Downtown San Antonio

La Villita Historic Arts Village is an art community in downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. There are art galleries, stores selling souvenirs, gifts, custom jewelry, pottery, and imported Mexican folk art, as well as several restaurants in the district. La Villita connects to the San Antonio River Walk and its outdoor venue, the Arneson River Theatre. It is close to the Alamo, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Rivercenter Mall, and HemisFair Park. It is within walking distance of most downtown hotels. Located on the south bank of the San Antonio River, La Villita was one of San Antonio's first neighborhoods. In 1939, as ground broke on the San Antonio River Walk development, city officials led by Mayor Maury Maverick acted to preserve this part of San Antonio's history. It was a Native American settlement and then a collection of primitive brush huts, called jacales, for the Spanish soldiers (and their Indian wives and children) stationed nearby at the Mission San Antonio de Valero (an active mission from about 1718 to 1793, now better known as the Alamo). After a flood in 1819 washed away most of the huts, more substantial adobe houses replaced them. Late in the 19th century, European immigrants from Germany, France, and Italy moved into the area and soon became active in business and trades: retailers, bankers, educators, and craftsmen. The variety of architectural styles seen in La Villita's buildings reflects the cultural mix, from the one-room homes of the poor to the larger houses of the prosperous.La Villita deteriorated into a slum in the early part of the 20th century. During the Great Depression, work began on the River Walk, a make-work project funded by the Works Progress Administration which came close to La Villita. The project, led by Mayor Maury Maverick, sponsored a companion effort in 1939 by the National Youth Administration to restore and preserve this colorful part of San Antonio's history. The NYA offered classes in arts and crafts as part of its program. Today La Villita is an arts community, and is included in the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas. The galleries and shops found in one city block offer art by local and regional artists featuring oil paintings, sculptures, watercolors, metal art, rock art, textiles, copperwares, pottery, jewelry, stained glass, and regional folk art. During four nights of the Fiesta San Antonio each April, La Villita is host to a Night in Old San Antonio with dozens of booths grouped to offer fifteen areas for various kinds of food, such as Sauerkraut Bend, China Town, Irish Flat, and the Mexican Market. The outdoor festival, with its narrow streets decorated with paper flowers and papel picado (cut paper banners), typically attracts 85,000 celebrants, many wearing costumes and unusual hats. The event is a major fundraiser for the San Antonio Conservation Society.

Acequia Madre de Valero is an 18th-century agricultural irrigation canal built by the Spanish and located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. When Martín de Alarcón founded San Antonio for Spain by establishing San Antonio de Valero Mission in 1718, Franciscan priest Antonio de Olivares and the Payaya people dug Acequia Madre de Valero by hand. It was vital to the missions to be able to divert and control water from the San Antonio River, in order to grow crops and to supply water to the people in the area. This particular acequia was the beginning of a much wider acequia system. Acequia Madre de Valero ran from the area currently known as Brackenridge Park and southward to what is now Hemisfair Plaza and South Alamo Street. Part of it that is not viewable by the public runs beneath the Menger Hotel. The acequia was restored in 1968 and that year was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.Acequia Madre de Valero was the initial phase of what became a 45-mile acequia network put in place by the Franciscan priests to provide water for the missions and their agricultural endeavors. The location of part of this acequia is adjacent to the Johann and Anna Heidgen House at 121 Star Street, and was a contributing factor in placing the house on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas in 2004. The acequia is lined with native limestone, a facet of Spanish engineering techniques. Some of the later stonework in the overall network was added by German immigrants. The full system involved placement of dams, canals and sluice gates. The complete network served residents of San Antonio until late in the 19th century. The Texas Historical Commission placed the historic landmark plaque on a limestone block at the Hemisfair Plaza section of Acequia Madre de Valero.

The Fairmount Hotel in San Antonio, Texas was built in 1906. It was moved about six blocks through downtown San Antonio in 1985 and was expanded in 1986. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.It is one of few former small "drummer", someone who "drums up" business, hotels in San Antonio used by traveling salesmen, who would stay at the hotel due to its affordable rates.

The Otto Bombach House is a contributing structure in the La Villita Historic District of the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. The one-and-two-story native limestone structure was built by German immigrant Bombach in the mid-19th century. It was acquired and restored by the San Antonio Conservation Society (SACS), which still owns the property. Over the decades, SACS has leased the property to a variety of tenants, including the San Antonio Press Club. Currently, the building houses the Little Rhein Steak House.

Arneson River Theatre is an outdoor performance theater located on the San Antonio River Walk in the U.S. state of Texas. The open-air venue was erected 1939-1941 by the Works Progress Administration. The design was supervised by architect Robert H.H. Hugman. It is named after Edwin P. Arneson, the regional engineer for the W.P.A. who was instrumental in securing funding for the Paseo del Rio. Arneson died before construction began. Many years later bells were added to arches behind the stage that Hugman had designed, and they were named for him. In a belated ceremony, the "Father of the River Walk" struck the bells for the first time, two years before his death.The stage is on the north side of river; the audience sits on the grass-covered steps on the south side, which can hold over 800 people on 13 rows of seats. A nearby stone bridge is often made part of the performance space. It is now called Rosita's Bridge in honor of Rosita Fernández, a pioneer of Tejano music, who performed here as star of the summer-long Fiesta Noche del Rio for 25 years. The theater continues to be used throughout the year for a wide variety of performances averaging over 200 each year including folkloric groups, festivals, music concerts, plays, dance, opera, and even weddings. Many of the river parades held throughout the year are televised from this unique open-air amphitheater. Above and behind the seating area is La Villita Historic Arts Village, a restoration of San Antonio's oldest residential neighborhood, today filled with artisan shops, galleries, and restaurants. The theater, along with several other San Antonio landmarks, was featured in the popular 2000 comedy film Miss Congeniality, starring Sandra Bullock and Michael Caine.

The Anton Wulff House is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1976. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas as a contributing structure of the King William Historic District . The house has been the headquarters of the San Antonio Conservation Society since 1975. German immigrant businessman Wulff was a city alderman, San Antonio's first park commissioner, and the man who designed the layout and beautification of Alamo Plaza.

The Conservation Society of San Antonio (legally incorporated as the San Antonio Conservation Society) is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Founding members were Emily Edwards, who became the organization's first president, and Rena Maverick Green. The organization was formed on March 22, 1924, and officially incorporated on July 8, 1925. The Society is currently headquartered in the Anton Wulff House, which they saved from destruction in 1974. The home was built 1869–1870 by German immigrant Anton Wulff, who became the city's first Park Commissioner.

Fiesta Noche del Rio is a seasonal outdoor performance in San Antonio, Texas which features the songs and dances of Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and the U.S. states of California and Texas. The performance venue is the Arneson River Theater in the San Antonio River Walk. The festival has been in operation since 1957, making it the oldest outdoor performance in the United States. The current director and choreographer of the seven act flamenco and folklorico performance is Kathleen Rodriguez Hall. Elizabeth Sanchez-Lopez, who was the dance coordinator for the 1993 US Olympic Festival was the director and choreographer from 1991-2018.

Rosita's Bridge, formerly the Arneson River Theater Bridge, is a 37 ft (11 m) bridge on the San Antonio River Walk in San Antonio, Texas. It is named after singer Rosita Fernández and leads to the Arneson River Theater.

KCOR-CD (channel 34) is a low-power, Class A television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is a translator of Blanco-licensed UniMás owned-and-operated station KNIC-DT (channel 17) which is owned by TelevisaUnivision; it is also sister to San Antonio–licensed Univision station KWEX-DT (channel 41). KCOR-CD's transmitter is located on César E. Chavéz Bouelvard in downtown San Antonio; its parent station shares studios with KWEX-DT on Network Boulevard on the city's northwest side.

Marriage Island in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, is an islet in the middle of the San Antonio River on the San Antonio River Walk that is used for weddings. River guides claim that it brings good luck to new marriages and that it is heart-shaped. It is located in front of the Hotel Contessa on the widest part of the river, and is host to about 225 weddings a year. The island is located between the Navarro Street Bridge and Presa Street Bridge along the River Walk. San Antonio River tourist barges pass by the island on every tour along the river. Over the years, it has come to be known as Marriage Island due to the many wedding ceremonies performed there.

The Tower Life Building is a landmark and historic building in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. Construction of the tower began in 1927 and the building rises 404 feet (123 meters) and has 31 floors. The building, which opened in 1929, was originally named the Smith-Young Tower and is the central component of a partially completed development called the Bowen Island Skyscrapers. The eight sided, neo-gothic brick and Ludowici green terra-cotta tower (complete with gargoyles) was designed by noted local architectural firm Ayres & Ayres (Atlee & Robert M. Ayres). While the exterior uses traditional materials such as brick, the internal structure is reinforced concrete on the lower floors, and steel frame on the upper floors. The building also housed San Antonio's first Sears, Roebuck and Company store in its lowest 6 levels.The other completed building in the development is the former Plaza Hotel (also designed by Ayres & Ayres), which opened in 1927. The property became the local outlet of Hilton Hotels in 1956 and was converted into the Granada Apartments in 1966. Subsequent structures in the development were never built as a direct result of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. In the 1940s the building was renamed the Transit Tower for the San Antonio Transit Company, which the Smith Brothers purchased in 1943. In 1953 a television transmission tower was added to the structure. Renovations in 2010 removed the obsolete television mast in favor of the tower's original design, a copper tophouse with a 100 ft tall flagpole. The building is now named for its current owner, Tower Life Insurance Company. In 1991 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.