George E. Kelly, who was killed in a crash at Fort Sam in and was the first U. An instructor training facility that soon became known as Brooks Field opened in A balloon and airship school followed at the facility. As a result of the war, the army expanded its military footprint in San Antonio as the site of Camp Travis originally named Camp Wilson for the training of the Ninetieth Division. The army also leased additional land adjacent to the already-established Leon Springs Military Reservation to establish Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley in In San Antonio, still the largest city in Texas, had a population of , On September 9—10, , San Antonio suffered one of its greatest disasters in history—a devastating flood that inundated downtown with up to twelve feet of water in some areas.
A massive wall of water swept through the streets and tore through structures, including city hall, police headquarters, and hospitals. At least fifty-one people died and others were missing. The catastrophe remains the worst flood on record in terms of loss of life and property and prompted city officials to pursue flood control measures. In Olmos Dam on Olmos Creek was completed for flood control, especially for the downtown region though the poorer West Side neighborhoods would still wait decades for effective flood control measures.
Flood waters were also diverted from the Great Bend of the San Antonio River, with floodgates installed at each end of the bend. The bypass channel was finished in A major ultimate consequence of the great flood and ensuing flood control measures was the safe development of the downtown river bend into an area of shops, restaurants, and pedestrian walkways and bridges originally envisioned by architect Robert Hugman in The San Antonio River Walk was completed in Popular western swing groups, Mexican songs, and soap operas filled the airwaves.
The studio at WOAI also served as a recording facility for a number of labels that traveled to the Alamo City in search of talent. Tejana singers such as Lydia Mendoza and her family were recorded numerous times. San Antonio offered country and western swing musicians such as the Tune Wranglers ; the polka and western swing blend of Adolph Hofner ; the jazz of Troy Floyd , whose orchestra included such notables as saxophonist Herschel Evans and trumpeter Don Albert ; and many others.
Record labels also conducted field recordings at such locales as banquet halls, churches, office buildings, and hotel rooms. Two architectural and artistic design jewels—the Aztec Theatre and Majestic Theatre —opened in the city in and , respectively, for movies, musical performances, vaudeville acts, and other entertainment. At its opening, the Majestic touted its status as the largest movie house in the South and first fully air-conditioned theater in the state.
San Antonio already promoted itself as a tourist destination and convenient headquarters for exploring motorists. Nearby, visitors could enjoy the Japanese Tea Garden. During the Great Depression , however, San Antonio experienced a period of slower growth as compared to some other major Texas cities. Its population of , fell behind Houston and Dallas; the city remained the third largest city in Texas through the census.
Several key events during the s shed light on the hardships of the Mexican workforce in the city. Led by native San Antonian and labor and civil rights activist Emma Tenayuca , who had also participated in a strike against the H. Finck Cigar Company in , more than 10, workers mostly women went on a three-month strike against Southern Pecan Shelling Company.
Though both sides later arbitrated a settlement and a federal minimum wage established a higher rate of pay, the company soon mechanized its operations, thereby displacing the workforce. Tranchese championed programs to improve health and housing on the West Side, especially in his capacity as one of the members of the new San Antonio Housing Authority in By the early s the city had its first housing projects, including the Alazan-Apache Courts. San Antonio did not expand beyond its original Spanish charter land until The area was large enough to allow a number of incorporated suburbs within the metropolitan area, but the city soon went beyond these.
Like most twentieth-century American cities in the automobile age, its expansion was mainly horizontal, with sprawling neighborhoods but little vertical building. Although the first Texas skyscraper and several tall buildings were built in San Antonio in the early twentieth century, vertical construction did not continue, and the city's center of population steadily moved northward. In the city purchased 1, acres north of the city limits to develop an airport, and what initially opened as a military training facility later became San Antonio International Airport.
That same year, oilman and philanthropist Thomas Slick, Jr. Fort Sam Houston and airfields Kelly, Brooks, Randolph which had opened in , and Lackland which was separated from Kelly Field early in the war provided critical personnel training and brought a new generation of young recruits from across the United States.
Many returned to live in San Antonio after their service. Until the city government followed the classic mayor-alderman pattern, in which appeared a number of colorful mayors, lively elections, and no little corruption. In San Antonio opted for the council-manager form. Native son Henry B. He championed civil rights and spoke out against segregation while on the council.
House of Representatives. As was the case for other Texas cities, the fight for civil rights transformed San Antonio into a broader-based electorate. During the struggle for desegregation, San Antonio did not experience the violence that characterized the fight for civil rights in some other cities, especially in the Deep South.
Scholars have identified several mitigating factors that diffused some of the turmoil. Certain major segments of the city had already enacted desegregation. The U. The Catholic Church condemned prejudice and integrated all parochial schools and its colleges in the city in just prior to the U. Board of Education. Many city officials, clergy, and traditional Black leaders moved along a course of voluntary desegregation in stages, though pending litigation by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACP prompted the city to desegregate such facilities as municipal parks and golf courses in and swimming pools, buses, and train stations in In addition to the Catholic Church, support came from other members of the clergy.
His father, Charles Bellinger , had been an African American political leader in San Antonio going back to the late s. But a new generation of African American activists began to reject this paternalistic tradition. On March 16, , San Antonio became the first major city in the South to integrate its lunch counters. Soon after, the San Antonio Interracial Committee formed and sent delegations to various public establishments in the attempt to convince them to voluntarily integrate.
City leaders approached the enactment of increased civil rights from an economic perspective and the effort to avoid conflict, generally with the cooperation and input of traditional Black leadership. Finally, after the years of voluntary desegregation in the city, the city council unanimously approved desegregation of all public accommodations on November 11, That same year Rev.
Samuel H. James became the first African American to win a council seat in San Antonio; he was the first Black to do so in a major Texas city. Interestingly, beginning in the s and early s, an organic integration in the city manifested itself through the collaboration of racial and ethnic groups—Tejanos, African Americans, and Anglos—in a unique intercultural musical genre that became known as the West Side Sound.
Young artists came together at night spots such as the Eastwood Country Club and house parties and combined elements of rock-and-roll , rhythm-and-blues, country, and conjunto to create a new sound that has resonated beyond the city and into the twenty-first century. The grounds of HemisFair subsequently served various other festivals and cultural events, including the Texas Folklife Festival which began in Population increased steadily from , in to , in With this steady growth throughout the late twentieth century, San Antonio wrestled with a major issue—its water supply.
Because the aquifer acts as a natural filter and requires no treatment other than chlorination before distribution, its use has provided enormous cost benefits. In the city furnished the first guidelines and restrictions regarding development over the recharge zone.
Area water authorities also explored the possibility of the development of surface water sources as well as the process of desalination of brackish groundwater. De la Teja, Jesus. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, Ramsdell, Charles. Robles, Vito Alessio. Mexico City: Editorial Cultura, ; 2d ed. The Camels are Coming! Jennings The events, as well as the modern commemoration, of two historic days often get confused in our town.
One, Father Damian Massanet wrote in his diary on June 13, On this day, there were so many buffaloes that the horses stampeded and 40 head ran away. These were collected with the rest of the horses by hard work on the part of the soldiers.
We found at this place the rancheria of the Indians of the Payaya nation. This is a very large nation and the country where they live is very fine.
I called this place San Antonio de Padua, because it was his day. In the language of the Indians its is called Yanaguana I ordered a large cross set up [on the 14th], and in front of it built an arbor of cottonwood trees, where the altar was placed.
All the priests said mass. The Indians were present during these ceremonies I gave a horse to the captain [the Payaya chief]. John L. Hinnant, a sixth-generation Texans and Alamo devotee, speaks as the city's Alamo Plaza Advisory Committee tours the site in Archaeologists believe the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building, seen in the background, may have been the site of the first church and cemetery at the Mission San Antonio de Valero, which became the battle compound known as the Alamo.
A draft report on possible boundaries of cemeteries at the Alamo suggests the first mission church at the site was on the north end of the city-owned plaza at the southeast corner of the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building. Archaeologists have known of at least three church sites at the Mission San Antonio de Valero — the first permanent local mission.
It would later become a Spanish military outpost and the site of an siege and battle for Texas independence. The report, which examines mission-era burial practices and synthesizes all known data on burial records and discoveries of human remains since the mids, will be publicly released when completed. Officials have not given a timeline for its release. On ExpressNews.
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