Emma's Test
Bexar county courthouse
Emma's Test
Emma Tenayuca
San Antonio
CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE
Home of the Alamo and the Riverwalk, San Antonio serves as one of the state’s richest cultural touchstones and popular heritage travel destinations. Just how rich? Check out the Institute of Texan Cultures, a sizable work of late mid-century modern architecture created for the 1968 Hemisphere, where exhibits, multimedia shows and living history events celebrate 21 distinct ethnic groups. Among the city’s museum standouts are the Witte, with its interpretation of history, culture, and natural science; the Marion Koogler McNay, a venerable institution with a world-class fine art collection; the Fort Sam Houston Museum, a collection surveying the history of the military base Fort Sam; and the entertaining Buckhorn Saloon & Museum, filled with a remarkable collection of horns, antlers, and taxidermy.
San Antonio’s long and robust heritage began in the early 1700s, growing out of San Antonio de Bexar Presidio and its villa. In 1773 it was named capital of Spanish Texas. Surrounding missions, located along El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail, helped settle the region and now form the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Other architectural and heritage sites include the 19 National Register Historic Districts and 27 locally designated historic districts, the 1755 San Fernando Cathedral, the 1749 Spanish Governor’s Palace, the grand 1891 Bexar County Courthouse restored through the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program, and, never to be forgotten, the 1718 Alamo, perhaps the most visited heritage site in Texas.
San Antonio boasts three state cultural districts designated by the Texas Commission on the Arts. Explore Zona Cultural, the Old Spanish Trail Cultural Corridor, and the King William Arts District on your next visit!
Watch the following video to learn more about San Antonio's historic downtown.
-
College Station
Get Directions (800) 777-8292AGGIELAND It’s difficult to separate the identity of College Station from that of Texas A&M University. The city’s name alone signifies its origin, selected as a site in 1871 for the location…
-
Waco
Get Directions 800-321-9226, 254-750-5810BRIDGING THE PAST AND PRESENT The nicknames “Six-Shooter Junction” and “Athens of Texas” are contradictory, but Waco is where the Wild West met the Old South. Platted in 1849, the community grew…
-
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Get Directions (979) 691-4000Duty. Honor. Country. George H.W. Bush had already garnered an impressive list of titles before his election as the nation’s 41st President. Bush served as a U.S. Congressman, Ambassador to the United…
-
Waco Suspension Bridge
Get Directions (254) 299-2489Waco’s Historic Suspension Bridge was the longest single-span suspension bridge west of the Mississippi when it was completed in 1870. The bridge was built with cable supplied by the John Roebling Co.…
-
Casa Navarro State Historic Site
Get Directions (210) 226-4801Casa Navarro State Historic Site, a Texas Historical Commission property, is situated in the heart of old San Antonio, in what used to be a thriving Tejano neighborhood known as Laredito. The…
-
The Alamo (Mission San Antonio de Valero)
Get Directions (210) 225-1391MISSION SAN ANTONIO DE VALERO Spain’s interest in the New World, including the territory that would one day become Texas, included colonization and expansion of Spanish rule, important instruments in achieving political…
