October 12 in San Antonio history…

1939
The “Villita Ordinance” is adopted, calling for the restoration and reconstruction of La Villita.  The project funds the Bolivar branch of the San Antonio Public Library.  E. M. Todd is project supervisor and O’Neil Ford is named architect.

October 10 in San Antonio history…

1972
National Bank of Commerce installs the city’s first automatic teller machine (ATM) across Soledad street from their downtown headquarters.

1973
The Spurs play their very first regular season ABA game against the San Diego Conquistadors.  San Diego erupted for 48 points in the final quarter, storming back from a deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to claim a 121-106 victory over the Spurs. San Antonio blew a 77-73 lead coming into the final quarter.

1991
City Council authorizes city staff to proceed with preliminary planning to move the council chambers out of City Hall and into the historic Main Plaza Building. The move, according to the most inexpensive option outlined by the staff, will cost $1.5 million.

September 7 in San Antonio history…

1924
Ceremonies dedicating St. Mary’s Church completed at a cost of $250,000 were conducted by Rev. A.J. Drossaerts, bishop of San Antonio.  (The original church was heavily damaged in the 1921 flood.)

1972
The first Folklife Festival opens on the grounds of the Institute of Texan Cultures. 7,546 people attend on opening day.

1984
After existing as two separate newspapers (except on weekends) for 66 years, the first issue of the combined San Antonio Express and San Antonio News hits the newsstands as the San Antonio Express-News.

August 18 in San Antonio history…

1918
The new San Antonio Evening News newspaper (“a paper with a conscience and backbone“) is advertised in the San Antonio Express.  Publication will begin on September 4.

1972
Trinity University ceases football scholarships.

2003
Northside ISD opens Bob Beard, Joe Ward and Patricia J. Blattman elementary schools along with Ed Rawlinson middle school.

July 14 in San Antonio history…

1925
The Dodge Brothers Automobile Company has offered a bulletproof car to the San Antonio City Police.  The sedan is of standard construction, but which, it is claimed, will ride through a fusillade of .45-caliber bullets with perfect safety to the driver and other occupants. The body, mounted on a regular production Dodge passenger car chassis, is made of 10-gauge bulletproof metal. The windshield and windows are of bullet-proof glass.

1930
The Sunken Garden Theatre is dedicated and opened with a performance of “The Bohemian Girl” by the San Antonio Civic Opera.

1972
Demolition of Fox Tech high school has begun. The 70-year-old buildings will be replaced with a $5 million, 3-000-student complex slated for completion in the fall of 1974. Tech students will go to Brackenridge High School while the work is under way.  Construction starts in October.

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.

February 4 in San Antonio history…

1946
The U.S. Air Force basic training headquarters is moved from Harlingen AFB to Lackland AFB in San Antonio.

1972
Final plans and specifications for initial buildings, site development and utility distribution system at the new University of Texas at San Antonio were approved by UT regents today. Plans cover seven buildings encompassing 799,000 gross square feet of floor space at an estimated cost of $36,522,000.

1999
Solo Serve holds their final liquidation sale and closes after 80 years in business.

February 1 in San Antonio history…

1859
The Menger Hotel (right) holds its grand opening.

1928
The Milam Cafeteria opens in the Milam Building at the intersection of Soledad and Travis streets.

1972
A crowd estimated between 400 and 450 welcome the new San Antonio Brewers, after the San Antonio Missions moved to Midland to become the Cubs for next season.  Speakers include Texas League President Bobby Bragan, Brewers owner and general manager, John Begzos and former Milwaukee Brewer Bob Uecker.

January 22 in San Antonio history…

1933
Only in chasing criminals or in answering emergency calls will radio patrol cars be allowed to exceed a speed limit of 25 miles per hour in the future, according to an order issued today by Chief of Police Owen Kilday.

1940
San Antonio awakened today to see its first snowfall in 10 years.  At noon today, the snow measured three inches.  San Antonio received its last heavy snowfall – 2.9 inches – Dec. 21, 1929.

1972
The San Antonio Convention Center hosts a roller derby battle between the local Southwest Red Devils and the world champion San Francisco Bay Bombers.

January 13 in San Antonio history…

1965
Joske’s buys out longtime department store rival Wolff & Marx.

1972
The Milwaukee Brewers take over the local Texas League baseball franchise and change the name from the San Antonio Missions to the San Antonio Brewers.  They have also signed a lease with V. J. Keefe field, which the Texas Leaguers have used since Mission Stadium was abandoned.

1993
A grave believed to hold the remains of Texas hero Col. Ben Milam is uncovered in the center of Milam Park by construction workers. The grave is located on the spot where the Friends of Milam Park had plans to put an 18th-century-style gazebo. A concrete footer where a gray stone monument used to stand also is uncovered.