November 4 in San Antonio history…

1902
The Texas Propositional Poll Tax Amendment, also known as Proposition 1, which establishes a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting, is approved by voters.

1926
The Texas Historical and Landmarks Assn. and the Sons and Daughters of the Heroes of Texas submitted a petition to the city urging preservation of the Spanish Governor’s Palace at West Commerce and Military Plaza.

1967
Mr. and Mrs. Bertell Zachry, son and daughter-in-law of H.B. Zachry,  became the first guests of the Hilton Palacio de Rio, after they rode Room 522 from the ground as it was hoisted into place by a crane. (right)

February 23 in San Antonio history…

1861
The Referendum on Secession takes place and Texans head to the polls to vote.  Bexar County votes to secede, 827 to 709.  Nearby counties of Blanco, Gillespie, Medina and Uvalde do not.

1929
Fire, apparently started by defective wiring, threatened mail and federal records and did $30,000 damage to San Antonio’s historic federal building in Alamo Plaza (right).

2013
William Barret Travis’s “Victory or Death” letter, written from the Alamo on February 24, 1836, is returned to the old mission where it will be on display until March 7.

January 26 in San Antonio history…

1902
The “handsome, attractive and artistic new hotel at the Hot Sulphur Wells” is dedicated with a 5 p.m. dinner under the supervision of Chef Burt De Vault.

1927
The Plaza Hotel (later the Granada) holds its grand opening.

1981
San Antonio Savings celebrates with ribbon-cutting ceremonies at their new headquarters on Loop 410 at San Pedro.

September 28 in San Antonio history…

1902
Travis Park Methodist Church is dedicated in two services by Bishop Eugene Hendrix of Kansas City.  The original building cost $30,000 and the new structure has been created at the same cost.

1955
San Antonio’s largest building, the Transit Tower, is sold to a local insurance company.

1981
The typhoid outbreak in San Antonio grows to 43 victims, ten more than yesterday.

March 21 in San Antonio history…

1927
Jorrie’s Furniture Warehouse opens at 421 Burnet Street.

1968
Central Park Mall holds its grand opening (right).

1985
Christian rock group Petra brings their “Beat the System Tour” to San Antonio.  The video for the title track is filmed during the concert in Municipal Auditorium.

March 20 in San Antonio history…

1902
This morning the plaster ceiling in one of the rooms of the residence of Ed Steves, 431 King William (right), fell.  Beyond mashing two chairs, no other damage was done.

1917
City authorities are to take immediate steps to have poles of the San Antonio Telephone Co. removed from the business district.  According to ordinance, all public service companies using wires must lay them in conduits.

1946
Fifty people in the 200 block of S. Frio are vaccinated for smallpox after a 20-year-old man becomes the first San Antonio victim of smallpox in the past 12 years. Dr. Robert Cherry, of the City Health Department, advised all people to be vaccinated who have not been vaccinated within the past six years.  “This is especially important here in San Antonio because of so much travel between here and Mexico,” he said.

February 2 in San Antonio history…

1902
First mention of a “horseless carriage” in the Express newspaper.  A Locomobile steamer makes an appearance in San Antonio.

1928
The Harlandale Theater opens with “Rose of the Golden West” starring Mary Astor.

1968
Hemisfair Arena holds its grand opening with a performance by the Harlem Globetrotters and Washington Generals. Joining the two teams were Bob Hayes, “The World’s Fastest Human,” and a lineup of variety acts that performed before the game and during intermission.

December 8 in San Antonio history…

1902
Local businessman G. Bedell Moore offers to donate to the Carnegie Library a sum of $10,000 to be known as the “Alice Moore Fund” with the proceeds to be used to purchase books, the term of the fund to last for ten years from Jan. 1, 1903.

1917
The day after war is declared on Austria, Brooks Field is dedicated and Kelly Field was in operation.

1941
Travis Cotton, 28, of 206 Weaver Street, was waiting when the recruiting office opened and is the first San Antonian to volunteer after the Pearl Harbor attack yesterday.

November 7 in San Antonio history…

1902
The fountain just completed on the east side of the new market house is now in operation and presents a beautiful almost breathtaking sight, with water flitting high, hither and yon.

1949
First live broadcast over WOAI-TV got underway this afternoon at Alamo Stadium gymnasium. Co-sponsored by the San Antonio Appliance Association, the shows will extend over a three-day period and will feature professional and amateur talent.

2009
Linda Ronstadt performs with Los Camperos in Municipal Auditorium.  Due to her diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, this is the final public performance of her career.

August 9 in San Antonio history…

1902
A real estate deed was filed this morning for the conveyance of the old Andrews homestead on Dallas for the Physicians and Surgeons Hospitals for $11,000.

1936
It was revealed that San Jose Mission was being neglected, with its surroundings consisting mainly of weeds and rubbish piles.

1945
Amid reports of a second atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki, Russia declared war on Japan and immediately sent troops across the eastern and western borders of Manchuria.