September 20 in San Antonio history…

1940
Alamo Stadium is completed and dedicated.

1956
A $50,000 remodeling will convert the Broadway Theater to the new curved wide-screen Todd-AO process. A spokesman for Interstate Theaters said the first Todd-AO production would be “Oklahoma!” on Oct. 26.  The Broadway will become the city’s only reserved seat house under the new set-up. There will be one show a night on weeknights at 8:30 and matinees on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. There will be three shows daily on Saturday, Sunday and ‘on holidays.  Admission will range from $1.25 to $2 with all seats reserved.

1995
The legendary B. B. King performs at Sunken Garden Theater.

August 21 in San Antonio history…

1918
Monsignore Arthur Drossaerts, formerly rector of the Catholic church at Baton Rouge, La., but at present located in New Orleans in an official capacity, has been named as bishop of San Antonio to succeed Rt. Rev. John W. Shaw, former bishop, who was elevated to the archbishopric of New Orleans a few months ago.

1927
With approximately 100 artesian wells pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of water daily, it is only a matter of time until the San Antonio River dries up, acting Mayor Phil Wright declared today.

1928
Notification of the acceptance by the Secretary of War of the site offered by San Antonio as the future home of the Air Corps Training Center, was received here today.  Land for the “West Point of the Air” was donated by the city.

1976
Southwest Airlines opens San Antonio International Airport’s first ground level jetway gate.

August 12 in San Antonio history…

1915
Police cars are equipped with sirens similar to those used by the fire department. They are to be used only while the cars are responding to emergency calls.

1922
Frost Bank moves into its new multistory “skyscraper” at the SW corner of Commerce and Flores streets (now the Municipal Plaza Building.)

1927
“Wings”, a silent World War I epic filmed in San Antonio, premieres in New York.  The movie stars Clara Bow and Buddy Rogers and features the (brief) film debut of Gary Cooper.  The next year, “Wings” will be the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.

June 7 in San Antonio history…

1927
A steam shovel is used for the first time in San Antonio in construction of Commercial National Bank.

1981
The San Antonio Express reports that beginning next month they will use Channel 29 on the UA-Cablevision network to broadcast news stories and a limited amount of advertising.  The channel will operate 24 hours a day.

photo by Andy Crews

2008
Jorrie’s (later Lack’s) Furniture Building is razed (right).  “We’re devastated. If this building had been allowed to go through the process, they would have discovered a little buried jewel underneath,” says Marcie Ince, president of the San Antonio Conservation Society.

April 18 in San Antonio history…

1927
Archbishop Robert J. Drossaerts rededicates San Jose Mission as a sacred edifice. Restored to its original lines of 160 years ago, the mission will be reblessed to compensate for the time it lay in ruins.

1947
Mission Stadium and Ballpark opened and the first Texas league game was played there.

1962
Chili queens, a familiar sight on Military and Alamo plazas a number of years ago, will be back in San Antonio in all their glory at “A Night in Old San Antonio.”

March 28 in San Antonio history…

1924
The Fiesta Association board receives a request from Ku Klux Klan No. 31 to enter a decorated float in the Battle of Flowers parade and 5,000 to 10,000 unmasked members in the night parade.  The letter stated that they would be led by the Klan band and fiery cross of the order.  Action on the request was delayed by the board.

1927
The new Magnolia gas station at Broadway and the Austin Highway opens for business (photo, right, taken in 2011).

1988
San Antonio drivers with outstanding parking tickets had until 8 a.m. to settle up with the city or risk getting “booted” as the city begins installing Auto Kuff immobilizing devices on the cars of violators.  Cars with “boots” cannot be moved until the driver pays a $25 fee to remove the device plus all outstanding tickets.

March 14 in San Antonio history…

1927
Town crier Julius Myers appears before City Council dressed as a baseball player to appeal to be able to promote baseball games at League Park.  Meyers was recently banned from his town crier duties by the city fathers.  “If I’m granted the right to call out baseball games,” Meyer said, “I will be contented.”

1956
City Councilman Henry B. Gonzalez today proposed that the city act to desegregate the Alamo Heights swimming pool along with city pools, which had been ruled off-limits to people of color on June 19, 1954 – Juneteenth – and one month and two days after the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court case ruled that segregation was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

1972
The disposition of the $750,000 estate of the late Mrs. Emma Koehler, former president of the Pearl Brewing Co., is being resolved in the courts.  Frost National Bank, trustee of the estate, has filed a suit for guidance in the administration of the trust left by Mrs. Koehler, widow of the founder, Otto Koehler.

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.

January 7 in San Antonio history…

1927
The first talking picture is shown as a press premiere at the Aztec Theater:  “Don Juan” starring John Barrymore (right)

1957
Commissioner Albert Pena Jr. termed a proposed plan to fingerprint all county employees a “fundamental invasion of privacy and a violation of civil liberties.”

1986
A wind chill as low as 10 below zero is predicted for tomorrow in San Antonio with snow or freezing rain possible in the Hill Country.

November 24 in San Antonio history…

1877
The San Antonio Water Works are incorporated.

1927
The Olmos Park Estates subdivision opens to the public (right).

2009
Chris Marrou retires after 36 years as anchor of KENS Channel 5.