Heritage, Volume 15, Number 4, Fall 1997 Page: 35
38 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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street party held every
April. Set in the midst
of some of San
Antonio's most historic
buildings, the event celebrates
the wide variety
of foods, traditions,
and entertainment that
are central to the city's
unique identity, and is
said to bring in more
money for historic preservation
than any other
fundraiser in the nation.
Other projects that
Buchanan called noteworthy
were the group's
purchase and restoration
of the Jose Antonio
Navarro House, an
effort that began in 1953. Navarro was
an important figure in the history of San
Antonio and a signer of the Texas Declaration
of Independence. His restored
home was given to the state in 1975 and
designated a state historic landmark.
The Society was also a major player
in the purchase and initial restoration of
the Ursuline Academy in 1971. That
restoration project marked the nation's
first federal grant for historic preservation.
Today, the Academy houses the
San Antonio Craft Center.
It is impossible to name all of the
building restoration projects in which
the San Antonio Conservation Society
has participated. The short list reads like
a mini-history of the city and includes
efforts on behalf of the Aztec and Majestic
Theatres, the Yturri-Edmunds House,
the San Pedro Playhouse, and
downtown's Albert Maverick and
Staacke and Stevens buildings. Since
1926, 28 historic properties have passed
through Society hands.
True to its goal of preserving all that
is unique to San Antonio, members of
the San Antonio Conservation Society
jumped at the chance in 1974 to purchase
the 1870 Anton Wulff House for
the organization's headquarters. The
three-story Italianate stone building is
the site of the Society's offices, a conference
room, and a small library that contains
books, maps, architectural documents,
photographs, and old city directories.
In addition, the Society also owns
another King William District Home,
Steves Homestead, built in 1875, which
is open to the public as a house museum.The restored Staacke and
Stevens buildings add to
the unique appeal of San
Antonio.Besides purchasing historic structures
threatened by demolition, the society also
provides loans and grant monies for community
preservation projects, sponsors cultural
pageants, and conducts annual bus
tours of historic sites for school children.
Another youth program, the Junior Associates,
was created in 1955 to assure continuity
of the aims and purposes of the
Society and to inspire and teach the values
of local history to the younger generation.Ever mindful of the future needs of the
city, the Society's pursuit of preservation in
San Antonio is ongoing, according to
Buchanan. "In recent years the Conservation
Society has taken on fewer large scale
projects, electing instead to focus our efforts
on neighborhood preservation
projects. Through our grants program, we
are assisting property owners in San Antonio
complete work that maintains and in
some cases improves the quality of their
historic property." In that vein, the Societyis planning a collaborative
arrangement
with the city to revitalize
several San
Antonio neighborhoods.
Buchanan also
noted that the Conservation
Society has
recently established
the Mary Ann
Blocker Castleberry
chair for teaching historic
preservation in
the University of
Texas at San Antonio
graduate architecture program.
Justifiably proud of its accomplishments,
the San Antonio Conservation Society is
not content to rest on its laurels. According
to Paula Piper, current Society president,
"We are proud of the legacy our
organization is built upon. Our record of
success and the trials of the past will doubtlessly
serve us well as we continue to pursue
our goal of saving the distinctive elements
of our city's colorful history".
Much of the information in this article was
taken from the book, "Saving San Antonio,
The Precarious Preservation of a Heritage"
by Lewis F. Fisher. 1996, San Antonio Conservation
Society, by Texas Tech University
Press. The photographs in the article are also
from this book and reprinted with permission.
The San Antonio Conservation Society
can be reached at 107 King William Street,
San Antonio, Texas 78024, (210) 224-6163
or by fax at (210) 224-6168.HERITAGE * FALL 1997 35
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 15, Number 4, Fall 1997, periodical, Autumn 1997; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45403/m1/35/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.