HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Dr. Claudius E. R. King House

San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Built by English-born physician C.E.R. King (1839-1919), who came to America in 1851; was a Confederate Army surgeon in Civil War (1861-65). He moved to San Antonio and in 1880 employed noted archtiect Alfred Giles (1853-1920), also an Englishman, to design house. In the native stone, Victorian structure, King had both home and office. Descendants resided here until 1929, when Junior League of San Antonio purchased it for use as a tea room and meeting place.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

English-born physician C.E.R. King came to America as a boy and served as a Confederate Army surgeon during the Civil War before settling in San Antonio. In 1880 he hired fellow Englishman Alfred Giles, one of the region's most celebrated architects, to design this native-stone Victorian building that housed both his home and his medical office. His descendants lived here until 1929, when the Junior League of San Antonio bought it for use as a tea room and meeting place.

Why it matters

The house links San Antonio's Gilded Age growth to the work of a noted architect and to the civic role women's organizations played in preserving such landmarks.

Plan your visit

Nearby

Make a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.

Museums & culture

Attractions

Food & drink

Places to stay

Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • · C.E.R. King
  • · Alfred Giles

Themes & tags

Civil WarWomen's HistoryHome

Nearby & related markers

Maverick-Carter House

San Antonio, TX

Built in 1893 for real-estate developer William Harvey Maverick—son of Texas Declaration of Independence signer Samuel Maverick—this three-story limestone mansion rose on the banks of the San Antonio River and was designed by the prominent architect Alfred Giles. In 1914 it passed to attorney H.C. Carter, whose wife Aline added a rooftop observatory and a chapel and served as Texas poet laureate from 1947 to 1949. A noted astronomer and artist, she taught the stars to local children and hosted Christmas parties for San Antonio orphans here.

Women's HistoryEducation

Petty House

San Antonio, TX

As San Antonio surged from frontier town toward the largest city in Texas, this bend of the San Antonio River filled with the ambitious homes of a rising middle class. Mary Frances Drake, a widow who arrived in 1890 and began buying up river lots, completed a turreted Queen Anne house here in 1895. Lumber executive Van Alvin Petty bought it in 1901 and, in a 1910–11 remodel by noted architect Atlee B. Ayres, recast it in symmetrical Neoclassical dress with two-story Corinthian columns. In 1947 it passed to a Veterans of Foreign Wars post.

Industry & InventionWomen's History

Ursuline Convent and Academy

San Antonio, TX

In 1851 seven French Ursuline nuns, brought over at the urging of Bishop Jean-Marie Odin, opened San Antonio's first school for girls on this site. Designed in part by architect François Giraud, the complex grew over three decades into a blend of French, Gothic Revival, and vernacular buildings. The academy served the city until 1965, after which the handsome compound was reborn as an art school and entered the National Register of Historic Places.

EducationWomen's History

Saint Mark's Episcopal Church

San Antonio, TX

Built on former Alamo lands, Saint Mark's grew out of an 1850 mission and was organized as a parish in 1858, with Col. Robert E. Lee — then stationed in San Antonio — active in its early affairs. The Civil War halted construction, which resumed only in 1873 and finished in 1875; designed by noted architect Richard Upjohn, the Gothic Revival church later served as a cathedral and cradle of Episcopal bishops.

Civil War