Sentimental Sunday: My Stuff in a Museum Exhibit!

Back in January, I was contacted by the exhibit curator at the Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) in San Antonio, who was working on an ITC 50th anniversary exhibit that would open in April. A colleague shared a blog post I'd done about the ITC with her, and she wrote to ask if I might let them use my photo of the ITC taken in August 1968 from the Tower of the Americas (part of Hemisfair '68, the 1968 World's Fair).

Of course I said yes!  I pointed them to my Hemisfair blog post, and they wanted to borrow a postcard (front and back) from that as well.  I sent high resolution images of all three.

Last week I was in San Antonio for a workshop, and went by the ITC briefly to view their Viva Hemisfair exhibit.  I knew from the exhibit's web page that my stuff was there, but I wanted to see it for myself.

Here's the wall that my three items are on.  They are just to the right of the big "Hemisfair '68 Souvenirs" sign, and just to the left of the white magnet board where visitors are invited to share their own Hemisfair '68 memories.





Below is an enlargement showing the three items (or really two, as the postcard had a reverse side) that I gave permission for the ITC to use in the exhibit.

Here is the photo (enlarged in the display) on the right in the grouping above, which I took in August 1968, along with the caption the ITC staff put below it:

It reads, "Eleven-year-old Amanda Pape captured this photo of the Texas Pavilion from the Tower of the Americas.  She wrote about her visit to the fair in a postcard to her pen pal Mimi.  Courtesy Amanda Pape."

On the left hand side of the grouping are the front and back (enlarged of course) of a postcard I purchased at Hemisfair to send to my Girl Scout pen pal Mimi.

On the back of the postcard, I wrote, "Aug. 15 - Dear Mimi, Hemisfair was great!  We didn't get to see everything, though.  The best thing[s] were the Texas and Italy pavilions, the IBM [and] Coke pavilions, Tower of the Amer[icas], the Laterna Magica show, and the rollar [sic] coaster.  Many other things are good, too, but I can't remember them right now and I'm in a hurry.  I bought a Japanese fan, in a Japanese shop.  I'll tell you about more things at Hemisfair later on.  We're having fun. ALP!"

What a thrill!

I plan to go back with my husband later this year (the exhibit is open through December 31, 2018), to explore this exhibit and the ITC's 50th anniversary exhibit in more detail, as well as to re-visit the displays of the ITC, which was the Texas Pavilion during Hemisfair.  The ITC still documents the contributions of various immigrant and ethnic groups to Texas history and culture.

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Military Monday: Dad at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, February-March, 1951

A few months ago, I wrote a post shortly after my father gave me his photo album scrapbook from his military service. I posted a couple pictures from that album of Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where Dad did his pre-flight (air cadet) training from February 27 to about March 30, 1951.  Here are a couple more photos from the scrapbook from that time:

In the photo above, Dad (#4) and his roommates are standing near their barracks (pictured in the background).  On the back of the photograph, Dad wrote that it was taken March 24, 1951, and called his group "The Motley Crew."

I was able to find out a little bit of information about some of Dad's roommates.

Hans Howard Estin was just a little older than Dad.  Born in Prague, his family immigrated in 1938, and ended up in Boston, where Hans graduated from Harvard with a BA in economics.  He went on from this training to be a pilot in the Korean War, and then worked in the investment business with his father.  Later he joined the North American Management Corporation in Boston, where he spent the rest of his career.

An avid skier, Estin helped found the Sugarloaf Ski Resort in Vermont with his brother Pete, and later the Sundance Ski Resort in Utah.  He served on the Board of Trustees for Boston University as well as many other corporate and charitable boards.  He was married with two daughters and three granddaughters when he died in May, 2012.

Bob Curley was later with Dad at flight school at Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Mississippi, which began right after this pre-flight training, on March 31, 1951.  Although a note on the back of the photo says he is from New York, unfortunately there are too many Bob Curleys out there of the right age to be able to pinpoint the one who served with my father.

Dwight Frederick "Deet" Brooks was a few months younger than Dad.  He was born and grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota.  He was a lifelong aviation fan, built model airplanes, and learned to fly.  After three years in the Marine Corps, he transferred to the Air Force, flew 33 combat missions in F-84 jets in the Korean War, and later flew with the Strategic Air Command.  Brooks and his wife had two children and five grandchildren.  He died in March 1996 in Los Angeles.

Dad said, "Dwight (we didn’t call him Deet most of the time) and I met on the train from Chicago to San Antonio. We checked into Randolph AFB together. He was a big help since he already had some Marine training. He showed us how to put a “spit” shine on our shoes which kept them very shiny. He also showed us how to prepare our beds and clothes for inspection. He later became our cadet squadron commander at Columbus AFB.  I could swear that some years after the Air Force I saw his picture as a Delta Airlines pilot in one of Delta’s ads."

Below is a photo of Dad outside the Pre-Flight Training Headquarters at Randolph AFB:

On the back of this photo (stamped with the date of April 16, 1951, as was the other photo; likely the date the film was processed and printed), Dad wrote, "Note the fine shrubbery and the dirty fatigues.  What a raunchy looking cadet."


© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Thankful Thursday: Report on #FGS2014 in San Antonio

This past Saturday, August 30, I attended the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2014 (#FGS2014) conference in San Antonio.  I would have liked to have attended the entire conference, but the fact that it fell during the first week of classes at my university (AND during the year we'd just completed a major library renovation creating a new learning commons) meant that getting work time off to go was not possible.

Fortunately, the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)  and co-hosts, the Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS) and the San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society, offered a special Saturday-only half-price rate of $49.99 to attend that day.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear five nationally-known speakers AND get the syllabus (464 pages!) with information from all the other myriad of sessions I could not attend, both Saturday and Wednesday through Friday.

I drove down to Austin after work on Friday and spent the night at my parents' home.  I got up before the sun on Saturday and made the 90-minute drive to the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, arriving in time for the first (8:30 AM) session.

Here are the sessions I attended:

1. Elizabeth Shown Mills of Evidence Explained fame on Okay I "Got the Neighbors" - Now What Do I Do With Them? on the importance of searching with context

2. The Accidental Genealogist Lisa Alzo on Ten Ways to Jumpstart Your Eastern European Research (which provided some useful tips for tracking down my elusive Lithuanian ancestors)

3. Diving into Archives:  Uncovering ArchiveFinder and ArchiveGrid with FGS President and librarian D. Joshua Taylor (hopefully some of my workplace collections will be listed on ArchiveGrid soon!)

4. Beyond X & Y: Using Autosomal DNA for Genealogy with The Legal Genealogist Judy Russell, an entertaining and easy-to-understand explanation of the potential and limits to those DNA tests I did on Mom and Dad

5.  Tips for Finding Ethnic Origins at Ancestry with Julianna Szucs Smith of Ancestry.com - I'm hoping this will help me find some other elusive ancestors on passenger lists or in naturalization records.

Most of the gaps between the earlier sessions were 45 minutes long, allowing time to visit the exhibit hall.  In the first one, I got most of the ribbons to add to my FamilySearch-lanyarded name badge, as well as my cool blogger beads (with cowboy boots and cacti; badge, ribbons & beads pictured above), sponsored by MyHeritage.com (which, I learned from Lisa Alzo's session, might be a good site for me to join as they have a huge number of members from Lithuania).  I also ran into Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers, who I'd always wanted to meet.

I also got to meet Erin Roudabush with Family Chartmasters who had been working on a bowtie-with-descendants chart for my parents' upcoming 60th wedding anniversary (more on that in a future post).  I won a gift certificate from them at last year's TSGS conference, and had finally gotten around to using it.  

At the RootsMagic booth, I took advantage of a conference special and purchased three of their software products for less than the price of two (with the RootsMagic user manual thrown in for free) - since I need something to replace the now-unsupported PAF (free Personal Ancestral File) software and start a well-documented family tree offline.

I had lunch with my librarian friend Amy Coffin of the We Tree Genealogy Blog, Lisa Alzo, and Kathryn Doyle of the California Genealogical Society & Library at a great River Walk restaurant called Maria Mia Mexican Bistro, where I had an awesome mango salad with jicama, avocado, chicken, and cilantro lime dressing.  I enjoyed listening to these FGS conference pros talk.

This was my first national genealogy conference - hopefully it won't be my last.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Travel Tuesday: More San Antonio Hotels: Emily Morgan and La Mansión Del Rio

TODAY (July 1, 2014) is the last day to get early-bird discount registration fees for #FGS2014, the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference being held in San Antonio, Texas, August 27-30! If you are still looking for a hotel, and don't mind being a little further from the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, you might want to consider these historic hotels:  the Emily Morgan and La Mansión Del Rio.

Emily Morgan Hotel, April 6, 2013 /  © Amanda Pape 

When I took the picture above on the Alamo grounds in San Antonio in early April, 2013, I did not know what this building was - but I thought it was so interesting, I had to find out.

Alamo Mission [and Emily Morgan Hotel in background, 9 Sep 2011] / Zygmunt Put / CC-BY-SA 3.0

Emily Morgan Hotel [with Alamo Cenotaph in foreground, 2 January 2010] / 
Josh*m /  CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Emily Morgan Hotel is at 705 Houston Street. The San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation holds a facade easement of this building "as a means of insuring the preservation of historic structures."  Their website goes on to say:

Built as the Medical Arts Building in 1926, and designed by architect Ralph Cameron, this steel frame and brick building rises thirteen stories over Alamo Plaza. It has long been an architectural landmark in San Antonio because of the elaborate Gothic detailing in stone and terra cotta. The building was first renovated in 1976 for office space, and in 1985 converted to the Emily Morgan Hotel. The facade was donated to the Foundation ... in December, 1985.

Emily Morgan details [2 July 2008] / Christina B Castro / CC-BY-NC 2.0

The hotel's website goes on to say:

The building's distinctive form and ornamentation are influenced by the Gothic revival that was the fashion for skyscrapers nationwide in the 1920s. The panels between the first and second stories, as well as the marquee over the main entrance, are of cast iron painted to simulate bronze. The roof is copper with wood ribs. Terra cotta gargoyles depicting figures with various ailments, including toothaches and other medical troubles, are perhaps the most interesting architectural feature of this unique building.

Not surprisingly, it's the second-most photographed building in San Antonio (the Alamo is first).

Emily Morgan Architecture [7 June 2008] / Jim Lynch / CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0

Another cool San Antonio hotel, on the River Walk (but a but of a stroll from the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center) is La Mansión del Rio, at 112 College.  I have stayed at this hotel for conventions, and it would be a good option for those who'd like to get in some exercise each morning and evening, and who plan to spend the entire convention day at the Convention Center and other areas close to that.

La Mansión del Rio Hotel [19 July 2009] / Charles Willgren / CC-BY 2.0

Mansion on the San Antonio RiverWalk
[27 Sep. 2011] / Ivy Dawned / CC-BY-SA 2.0

According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation,

In 1852, sixteen years after the fall of the Alamo, construction began on what was originally known as St. Mary’s Institute, school for boys. As the need for education grew, St. Mary’s became a junior college and finally grew into a senior college. In 1931, the building became known as St. Mary’s University Downtown College. In 1934, the law school was set up downtown and remained on College Street until December of 1966. In 1968, La Mansión del Rio opened its doors as a luxury hotel [just in time for HemisFair '68].

When we stayed there in April 2007, we had a room with a balcony overlooking the River Walk, much like the room pictured below:

Le Mansión del Rio [interior, 23 July 2006] / Dan & Susie Romer / CC-BY-SA 2.0

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places Thursday: San Antonio's Historic Menger Hotel

The original part of the Menger Hotel, at the corner of Alamo Plaza and Blum in San Antonio.
The lower two stories were built in 1859; the third story was added in 1881.

Just four-plus days left (through July 1, 2014) to get early-bird discount registration fees for #FGS2014, the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference being held in San Antonio, Texas, August 27-30!  If you are still looking for a hotel, and don't mind being a little further from the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, you might want to consider the historic Menger Hotel, next door to the Alamo.

The historical marker pictured at left pretty much tells the story of the hotel.  I took the pictures in this post on April 6, 2013, when I was at the hotel to make a presentation on blogging and family history for the International Society of Educational Biography conference.  I also picked up a self-guided tour brochure at the front desk with some of the other facts presented in the captions to the photos.  What I didn't get to see, but described in the brochure, was a network of tunnels under the building that once held wine cellars, meat lockers, and led to Menger's adjacent brewery.

The Victorian Lobby - the lobby of the 1859-1881 portion of the hotel was remodeled in 1909

The leaded skylight in the Victorian Lobby, added in 1909

The four-story, 125-room 1949/1950 addition to the Menger Hotel (at Alamo Plaza and Crockett) 

Entrance to the 1949/1950 addition (at Alamo Plaza and Crockett) and Main Lobby of the Menger Hotel

The Tropical Garden of the Menger Hotel, as viewed from the Main Lobby side

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Travel Tuesday: El Mercado in San Antonio, 1980, 2008, 2010, 2011

cousin Donna shopping at El Mercado, January 1980

One of my favorite places to visit the summer I lived in San Antonio - and a favorite place to take guests in subsequent years - was El Mercado, the Market Square, "the largest Mexican marketplace outside of Mexico."

Market Square (El Mercado), 7 August 2010 / David (Brokentaco) /  CC BY-2.0

This historic site (in existence since the 1820s) has over 100 shops and galleries, restaurants and a food court, and (since 2012) the Educational and Cultural Arts Center of Texas A&M University - San Antonio (in what used to be the Museo Alameda), which features exhibitions of Latino arts.

Museo Alameda [now the Educational and Cultural Arts Center], 1 June 2012 / Karen / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Probably the biggest reason I'd travel from my work place of Mission San José to El Mercado was to eat great Mexican food at Mi Tierra Café, or buy goodies at its panaderia (bakery).  This awesome place, open 24 hours a day with year-round Christmas lights and decorations, has the BEST panes dulces (sweet breads - try the empanadas or cuernos de azucar) and Mexican candies (leche quemada is my favorite).

Mi Tierra Restaurant, San Antonio, 28 January 2008 / Mathieu Plourde / CC BY-2.0

For those of you going to San Antonio for the Federation of Genealogical Societies' 2014 Conference in late August, you can buy a one-day pass for VIA Transit and ride the Red (301) Circulator bus from the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, site of #FGS2014 to Market Square and other sites of interest (like the Alamo).

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places Thursday: San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, 1978 and 1997

I hope those of you going to San Antonio for the Federation of Genealogical Societies' 2014 Conference (#FGS2014) in late August plan to stay in San Antonio a few days more (either before or after the conference) so you can see some of the sites outside of the downtown area.  This week, I am writing about destinations to the north and to the south of downtown.

If you were to head south of the River Walk along the San Antonio River, you'd eventually reach the first of four sites in the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.  Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purisima Concepción de Acuña, simply known as Mission Concepción, was dedicated in 1755, and is the oldest unrestored stone church in America.

Mission Concepcion at San Antonio, Texas, 27 June 2010 / Travis Witt / CC BY-SA-3.0

Next is Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, or simply Mission San José, the "Queen of the Missions."  It was almost completely restored by the WPA (Works Projects Administration) in the 1930s.  Thus, it is the largest of the missions and gives the visitor an idea of how all the missions (including the Alamo) might have looked in the mid-1700s.

Mission San José at San Antonio, 27 June 2010 / Travis Witt / CC BY-SA-3.0

Further down the San Antonio River is Mission San Juan Capistrano, usually just called Mission San Juan.  It started in east Texas in 1761 and moved to this location in 1761.

Mission San Juan Capistrano facade at San Antonio, TX, 30 June 2011 / Travis K. Witt / CC BY-SA-3.0

Furthest south is Mission San Francisco de la Espada, or Mission Espada.  It is the oldest mission in the state, originally founded in east Texas in 1690 and moved here in 1731.

Mission Espada Chapel at San Antonio, TX, 30 June 2011 / Travis K. Witt / CC BY-SA-3.0

I'd suggest allowing at least an entire day to visit the missions.  All four are still active Catholic churches, and San José and San Juan offer bilingual mariachi Masses on Sundays. (Note that the church at Mission Espada is closed for preservation work until December 2014).

You might also want to visit the nearby Espada Aqueduct.  Built in 1745 as part of the irrigation system for the missions, it is the only remaining Spanish aqueduct in the United States.

I was privileged to work as a park ranger at Mission San José in the summer of 1978, when it was still part of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department system.  I've written about and posted pictures of Mission San José before, but here are some additional photos from a visit by my family of origin that summer, and another visit with my offspring in the summer of 1997.

Dad and me at the former entrance to Mission San José, on the southwest corner of the complex, summer 1978.
The entrance has been moved to the southeast corner and this sign was removed sometime after August 1998.

Mark, me, Mom, Dad, Mary, and Brian, just outside the San José granary with its flying buttresses, summer 1978

Mark, Sister Jean Marie, Brian, Mom, Dad, and Mary at the entrance to the San José church, summer 1978

Mark, Mary, Dad, Mom, Brian, Nani, and Sister Jean Marie in front of the Rose Window, summer 1978

Eric and Diane in front of the Rose Window / Rosa's Window, summer 1997

 © Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Travel Tuesday: San Antonio's Brackenridge Park Area, 1944, 1978 and 1980

Japanese Tea Garden / Sunken Gardens Pagoda / Pavilion, Summer 1978

I hope those of you going to San Antonio for the Federation of Genealogical Societies' 2014 Conference (#FGS2014) in late August plan to stay in San Antonio a few days more (either before or after the conference) so you can see some of the sites outside of the downtown area.  This week, I'm going to write about destinations to the north and to the south of downtown.

If you were to head north of the River Walk along the San Antonio River, you'd eventually reach Brackenridge Park, which is near the river's spring-fed headwaters.  The 343-acre site has an interesting history and features New Deal era structures in its bridges over the river, picnic areas, and golf course, as well as tree-lined trails, playgrounds, and a miniature train that takes visitors on a 3.5 mile loop around the park.

Brackenridge Park is the site of a number of attractions, including
the San Antonio Zoo,
the Witte Museum, and
the Japanese Tea Garden.

Mom, Dad, me, and brother Mark along the San Antonio River in Brackenridge Park, summer 1978

Siblings Brian, Mark, and Mary at Brackenridge Park, summer 1978

I visited all of these sites as well as the park the summer I lived in San Antonio, but my favorite place by far was the Tea Garden.  It's one of the places I took my family when they came to see me that summer, and a place I took relatives visiting in Texas in subsequent years.  In those days (1978), it was known as the Sunken Gardens.

The site was originally a rock quarry.  Between July 1917 and May 1918, City Parks Commissioner Ray Lambert, with plans from his park engineer and no money, was able to construct the Garden. According to the city's website, he "used prison labor to shape the quarry into a complex that included walkways, stone arch bridges, an island and a Japanese pagoda....local residents donated bulbs to beautify the area. Exotic plants were provided by the City nursery and the City Public Service Company donated the lighting system. The pagoda was roofed with palm leaves from trees in City parks. When completed, Lambert had spent only $7,000."

Cousin Donna diverts the 60' waterfall at the Sunken Gardens, January 1980

"In 1926, at the City's invitation, Kimi Eizo Jingu, a local Japanese-American tea importer, moved to the garden and opened the Bamboo Room, where light lunches and tea were served....his family continued to operate the tea garden until 1942, when they were evicted due to anti-Japanese sentiment during World War II. A Chinese-American family operated the facility until the early 1960s....In 1984, the area was rededicated as the Japanese Tea Garden."

Unfortunately, after that, the Garden suffered some decline due to "the ravages of time and insufficient funds."  In 2004, the City and the San Antonio Parks Foundation began a multi-phase restoration. In 2014, according to the City, "The lower area, which includes the koi ponds and flower beds, will be closed beginning June 10 through the end of September. However, the upper level around the pagoda will remain open as will the Jingu House Café. The renovations include repairs to the ponds’ filtration system and re-lining of the ponds. Additionally, new lighting will be installed around the ponds and the pagoda."

Above and below - views of the Sunken Gardens, summer 1978

ETA:  I'm not completely sure, but I believe this photo of my mother and her two siblings was taken in the Sunken Garden area in 1944.  They are wearing the same clothes they had on in photographs taken at San Antonio's River Walk and Alamo.

Gerrie, Jo Ann, and Charles Guokas III at the Sunken Gardens in San Antonio, 1944

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Society Saturday: #FGS2014 - Early Bird Deadline Approaching!

The FGS 2014 Conference in San Antonio will be here before you know it. Have you registered? If not, register online today.

Then pay it forward by telling your friends you'll be "Gone to Texas" August 27-30, 2014, to spend some quality time with a group of others as passionate about researching family history as you are! Ask them to meet you there. Take a look at what's in store for you in San Antonio.

Early Bird Registration Deadline is July 1 for Genealogy Conference in San Antonio, Texas!

There’s still time to beat the early deadline for the FGS 2014 Conference in San Antonio. Register now and save on your conference registration – register before 1 July. To see the full program and conference details, go to https://www.fgsconference.org/.

Those Places Thursday: HemisFair '68 and the Tower of the Americas, 1968 and 2007

In a post earlier this week, I mentioned HemisFair '68, the World's Fair for 1968, which was held in San Antonio, Texas.  My family visited the fair (which ran from April 6 through October 6) on August 15, and I bought the postcard above and sent it to my pen pal, who kindly saved it for me.  On the back, I wrote,

HemisFair was great!  We didn't get to see everything, though.  The best things were the Italy and Texas Pavilions, the IBM and Coke Pavilions, Tower of the Americas, the Laterna Magika show, and the roller coaster on Fiesta Island.

Here are some photos I took at the fair, with descriptions from the Souvenir Book of Hemisfair '68:

"Coca-Cola Company brings theater to the fair.  Here, in its 500-seat theater, the company presents the puppets of Sid and Marty Krofft in a special play called Kaleidoscope." (page 17)

"IBM: Lakeside:. Key feature of the IBM Lakeside Pavilion, one of two the corporation has constructed on site, is a light-hearted informative movie explaining the operation of modern computers." (page 20).  I'm not sure if this is the Lakeside or the nearly-identical Durango Pavilion which "houses a unique, computer-operated loom that will weave a sample of cloth for the visitor." (page 21)

Mexico's pavilion had a small outdoor performing stage over the water, a "floating theater."  Today, this pavilion houses the Instituto Cultural de Mexico.

I took two photos at the "Paper and People" exhibit.  I haven't found any information about this (so far) in official HemisFair information available online, but an article called  "HemisFair Isn't Biggest, But 'Best',"  from the Abilene Reporter-News, April 23, 1968, page 20 said, "PAPER AND PEOPLE is an unusual exhibit reviewing the development of paper from the second century B. C. in China to 'way out' art using paper with its many textures and forms."  I also found it in the San Antonio Light, April 22, 1968, page 6, in an article called "HemisFare," (continued from page 1), under the heading "Theme Exhibits," as "Paper and People - A world of paper, from furniture to art. (In Plazas del Mundo.)"

"Paper and People also shows up on the Official Souvenir HemisFair 1968 Map under "Theme Exhibits/Structures" in Las Plazas del Mundo, which was where the national pavilions were.  It was located at the western end of the fair grounds. Along with all the new structures housing foreign pavilions, many of the 19th century homes and commercial buildings preserved on the site were remodeled and served as restaurants, pavilions, and shops during the fair.

Then of course, there is the Tower of the Americas, the signature structure of HemisFair, and, next to the Alamo, the most recognized structure in San Antonio today.  Those of you going to San Antonio for the Federation of Genealogical Societies' 2014 Conference (#FGS2014) in late August can easily walk to the Tower from the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center (the original part of which was built for - you guessed it - HemisFair '68).  The admission fee includes unlimited access to Flags Over Texas Observation Deck, and the Skies Over Texas 4D Theater Ride during operating hours.  You can also enjoy lunch or dinner at the tower's restaurant.

Breathless and me at the top of the Tower of the Americas in April 2007

There are also some beautiful water features in HemisFair Park, near the Tower and the Convention Center.

This one is called the Hemisfair Mini-Monorail Monument, because it incorporates concrete structural elements from the original monorail at the fair:

As is the case with all World's Fairs, the HemisFair '68 site has changed over the years. Twenty-four historic structures incorporated into HemisFair '68 still exist today, the oldest ones dating to the 1840s.  Many structures put up just for the fair are gone, but others remain, some with their original usage, others with new uses.  The two buildings making up the USA Pavilion, for example, were constructed with the intention of turning them into the federal courthouse and judicial training center that they are today.  The city is currently in the midst of a plan to transform this area further.

A really great general website about Hemisfair '68 is http://www.worldsfair68.info/.  More information about the history of the site is available here: http://www.sanantonio.gov/planning/pdf/hemisfair/04a_site_history.pdf and here: http://www.sanantonio.gov/planning/pdf/hemisfair/09b_site_inventory.pdf.


© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.