young people and send the message that the past was perfect. But Dr. Hill said that we need to remember the bad parts and the pain of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life.
Audience questioners at Trinity lectures tend to often try to give their own lectures. But the questions asked of Dr. Hill were very interesting and hit upon a number of diverse topics. Subjects ranged from ethnic studies in Arizona to the Fairness Doctrine to what college students from Africa could do to help their home continent. Someone also asked if President Obama might have a different perspective on racism since he grew up in Hawaii. Dr. Hill answered all of these questions thoughtfully and at length.
Dr. Hill, a professor of English Education at Columbia University, is described as a “hip hop generation intellectual.” He lectures widely and provides political commentary for TV, radio and print media. A widely viewed video on YouTube shows Dr. Hill arguing with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News. Dr. Hill was born in Philadelphia in 1978.
Fatty's Burgers
We stopped at Fatty’s Burgers on East Commerce on a sunny Saturday afternoon due to the excellent reviews the restaurant received on the San Antonio Burger Blog. The restaurant was easy to find near the Commerce Street exit off Hwy 281. The restaurant staff were very friendly. The burgers tasted good and were reasonably priced. Football was playing on several TVs and the large dining room seemed conducive to watching sports and relaxing with friends.
Directly across the street from Fatty’s is the two-block complex that formerly housed the Friedrich Refrigeration Company. The complex consists of multiple buildings built between 1923 and 1955. The development was recently mentioned in a Cary Clack column as a possible new headquarters for the San Antonio Independent School District.
Edward Friedrich, founder of the refrigeration company, constructed a large Queen Anne style house less than a mile from the factory overlooking Dignowity Park. The house has been restored and is currently for sale.
Another distinctive house in the Dignowity Hill area is the Emil Elmendorf house at 509 Burleson. The 1884 raised-cottage house has elements of Victorian and Greek Revival style. The house was designed by prominent architect Alfred Giles. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dignowity Park was the focus of a volunteer beautification effort in September when Texas Public Radio (TPR) commemorated National Public Lands Day by planting drought-resistant vegetation in the park. TPR partnered with San Antonio Credit Union, San Antonio Water System, and San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department.
St. John's Lutheran Cemetary
The Cemetary District is another interesting part of the historic Eastside area. Between 1853 and 1904 a total of 31 cemetaries on 103 acres were developed. Familiar-sounding surnames of people buried here include Guenther, Steves, Menger, Gunter, Witte, Driscoll and Maverick.
Tree of Life sculpture in Dignowity Park
House facing Dignowity Park
House near Dignowity Park
Emil Elmendorf grave
Myra Davis Hemmings Resource Center
Posted in Food, History, housing, Parks, Public Art, San Antonio
Tagged Dignowity Park, Fatty's Burgers, Friedrich
Entrance on Austin Street
The Hays Street Bridge connecting Hays Street between Austin and Cherry Streets on the near Eastside of San Antonio officially re-opened for pedestrian and bicycle traffic on July 20. The bridge was built in 1881 for railroad use and moved to its present site for vehicular use in 1910. In 1982 the bridge was deemed dangerous and closed.
Top of bridge
According to TexasEscapes.com the Hays Street Bridge is a viaduct consisting of two wrought iron truss spans (one Phoenix Whipple 225-ft span, and one Pratt 130-ft span), and approximately 1000-linear feet of concrete approaches. Records of the Phoenix Bridge Company archived at the Hagley Library in Wilmington, Delaware show that the Whipple truss dates from 1881 and was reconstructed from one or more salvaged spans over the Nueces River west of San Antonio.
Trusses over the railroad tracks
BridgeMapper says the Hays Street Bridge is composed of a Whipple Truss and a pin-connected Pratt approach span. The Whipple Truss segment with Phoenix column compression members is one of only a few such surviving examples in the country. BridgeMapper says that while railroads often recycled their bridges to carry roads over their lines, Whipple trusses were rarely moved since they were much longer and much rarer than other types. The Hays Street Bridge is a notable exception. The trusses were relocated to the present site around 1910 and widened to carry two lanes of traffic.
Art on railing
The City of San Antonio purchased the bridge and rehabilitated it as a bicycle and pedestrian facility using a Transportation Enhancement grant from the Texas Department of Transportation. Sparks Engineering, Inc. was the design consultant for the project. The rehabilitation project incorporates benches, interpretive signage covering the history of the bridge, and a public art component along the new approach railings. When I visited the bridge on a recent hot and sunny Sunday afternoon nobody else was on the bridge. Hopefully with the cooler weather approaching more people will come and walk or bike this elegant historic bridge.
Artwork on the bridge railing
View of Hemisfair Tower from bridge
House near bridge entrance
Posted in Downtown, History, Parks, San Antonio, transportation
Tagged Hays Street Bridge
Ranch "characters"
Pistol Packin' Paula show theater
Old Town graveyard
Paula leading the line dancing
Exotic animals
A young visitor
Pistol Packin' Paula show
Tractor ride
Posted in History, San Antonio, Texas, Travel
Tagged Boerne, Enchanted Springs Ranch
San Antonio’s 28th annual Lowrider Festival was held at Mateo Camargo Park on Sunday, April 11th. The festival featured classic cars, trucks, bikes, food and music. Cash prizes and trophies were awarded in 33 categories including Best Lowrider Bike, Best Early Lowrider, and Best Radical.
The festival was organized by Centro Cultural Aztlan, a non-profit organization founded in 1977 to preserve and build upon the long tradition of Chicano/Latino culture by creating programs that would involve local artists and increase public awareness of their work. Central Cultural Aztlan describes the Lowrider Festival as a unique form of mobile public art. The festival pays homage to local barrio artists and other community people who have turned their once factory standard cars into mobile works of arts through complex mechanical modifications, and elaborate decorative paint patterns.
Classic cars on display provided a link to San Antonio’s past. The owner of this 1948 car displayed a photograph of himself as a 17 year old with a car. He said that 10 members of his 1940’s car club, the San Antonio Griffins, still get together for breakfast.
Below are other pictures from the festival:
Fantasy II by Cindy Klatt
Lowrider Bikes
Posted in art, History, non-profit organizations, Parks, San Antonio, Travel
Tagged Camargo Park, Central Cultural Aztlan, Lowrider Festival
Casbeer's At The Church
Sunday I enjoyed a leisurely Valentine’s Day jazz champagne brunch at Casbeer’s At The Church with three generations of family members. The food was plentiful, the music was good and the atmosphere very enjoyable.
Bett Butler and Joel Dilley provided the music which was at a nice volume. The brunch menu included a glass of champagne, a shrimp appetizer, an entree and a slice of chocolate cake for $14 per person. Entree choices were chicken and waffles, burger, chili omelet and enchiladas.
Bett Butler and Joel Dilley
The restaurant staff seemed overwhelmed by the popularity of the event and we experienced a long wait between courses. But the friendly staff, nice music and champagne made the event an enjoyable experience overall. After eating we went upstairs to see the music venue. A staff member told me that ghosts inhabited the building. However, I didn’t see any of them on my photos.
Casbeer’s is located at 1150 South Alamo in the King William neighborhood. The building was constructed in 1912 for the Alamo Methodist church. In 1968 the congregation disbanded. In 1976 the building was converted to a restaurant and theater. In 2008 Barbara Wolfe and Steve Silbas purchased the building and opened Casbeer’s as a venue for live music. A gospel brunch is also held each month. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The building was honored for being the first known church building of its type to feature a sloped floor in the sanctuary area.
Chicken and waffles
Interior of restaurant
Sanctuary/live music performance space
Posted in Food, History, music, San Antonio, Travel
Tagged Casbeer's At The Church, jazz brunch, King William neighborhood
Carol Burnett's childhood home
In Los Angeles tourists can view 40 movie star homes in a few hours on a bus tour. San Antonio’s tour of movie star homes includes the Carol Burnett house and well, that’s about it. And San Antonio’s most famous celebrity house almost became a Bill Miller’s parking lot a few years ago.
Carol Burnett lived in the house at 2006 W. Commerce with her grandmother and great-mother from her birth on April 26, 1933 until she was about seven years old. Around 1940 Burnett and her grandmother moved to Hollywood to join Burnett’s mother.
In her entertaining 1986 memoir One More Time Burnett shares her early memories of roller skating on the wooden floors inside the house, shelling peas on the front porch, bathing in the kitchen sink and window-shopping downtown. Burnett attended Crockett Elementary School and went to a Christian Science church with her grandmother. The memoir contains several pictures of the house on Commerce Street.
Burnett visited San Antonio several times after she moved to California. In her memoir Burnett mentions visiting San Antonio around 1978 as a guest of the Board of Education. She was driven through town in an open convertible and taken to visit the house on Commerce Street. Burnett said the wooden floor still had the marks from her roller skates. In her memoir Burnett also mentions visiting relatives in San Antonio in 1985. In 2006 Burnet performed at the Majestic Theatre.
The Carol Burnett house was built around 1903 at 2803 W. Commerce. The residential area the house was built in over time become a commercial district. A Bill Miller’s BBQ restaurant and an HEB grocery store were built on either side of the house. The last owner of the Carol Burnett house, Adelfa Villareal, died in 1995. In 2006 Villlareal’s estate listed the house for sale. Bill Miller’s executed a contract to purchase the property with plans to demolish the house and build a parking lot.
In June 2007 Bill Miller Bar-B-Q agreed to purchase the house and donate it to American Sunrise, a non-profit organization established by Henry and Mary Alice Cisneros. The house was cut into three pieces and moved eight blocks to its current location at the corner of West Commerce and South Pinto Street. American Sunrise plans to use the house for its after-school program. American Sunrise currently operates a learning center across the street from the Carol Burnett house.
American Sunrise learning center
Carol Burnett receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 (Wikipedia)
The distinguished lectures held at Trinity University are a great asset for San Antonio especially since they are free and open to the public. Last night I attended the 2009-10 DeCoursey Lecture given by Jared Diamond, professor of geography at UCLA. A relatively large audience was present.
Dr. Diamond’s talk “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” follows his book of the same name. Dr. Diamond said he initially outlined a book describing 18 romantic mysteries of abandoned civilizations including Easter Island, Pitcairn Islands, Maya kingdoms, the Anasazi of southwestern United States, and the Norse Greenlanders. But Dr. Diamond’s wife/editor said a book about failed societies would be boring and depressing. So he added some heartwarming stories about societies that succesfully overcame obstacles and become thriving countries. Success stories include Iceland, Japan andthe New Guinea Highlands. Dr. Diamond said he tried to determine why some societies overcome obstacles and remain successful while other highly developed civilizations collapse.
Easter Island statues (Wikipedia)
Dr. Diamond’s lecture was filled with colorful examples illustrating his points. Dr. Diamond listed five causes of collapsing civilizations – human environmental impacts; climate change; enemies/military conquest; friends/trade partners; and the political/social/economic institutions of the society. Dr. Diamond then drew some parallels between past and present societies. He stressed that environmental problems destroyed past societies. He criticized balancing the environment against the economy and assuming that the environment is a luxury to be addressed after the economy is stable. Dr. Diamond said that another common thread among collapsed societies was that the political elite insulated themselves and weren’t motivated to solve problems for the community as a whole.
Anasazi cliff dwellings (Wikipedia)
The main differences between the past and the present, according to Dr. Diamond, are that today people have more potent tools that can cause environmental problems such as deforestation much faster. Another difference is globalization and the interconnection of societies. Today a collapse of a political or economic entity affects the rest of the world. In conclusion, Dr. Diamond said that he is cautiously optomistic about the future of the world. The media has enabled us to learn from societies located far away. We have the potential of learning from the good and bad problems of societies.
The next lecture at Trinity University is by Thomas Friedman on February 16. April lectures feature Condoleezza Rice on April 7 and Rashid Khalidi on April 12. For more information see the Trinity events calendar.
Urban Spotlight San Antonio 