Battle of the Alamo

The Siege of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) describes the first thirteen days of the Battle of the Alamo. On February 23, Mexican troops under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna entered San Antonio de Bexar, Texas and surrounded the Alamo Mission. The Alamo was defended by a small force of Texians and Tejanos, led by William Barrett Travis and James Bowie, and included Davy Crockett. Before beginning his assault on the Alamo, Santa Anna offered them one last chance to surrender. Travis replied by opening fire on the Mexican forces and, in doing so, effectively sealed their fate. The siege ended when the Mexican Army launched an early-morning assault on March 6. Almost all of the defenders were killed, although several civilians survived.

The Alamo Mission (Spanish: Misión de Álamo), commonly called the Alamo and originally known as the Misión San Antonio de Valero, is a historic Spanish mission and fortress compound founded in the 18th century by Roman Catholic missionaries in what is now San Antonio, Texas, United States. It was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, where American folk heroes James Bowie and Davy Crockett died. Today it is a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District and a part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site. The historic district was one of the early Spanish missions in Texas, built for the education of local American Indians after their conversion to Christianity. The mission was secularized in 1793 and then abandoned. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras military unit, who likely gave the mission the name Alamo. During the Texas Revolution, Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos surrendered the fort to the Texian Army in December 1835, following the Siege of Béxar. A relatively small number of Texian soldiers then occupied the compound for several months. The defenders were wiped out at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. As the Mexican Army retreated from Texas several months later, they tore down many of the Alamo walls and burned some of the buildings. For the next five years, the Alamo was periodically used to garrison soldiers, both Texian and Mexican, but was ultimately abandoned. In 1849, several years after Texas was annexed to the United States, the U.S. Army began renting the facility for use as a quartermaster's depot, before again abandoning the mission in 1876 after nearby Fort Sam Houston was established. The Alamo chapel was sold to the state of Texas, which conducted occasional tours but made no effort to restore it. The remaining buildings were sold to a mercantile company that operated them as a wholesale grocery store. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) formed in 1891 and began trying to preserve the Alamo. Adina Emilia De Zavala and Clara Driscoll successfully convinced the state legislature in 1905 to purchase the remaining buildings and to name the DRT as the permanent custodian of the site. Over the next century, periodic attempts were made to transfer control of the Alamo from the DRT. In early 2015, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush officially moved control of the Alamo to the Texas General Land Office. The Alamo and the four missions in the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 5, 2015.

The Alamo Plaza Historic District is an historic district of downtown San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It includes the Alamo, which is a separately listed Registered Historic Place and a U.S. National Historic Landmark. In the early eighteenth century, when, upon arrival of Spanish Catholics, local Native Americans asked the Franciscan missionaries for permanent shelter and protection from rival tribes, they were provided shelter within the missions in exchange for conversion to Christianity. They were also given Spanish names.Alamo Plaza's layout and landscaping were designed and supervised by city alderman Anton Wulff during the late 19th century. In recognition of his work on behalf of the area, local business leaders presented him with a gold-topped walking stick, engraved with words of appreciation.The district originally included 27 buildings or structures: Menger Hotel, 204 Alamo Plaza. "Built in 1857 the Menger was originally a two-story limestone building designed by John Fries. Located at the southwest corner of the block the building later expanded to a three-story building at this corner. Alfred Giles is responsible for this later design. The west façade of the original building is now a three-story, three -bay structure. The slightly projecting central bay is crowned by a pedimented parapet. The first floor contains a central door flanked by two windows, while the second and third floors each contain three round arched openings. The end bays contain two flat arched windows on each floor and these pavilions are capped by a bracketed cornice. Iron balconies extend at the second and third floor levels. Additions to the north and east have been made several times in the 19th and 20th centuries and the hotel now fills the entire block. A lavish three-story space in the Menger lobby, illuminated by a stained glass, leaded skylight, dominates the old part of the hotel. The solid block of hotel buildings is broken in the center by an interior courtyard of walkways through dense tropical foliage." Dullnig Building (1883), 101-103 North Alamo, a three-story Italianate-style brick building built for George Dullnig to serve as a grocery and dry goods store. A ten-foot false façade tops the building, where a cornice once was. Scholz Palm Garden (before 1891), 105-109 North Alamo, two-story brick building Crockett Hotel (1909), E. Crockett St., originally a six-story building, with a seventh story added in 1927. Overlooks The Alamo. property. Owned by corporation which also owns 1859 Menger Hotel, just across E. Crockett St., also overlooking The Alamo. Vance Building (after 1930), 207-209 Alamo Plaza, a two-story brick building rebuilt after a fire in the 1920s or 1930s.Old Joske's Building (1888 or later), 111-115 North Alamo, originally a two-story, six-bay brick commercial building, designed in 1888 by James Wahrenberger. Its main façade was plastered over in the 1900s. Dreiss, Thompson and Company Building (1872), 117 North Alamo, a two-story, three-bay Victorian commercial building, built to serve as Adolph Dreiss's drugstore. While main façade on Alamo Plaza had been covered, and the first floor had been altered, the Broadway side of building was unaltered. The second floor (on which side? check Google Streetview) "contains three segmental arched windows separated by brick pilasters. A brick corbelled cornice is crowned by an arched parapet of pressed tin containing the company's name. The two adjacent buildings at 119-121 North Alamo are compatible in scale but their façades have been altered."BEING ADAPTED, IN PROGRESS, FROM STARTING AS A LONG QUOTE 211-215 North Alamo These three, two-story brick commercial buildings were probably built in the late 19th century. They have been plastered over on the main façade. Reuter Building, 217-219 North Alamo The Reuter Building is a four-story rectangular building with an angled corner on the main facade, which contained the original entrance. The first (1891) two floors on both the Alamo and Crockett façades have been covered with a false front. The narrow façade facing Alamo street contains elaborate classical detail. The third floor windows are the most elaborate with a blind balustrade and a complete entablature above each. The windows on the fourth floor contain transoms. Divided into bays by pilasters, this east façade is crowned by a massive stone and metal cornice. Along the north (Crockett) façade the arches of the second floor windows are visible above the false front. The covered third and fourth floor windows have a flat lintel topped by a segmental arch. Old Chamber of Commerce Building, Southeast corner Broadway and Crockett. This building is a two-story brick early 20th century commercial building with decorative cast concrete vertical members separating the windows on the second floor. Erected in 1919-21, this structure was occupied by the Chamber of Commerce until 1925. H. L. Green's Department Store, 301-305 Alamo Plaza A two-story, nondescript limestone building. Green's was erected in the 1950's. This was formerly the site of the 1886 Grand Opera House, which was destroyed by fire after World War II. The lavish Opera House was a theatre which seated 1500 and an exclusive men's club, the San Antonio Club, kept rooms in the building. 307 Alamo Plaza A three-story masonry building, this vacant structure was probably built in the 1950's, replacing the Old Mexican Consulate. 309-315 Alamo Plaza A series of one-story buildings. Although the main façades are modern, the structures are possibly the same buildings which are visible in early photographs of the Plaza. Crockett Block, 317-323 Alamo Plaza Designed by Alfred Giles, this row of four limestone buildings were erected in 1882 for William and Albert Maverick. The three-story buildings are joined visually by a pressed tin cornice, but the façades of the two center buildings have been covered by a false front. Although they have been altered on the first floor, the two outside buildings retain their original arched openings on the second and third floors. Pilasters accentuate the corners of the original façades. 327 Alamo Plaza A three-story masonry early 20th century commercial building which replaced the Old Palace Theatre is located on this lot. Woolworth's Department Store, 518 East Houston Woolworth's was a three-story brick building erected in the 1920's to replace the old Maverick Bank Building. Divided into six wide bays on the Alamo Plaza façade the second and third floors utilized fenestration typical of the Commercial Style. Each unit contained a broad central light of plate glass, fixed, and narrow side lights with an opening sash. Each of these lights contained a transom. A frieze and slightly projecting cornice terminated the building. This early 20th century commercial building replaced an elaborate 1886 Victorian structure, designed by Alfred Giles. The bank was the first five-story building in the city and contained continuous balconies on all four levels. Moore Building, Northeast corner of Houston and Broadway The Moore building is a six-story brick building stuccoed and scored to look like stone. Constructed in 1904, the building is basically rectangular with an angled southwest corner to mark the main entrance. Scoring accentuates the angled corner as well as the two flanking bays at the second, third and fourth levels. On both the south (Houston) and west (Crockett) façades fenestration is organized in vertical bands between three-story pilasters that are linked by arches at the top. A small cornice elaborated by terra-cotta swag and cartouche motifs marks the fifth floor, while a dentilled cornice emphasizes the 6th floor. Terra-cotta details further embellish the divisions between the paired windows on the 5th and 6th floors. Crowning the structure is a projecting pressed tin cornice. The building originally had a roof garden above the fifth floor with pavilions at four corners. An alley off Houston provided access to the elevator. In 1909, the addition of the sixth floor replaced the roof garden and expansion to the east closed the Houston Street entrance. Gibbs Building, 521 East Houston An eight-story brick building, the Gibbs buildings, was constructed in 1912. The first two stories are scored and are divided from the shaft of the building by a bracketed cornice at the third floor level. The third through the seventh floors contain little ornamentation, but the top floor is articulated by a string-course and elaborate sculptural detail between the windows. Terminating the building is a bracketed cornice with modillions and dentils. The remainder of the buildings along Houston between Alamo Plaza and Broadway, as well as the buildings along Broadway behind the 300 block of Alamo Plaza, are not significant architecturally or historically, but they are compatible in scale and use. Post Office and Federal Building (San Antonio, Texas), 615 East Houston. The Post Office is a four-story limestone Renaissance Revival building located in the prominent position at the north end of the Alamo Plaza. The building was designed by Ralph Cameron and built in 1937 by the Works Progress Administration. The ground floor is rusticated and contains the entrances, but the dominant feature of the main (south) façade is the classical colonnade in antis on the second and third floor. A cornice divides this level from the final story. The Postal Service first moved to Alamo Plaza in 1877 on the northwest corner of the present Joske's block. In 1886, J. Riely Gordon supervised construction of a Romanesque Revival building at this location. The present building replaced the 1886 Post Office. Old Medical Arts Building (Landmark Building) (1926), 705 East Houston. A 13-story, steel framed, triangular building designed by Ralph Cameron, the old Medical Arts Building was constructed in 1926. The building contains two wings which form a triangular shape and, rising above the angled corner entrance at Houston and Avenue E, is a three-story, hexagonal tower. The first two floors are faced with stone and contain widearched window spaces. The upper portion of the building is brick with terra cotta detailing. The Medical Arts Building represents a commercial example of the Chateauesque style with its corner tower and steeply pitched mansard front at the top floor, surmounted by cresting and containing the wall dormers with high pinnacled gables. Elements of both the Gothic and Renaissance styles are evident in the detailing. Gothic features pre-dominate in the pointed arched openings of the first two floors and in the upper two floors of the tower. Below the dormers, however, the twelfth floor contains a series of round arched windows. The building has recently been purchased and renamed the Landmark Building. San Antonio Turn Verein. The Turn Verein is a two-story brick building constructed in 1891 and designed by James Wahrenberger. The building is made of Chicago pressed brick relieved by stringcourses, lintels and balustrades of Kerrville limestone. A three-part composition of a recessed bay and projecting ends defines the east (main) façade. Within the wide central bay a slightly projecting main entrance is off center and is defined by a rusticated stone arch. The remainder of the first floor openings have stilted arches with a keystone and rusticated voussoirs. On the second floor above the main entrance are polished granite pilasters that frame a window with a pedimented entablature and square transom. An identical window is contained in the southeast projecting pavilion. The remaining windows have round arched windows supported by small granite columns, and are surmounted with a corbel table. The rectangular building displays a two-story bay window on the south façade. A metal, hipped roof shelters the building. The building was restored in 1972 by the U.S. Postal Service employees. The floor is of alternating oak and black walnut stripes. The staircase hall at the back of the building is illuminated through stained glass windows. Covering the staircase landing is a hardwood parquette floor laid in a bright pattern of contrasting colors. The ballroom on the second floor and the gymnasium in the basement have not been restored. Cenotaph (1940), North end of the Plaza. [The cenotaph is a] memorial to the Alamo defenders stands in Alamo Plaza about 200 feet from the Alamo chapel. Dedicated in 1940 the design was conceived by Adams and Adams, architects and the sculptured figures were done by the internationally famed Pompeo Coppini. The sixty-foot monument has a white marble shaft atop a 40x12 foot granite base. On the east and west sides of the shaft are figures of the Alamo heroes, with James Bowie, James Bonham, William Barrett Travis, and Davy Crockett in full relief. On the north side is a female figure representing Texas. To the south is the Spirit of Sacrifice. The names of the Alamo heroes and two memorial sentences are inscribed on the base. The Cenotaph was commissioned by the state of Texas as a Texas Centennial project. Bandstand, South end of the Plaza A recently constructed bandstand by the city which replaces the original bandstand built in the plaza by Wm. Reuter in 1890. The city is also currently covering the entire plaza with paving blocks. The Alamo. This block contains the Alamo chapel building which has been restored and houses a museum. Several other buildings were erected in 1936 and a part of the old wall was reconstructed. The remainder of the block is covered by formally landscaped gardens and reveals part of the old acequia system, (see National Register submission. The Alamo, Bexar County, a NHL). Lady Bird Johnson Fountain This fountain honoring Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson (Lady Bird Johnson?) was dedicated in 1974. Crockett Hotel, 201 East Crockett The Crockett Hotel was originally a six-story brick building, but a remodeling in 1927 added the seventh-story. A cornice with wide modillioned eaves surmounts the original six floors. Built in 1909 the hotel was designed by Padgett. The west façade is broken into two planes following the configuration of the block and the corner entrance at Bonham and Crockett is rounded. Joske's Department Store, Commerce at Alamo Encompassing almost the entire south block of the plaza is Joske's Department Store, a four-story, U-shaped concrete structure with a stylized parapet. The present structure incorporates the 1888 brick building, designed by Alfred Giles, that stood at the southeast corner of the block. Joske's shared the north side of the block with the old 1877 Post Office, but in the 1950's Joske's expanded and remodeled, building on the entire block, except for the property of St. Joseph's Church. St. Joseph's Church and Rectory, 623 East Commerce. Designed by G. Friesleben and Theodore Giraud, St. Joseph's Church was erected between 1868 and 1876. The limestone structure is a Gothic Revival, basilican plan church, dominated by a central entrance tower with a slate and copper roof. The third paster of the church. Father Henry Pefferkorm, painted the Stations of the Cross which hang at the sides of the church and the Assumption of Mary and Ascension of Christ that hang at the front. He also designed the first altar and choir loft, replaced the canvas windows with glass, and installed a pipe organ. In 1898, Jacob WaEND OF SECTION IN PROCESS OF BEING EDITED FROM QUOTE In 2019, Alamo Architects firm has designed, for the San Antonio Conservation Society, an Alamo Museum expansion area design utilizing the Woolworth building, the Crockett Block building, and the post office building, "that will interpret the history of the 1836 battle. This concept preserves the Woolworth Building as a visible link to San Antonio’s civil rights history."

The Alamo Cenotaph, also known as The Spirit of Sacrifice, is a monument in San Antonio, Texas, United States, commemorating the Battle of the Alamo of the Texas Revolution, which was fought at the adjacent Alamo Mission. The monument was erected in celebration of the centenary of the battle, and bears the names of those known to have fought there on the Texas side.

The Menger Hotel is a historic hotel located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA, on the site of the Battle of the Alamo. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a contributing building in the Alamo Plaza Historic District.

The Crockett Hotel is a hotel in San Antonio, Texas, which, during 2020, is closed. Built in 1909, one of three hotels built in downtown San Antonio that year, it overlooks The Alamo, and is a San Antonio historic landmark itself. It is located on the Battle of the Alamo grounds, on part of the original Alamo grounds, on the location of Honore Grenet's store.It was designed by Padgett. It was built with six stories in its main wing, and "a cornice with wide modillioned eaves" tops that, but a seventh story was added in a 1927 renovation designed by Henry P. Pheltz. There is a rounded corner entrance to the building at Bonham and Crockett streets, and the west facade of the building "is broken into two planes following the configuration of the block."It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a contributing building in the Alamo Plaza Historic District. At the time (1977) it was owned by the local Oddfellows' Lodge, which occupied the fifth floor, including hosting, since 1961, the Grand Lodge Museum of Texas.It has been a member of Historic Hotels of America since 2010.

The Medical Arts Building in San Antonio in the U.S. State of Texas is a neogothic building near the Alamo and part of the Alamo Plaza Historic District. Completed in 1926, it housed doctors' offices and a 50-bed hospital.After a succession of owners and the move of the medical facilities elsewhere, it was converted to office space in 1976. In 1984 the building was remodeled into a hotel; the conversion gutted and completely rebuilt the interior of the structure, but kept the exterior elements intact. In 2012 it became the 177-room Emily Morgan Hotel under the DoubleTree brand of Hilton. It is recognized as a "Historic Hotel of America" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building and United States Courthouse is a historic courthouse, federal office, and post office building located in Downtown San Antonio in Bexar County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was formerly the U.S. Post Office, Federal Office Building and Courthouse. It is the courthouse for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. It holds a prominent location on Alamo Plaza, across from the Alamo. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as San Antonio U.S. Post Office and Courthouse.

Toribio Losoya (also known as Toribio Losoya, An Unsung Hero of the Alamo, or simply Losoya) is an outdoor bronze sculpture depicting the former Mexican soldier and Alamo defender of the same name by local artist William Easley, installed in San Antonio, in the U.S. state of Texas. The statue was donated by the Adolph Coors Co. in 1986 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo.

The St. Joseph Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio, located at 623 East Commerce Street in downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. The Gothic Revival house of worship was the fourth Catholic parish in the city.The church is an example of what the Chinese describe as a nail house; when the church refused to sell to a property developer, a large shopping mall was constructed around it.

The Scottish Rite Cathedral of San Antonio, Texas is located at 308 Avenue E in San Antonio. Construction began on it in 1922 and was completed in 1924, at a cost of $1.5 million.It is a 5.5-story building in the style of a classic revival temple, and serves as a headquarters and meeting place for Scottish Rite Masonry in San Antonio, and for the South Texas Region. The building also frequently serves as an event hall for performing arts and various cultural events.The building features notable architectural elements including: gabled front portico, Corinthian columns, a terracotta frieze, and elaborately sculpted bronze front doors featuring George Washington and Sam Houston which were created by Pompeo Coppini. Coppini was a thirty-second degree member of the San Antonio Consistory. In 1936, sculptor Coppini was one of the honored guests who delivered an address at the November 15 dedication and installation of the doors.The cathedral was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The Shops at Rivercenter (formerly known as Rivercenter Mall) is a shopping mall located in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States along the city's River Walk. The anchor stores are H&M, Macy's (closing April 2021) and AMC Theatres. It also includes a 38-story, 1,001-room Marriott hotel. It was purchased in 2005 by Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation.The landmark 1871 St. Joseph's Catholic Church did not sell to the original developers, Joske's Department Store, in 1945, and the store was built around it.