King William District

Above: A beautiful view of downtown along with San Antonio river. My friend Aine and I decided to tour the King William district area this past weekend.

Above: This is my favorite house in King William district








Above: When reading the history of the area, we found out these big stones were in front most of the houses. They were for when the horse and carriage would arrive at the house. This would be stepping stone they would use to step out of the carriage...interesting uh.



The King William area was originally farmland, irrigated by acequias flowing from the San Antonio River, owned by the 1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero. By the beginning of the 19^th century, the missions were fully secularized, and the land belonging to Mission Concepcion was bought, sold, and divided into tracts by land speculators, beginning in the 1840’s. One of the earliest to settle was Carl Guenther, a German immigrant who built Pioneer Flour mill on the lower bend of the San Antonio River. A number of other successful and influential German immigrants discovered the area and began building mansions, using Greek Revival, Victorian, and Italiante architectural styles. Ernst Altgelt, the first to build on current-day King William Street, is credited with naming his street after King Wilhelm I of Prussia.In later years, the neighborhood fell into decline. In the 1960s, creative young professionals rediscovered the King William area and began a renaissance, which continues to this day.