My New Happy: San Antonio's King William District

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

San Antonio's King William District


On our last day in San Antonio, G and I had some time to spend before our late afternoon flight.  Deena, Carrie and their husbands had left early that morning for Dallas, it was time to check out of our hotel, and we'd pretty much seen the entire Riverwalk.

We decided to journey down the river a bit and stumbled upon the King William Historic District, a neighborhood of 19th century residences built by German immigrants.  The tree lined streets, beautiful architecture, and perfectly groomed yards were lovely.





I really wanted to sneak into that gazebo and enjoy a mint julep in the shade.



This home is usually open for tours, but since it was Sunday, we were out of luck.


I need to hire their gardener.  Wonder if they ever get snakes in there?



This was G's favorite.  I think he liked the little cannons in front.



I'm pretty sure that most of these homes were built from limestone bricks. 

Which reminded me of my great-great grandfather John Matthews, who founded the Matthews Stone Company in Bloomington, Indiana in 1862.  Known as the "father of the limestone industry in Indiana", he amassed a huge fortune during his lifetime.  In 1880 he had a home built entirely of limestone bricks, and today it's on the National Historic Register.



I would love to travel there someday.  My father spent a large portion of his boyhood visiting his grandparents in this home, and he has some great stories to tell.  There's not a penny left of the Matthews fortune, due to a series of unfortunate events that include gambling, adultery and alcohol.

One of these days I'll share THAT story.

19 comments:

  1. I really need to visit Texas! This place looks fabulous!! I love touring big old homes and hearing about the stories that went on inside! My dad's family is all from Bloomington too! I would love to hear your family's story! Blessings! Susan

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  2. I love San Antonio sooooo much!! Every part of it is fab. I need to go back soon.

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  3. Beautiful homes!! I haven't visited Texas yet, but I would love to!

    Brooke
    pumps and push-ups

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  4. I've always wanted to go to San Antonio it is one of the places I seem to have missed on my travels! Thanks for sharing and I can't wait to hear your stories!

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  5. I had no idea San Antonio had so much to visit. And it's beautiful! I will definitely add it to my travel list! Your pictures are great!

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  6. I LOVE old mansions! My imagination just takes off! That is a beautiful home. I hazard a guess that it's no longer in the family? I went to the site and looked the office buildings. The site for the home itself wouldn't load. My archaic computer . . . sigh.
    P.S. I keep thinking that, if you loaded the two canons from that other home, and set them up just right, you could fire a ball from each that would meet in the middle. Yes. I know. I need a job . . .

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  7. Damn. I can't believe we missed out on that. Soo beautiful!

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  8. San Antonio looks beautiful and so much to do! I'm going to have to visit someday!

    Jill
    Doused In Pink

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  9. Whoa! Are any of those house for sale? They're totally in my budget! Not!
    I love going to see old mansions.

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  10. Great!

    http://itsmetijana.blogspot.com/

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  11. I can't wait to hear those stories Lana... they sound interesting. I Love old houses and wondering what their stories are xox ♡

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  12. Amazing architecture! Looks like a fun day adventure!

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  13. Oh my, failure that I didn't know about this and we missed it. Yep, we are not very good travelers or site seers.

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