The San Antonio River Walk is a pedestrian waterway in central San Antonio that links major landmarks while preserving the heart of the city’s original 18th-century settlement. Its modern form emerged after the devastating 1921 flood, when plans to pave over the river bend were defeated in favor of architect Robert Hugman’s vision of a controlled, landscaped waterfront. Built through local backing, bond funding, and Works Progress Administration work, it grew into a downtown promenade with walkways, bridges, and plantings. Later expansions extended it to convention, cultural, museum, and mission areas, making it a flood-control system, public space, tourist center, and model for urban riverfront design.