The Alamo 1900

After the Civil War, from 1865 to 1876, the U.S. Army returned to the Alamo and rented the church, convento, and galera from the Catholic Church for storehouses and offices. From 1876 to 1900, rapid growth of large commercial buildings completely transformed Alamo Plaza. The convento was remodeled as a store in 1877 after Honore Grenet paid $20,000 to the church for the site, with elaborate wooden porches and fake towers added; it was sold to the Hugo and Schmelzer Store in 1884 for $28,000, and Clara Driscoll paid about $75,000 to save it in 1904. After the U.S. Army left, Grenet rented the church for use as a wine and liquor store, and in 1884 the State of Texas paid the Catholic Church $20,000 to save the old building, with custody given first to the city and then in 1915 to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. The old gate, barrack, and jail of the galera were demolished in 1871 as an "eye sore" by the city after it paid $2,500 to the Catholic Church. A formal park was added in 1888, the Opera House was built in 1886, the ornate early five-story Maverick Bank rose nearby, and the Maverick Land Office and Maverick Home were later demolished in 1908 for the eight-story Gibbs Building. The old post office was demolished for a new post office in 1936, when human bones were found during excavation of the foundation, and the future site of the Emily Morgan Hotel was built in 1925.

San Antonio, Texas · United States