HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded AgeProgressive & Modern Era

King William Neighborhood

San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Marker Inscription

The King William neighborhood is located on the former farmlands of Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo). The 216-acre area, less than one mile from the former mission, includes two National Register districts. It is bounded generally by Cesar Chavez Blvd. on the north, Eagleland St. on the south, St. Marys St. on the east, and the San Antonio River on the west. When the Spanish Government secularized the mission in 1793 the fertile fields with access to abundant water were distributed to local residents. Farming continued until the mid-1800s when the area was subdivided. Houses were built beginning in the 1850s and construction increased after the Civil War. New residents included many Germans who came to Texas to escape political and economic turmoil. The community received its name in about 1866 when Ernst and Emma Altgelt built their home on an unnamed street that they called King William after Wilhelm I of Prussia. The largely German neighborhood grew and diversified as San Antonios population increased over the coming decades. New residents included upper and middle class Mexicans who crossed the border because of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. The neighborhood encompasses the most diverse and intact collection of architecture in San Antonio. Stone, brick and frame structures in the Gothic Revival, Italianate, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne and Craftsman styles date from 1858 to 1962. The neighborhood exemplifies San Antonios social, economic and architectural development from the Antebellum period through the Post-World War II era. (2012)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

The King William neighborhood grew on farmlands once tilled by Mission San Antonio de Valero — the Alamo — that were distributed to residents after the Spanish government secularized the mission in 1793. Subdivided in the mid-1800s, the area drew many German immigrants fleeing political and economic turmoil, and it took its name around 1866 when Ernst and Emma Altgelt honored Wilhelm I of Prussia. Later arrivals, including Mexican families displaced by the 1910 Revolution, added to a neighborhood now prized for the richest, most intact collection of historic architecture in San Antonio.

Why it matters

King William traces San Antonio's evolution from Spanish mission fields to a diverse immigrant district, preserving a full century of American architectural and social history.

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

  • · Ernst Altgelt
  • · Emma Altgelt

Related events

  • · Secularization of Mission San Antonio de Valero
  • · Mexican Revolution

Themes & tags

ImmigrationLandmark

Nearby & related markers

Gustav Blersch House

San Antonio, TX

German immigrant and importer Gustav Blersch built this two-story limestone home in 1860, making it one of only a handful of surviving antebellum structures in San Antonio's King William Historic District. Working with a German designer and a noted local contractor, he created a house that a series of later owners — bankers, families, and finally the Watson cousins — enlarged and carefully preserved. Additions over the years, including a bay window and enclosed porches, layered a century of domestic life onto the original.

Immigration

Ernst Homestead

San Antonio, TX

Built around 1890 beside the old Mission Concepción acequia, this home was bought in 1896 by William Ernst, a Prussian immigrant who had once carried the mail between Fredericksburg and San Antonio. Ernst was renowned as a cook, and while in Mexico during the U.S. Civil War era he reportedly prepared a supper for Emperor Maximilian that won him a place on the emperor's staff. After Maximilian's fall he returned to San Antonio to run a restaurant on Alamo Plaza.

Immigration

Alfred Giles Home

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.

Industry & InventionImmigration

Oscar and Rachel Berman House

San Antonio, TX

Oscar Berman, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, reached Texas by the 1880s and married Rachel Finklestein around 1890. After running businesses in Luling, the couple moved to San Antonio and prospered in the wholesale liquor trade, pivoting into loans and other ventures when Prohibition arrived. In 1906 they commissioned architect Harvey L. Page to build this striking Neoclassical home, notable for its inward-curving porch and columned entry.

Immigration