The King William District occupies land that was once irrigated farm land belonging
to the Mission San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo. When the mission was secularized
in 1793, the lands were divided among the resident Indian families from the mission
or sold at public auction.
The area call the King William Neighborhood of today was subdivided into lots in
the 1860s and laid out with the present streets. It was about this time that a great
many Germans who had immigrated to Texas in the 1840s began to settle in this area
and it became known as "Sauerkraut Bend" to the rest of San Antonio.
It developed into an idyllic neighborhood of large, impressive houses shaded by
enormous pecan and cypress trees. The main entry street into the area was given
the name King Wilhelm in honor of King Wilhelm I, King of Prussia in the 1870s.
During World War I, when America was at war with Germany, the name was changed to
Pershing Avenue. A few years after the war was over the original name was restored,
but this time it was given the English version of the name, King William, and it
has remained so since.
In the early 1900s the King William District began to wane as a fashionable neighborhood
and by 1920 many of the original home builders died and their children moved to
other parts of San Antonio. During the 1930s and 1940s the neighborhood declined
and many of the fine old homes were converted into apartments and general deterioration
set in throughout the area. Only a few of the earlier settlers remained and maintained
earlier standards.
Around 1950, however, the area began to attract a group of people who found its
proximity to the business district attractive and who, moreover, recognized the
potential of restoration of the fine old houses and the smaller cottages here and
there. The interest in preservation of the area began to be aroused and once again
it became a "fashionable" and desirable place to live.
In 1967 the King William District was designated the first Historic Neighborhood
District in Texas. It is protected under a zoning ordinance designed to "protect
it for the benefit and enjoyment of the public."
- San Antonio Conservation Society
- Band Stand
- King William Association Office
- River Walk
- Johnson Street Foot Bridge
- Pioneer Flour Mill
- Blue Star Art Complex
- H.E.B. Corporate Headquarters
- El Mirador Restaurant
- Beauregard's Bistro
- Rosario's Restaurant
- Alamo Street Restaurant
- Guenther House Museum and Restaurant
- San Antonio River Authority
- Steves Homestead Museum