Monte Vista Historic District

Outside money built this suburb. British, New England and Denver capital paid for San Antonio's Gilded Age neighborhoods, and the story of this area begins with Jay Adams, a Denver promoter who told would-be buyers to "take the San Pedro cars and do not stop until you get to the end of the line." Financier E. B. Chandler and judge Leroy G. Denman had already built on rock foundations along French Place. The painters Julian and Eleanor R. Onderdonk grew up here in a modest frame cottage their grandfather built in 1882. The district took its name in 1975.

What the plaque says

Monte Vista Historic District One of several San Antonio suburbs created between 1890 and 1930, Monte Vista has retained much of its historic character from that time. City brewery president Otto Koehler, oilman Ed Galt, West Texas cattleman Alfred Gage, veterinary Surgeon J.G. Talcott, and former San Antonio mayor and New Deal Congressman Maury Maverick business and civic leaders who built their homes in this area. The neighborhood is an eclectic blend of many styles of architect, including Georgian and Renaissance Revival, Mediterranean, Neo-Spanish, victorian, and Art Deco. Represented here are the designs of several noted architects such as J. Riely Gordon, who is best known for his Texas courthouses. Atlee B. Ayres was responsible for a number of the homes in Monte Vista, while H.A. Reuter designed the distincitive renaissnce revivial Manison at 114 east Kings Hwy for cattle baron Herbert Kokernot. San antonio architect Robert Kelly designed the 8-story Bushnell apartment building, which is the tallest structure in the district. Characterized by its distinctive homes and colorful history, Monte Vista is a reminder of San Antonio's growth and turn-of-the-century development. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Alamo — 1.8 mi
  Mission San Antonio de Valero before it was a fort: a church its builders never finished, a thirteen-day siege in 1836, and the Army gable of 1850-52 that became its emblem.
• Spanish Governor's Palace — 1.8 mi
  The last visible piece of the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar: a presidio captain's house with a 1749 keystone, a century as shops and saloons, and a romantic 1930 restoration.
• San Fernando Cathedral — 1.8 mi
  The Canary Islanders' parish church on Main Plaza, where Bowie married and Santa Anna raised a red flag, rebuilt in Gothic Revival around the walls of the 1750s church.
• Casa Navarro State Historic Site — 1.9 mi
  The adobe and caliche-block home of José Antonio Navarro, a native-born signer of the 1836 declaration, and the last remnant of the Tejano neighborhood called Laredito.

More markers nearby

• Belknap Place — 0.3 mi
• The Woman's Club of San Antonio — 0.4 mi
• Committee on Public Safety — 0.5 mi
• Old San Pedro Springs — 0.5 mi