United States San Antonio Arsenal

The arsenal's busiest years came long after the Civil War. Founded to supply the frontier forts of Texas, it served in both world wars as a major supply depot. Its peak was World War II, when it shipped more than 337 million pounds of ammunition. After it closed, two acres and three buildings went to the city as parkland in 1972 through the Interior Department's Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, and in 1985 the H-E-B grocery company bought the remaining ten acres on the river and remodeled the old buildings as its corporate headquarters.

What the plaque says

United States San Antonio Arsenal Founded in 1858, the United States Arsenal at San Antonio was located on a site selected by Capt. R.H. K. Whiteley. Construction began in 1859 under the supervision of contractors John Me. and W.W. Campbell. Three buildings were under construction at the beginning of the Civil War: The magazine, office building, and Armorer's shop. After U.S. commander Gen. David E. Twiggs surrendered all federal property in the city to state forces commanded by Ben McCulloch in 1861, construction was continued by confederate forces. During the war the Arsenal served as a principal supply depot for troops in South Texas and on the western frontier. In November 1865 federal troops reoccupied this complex and assumed control of all military installations in the area. Construction of additional buildings continued after 1873, and this became a central supply point for U.S. troops in the southwest. In 1877 and 1883 buildings were added, and changes were made to existing structures. During World War I another building expansion program occurred,and by 1920 the compound consisted of forty-four buildings. The San Antonio Arsenal was deactivated by the U.S. Army in 1947. (1986)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• King William Historic District — 0.2 mi
  Mission farmland turned German merchants' quarter on the San Antonio River, renamed in World War I, then saved by a neighbor who restored fourteen houses, starting with his own.
• Casa Navarro State Historic Site — 0.4 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.
• San Fernando Cathedral — 0.5 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.
• Spanish Governor's Palace — 0.5 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.

More markers nearby

• Guenther's Upper Mill, Site of — steps away
• King William Neighborhood — 0.3 mi
• Francisco Madero in Texas — 0.4 mi
• Erasmo Seguin — 0.4 mi