Guenther's Upper Mill, Site of

San Antonio, TX

In the decades after the Civil War, San Antonio's prosperous German community left a lasting mark on the city's streets and skyline. Charles F.A. Hummel, orphaned young and raised in the family gun-and-ammunition trade, rose to serve as city treasurer and auditor while remaining a pillar of that German world. In 1884 he and his wife Emilie commissioned architects Wahrenberger and Beckmann to build this ornate two-story limestone house, its Italianate pavilion, full-height gallery, and carved quoins announcing a family that had arrived.

San Antonio, TX

Alfred Giles, born in England in 1853, trained as an architect's apprentice in London before moving to Texas for his health in 1873. Settling in San Antonio, he opened his own firm in 1876 and designed grand residences for the city's leading families along King William Street. In 1883 he built two modest homes at 306 and 308 King William, living in the latter and later giving it, remodeled, to his daughter as a wedding gift.

San Antonio, TX

This 1881 home was designed by Alfred Giles, one of San Antonio's most prominent architects, for Alexander Sartor, Jr., a German immigrant who came to the city around mid-century and built up a jewelry business. After Sartor sold the house in 1909 it served in turn as a medical office and a literary studio, keeping its wide front porch and Italianate detailing throughout.

San Antonio, TX

Carl Wilhelm August Groos left Germany for Texas in 1848 and became a founder of the Groos National Bank in San Antonio. In 1880 he built this limestone Victorian home, designed by the noted architect Alfred Giles, where his descendants lived until 1948. The San Antonio Girl Scouts acquired the house in 1957.