pictures from our past

pictures from our past-our world-

An afternoon in the park

There were many parks in San Antonio during the period. These included dozens of block size squares, plazas, and public neighborhood open spaces. One of the largest and most popular parks in the period was San Pedro park no more than two miles from the center of the town. This was the site of a group of springs that fed San Pedro creek .

San Pedro Park comprised about 20 acres around the site of the springs. The creek ran from the park through the west part of the downtown business district to its junction with the San Antonio River just south of the city. It was a popular recreational site for the town folks. Quite early, toward the end of the 19th century their was a public horse draw rail-track tram line from the downtown area to transport people to the park. There is no album picture of this tram, but it must have been quite similar to the one pictured that Ed Arnold saw and shot at Matamoras, Mexico in 1908.

There are three or four principal springs with crystal clear water running from Edward's limestone outcrops. At the time of the photographs the water from the individual springs collected in a sizable pool. with rustic wooden bridges at the foot paths for strollers to cross. There were many huge live oak trees that provided a pleasant shade for the walkers. One of these trees had been damaged in its infancy and had its giant 3 foot diameter trunk paralleled the ground just a few feet above the surface. And there was a large gazebo bandstand, in the pictures just visible among the treetops. We may assume that from time to time there would be musical performances by local bands and music groups while large crowds of people listen and picnicked in the summertime shade..

Click Here For Enlargement

The Park pictures are among the earliest in the album. The picture to the left with the quaint wooden bridge is dated, "Aug 1908." Other pictures in the set included hand printed dates also but while they were less legible, they all were almost certainly taken on a single visit in August, 1908.

We can not be sure of the identity of the individuals pictured. I note that the three girls in the tree bear some resemblance to the girls pictured previously in an earlier chapter with August and Julia Arnold. Possibly they are the couples granddaughters, but we can not know for sure. Isn't it amazing how these delicate little things managed to shimmy up this tree the long rather tight skirt (in at least one case) not withstanding?

In the 1930's the surface character of the park was changed drastically when the large pool pond was replaced with a large concrete swimming pool. Possibly initially the pool was spring fed, but in later years the swimming pool water was recycled with make-up piped from the local water utility source.

Of course through out the century the natural flow of the spring were declining to insignificance. The picture to the left indicates a substantial flow for August, the driest time of the year. But the Edwards aquifer, the Springs's source, was also the sole public and private source for a large growing population living in several Counties now populated by several million people. The result of the supply/demand imbalance has been reduced spring flow often to the point of disappearance; The wonder is that somehow the replenishment rate of the aquifer has so far stayed a length ahead of local disaster.

One final comment remains. During the recent years, the city has again substantially changed the character of the site. The cement swimming pool is gone and an appearance more along the lines of a century past with spring pools and pedestrian paths has been restored. And the gazebo which had never been removed, remains to face continued life beginning its third century and second millennium.

Continue: Our World- Its Fiesta Time

Or Use your Back Button To Return