La Villita Arts and Crafts Village, And Its Long and Interesting History
Bernard Pyron
I remember something about Old San Antonio from my youth in South Bexar county - Houston and Commerce Streets, the Alamo, the Menger Hotel, where my father took me as a seven year old to see aged Trail Drivers sitting in the lobby, the San Antonio River, the Market Square, where we sold produce we picked in the Black Jacks of north Atascosa county in the summers of 1946 and 1947, Military Plaza, the Buckhorn Saloon, where my father bought me fresh orange juice as a young boy - and La Villita.
La Villita had not been completely restored when I was a boy, but it had a long and interesting history. It was once a Coahuiltecan Indian village. Later it became a settlement for the Spanish soldiers stationed at the Alamo. And in 1836, La Villita was the site of General. Santa Ana’s cannon position for firing to the east at the Alamo.
Making La Villita into an arts and crafts village became a project of a grandson of Samuel Maverick, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and Texas revolutionary,. Maury Maverick, Mayor of San Antonio, saved La Villita from demolition and and got federal grants for the project to restore the historic village.. The City Council on Oct. 12, 1939, passed “The Villita Ordinance,
La Villita is between the San Antonio River and East Neuva Street, and South Pressa Street and South Alamo Street - in downtown San Antonio. The Old San Antonio City Library was at 210 Market Street, near La Villia, from 1930 to 1968.
One day in the early spring of 1963 I went into La Villia and found a round pot potter making pots in one of the buildings, Since I was a potter I got to know him and went back several times to talk to him. But in 1963 there was not a great deal of craft or art making going on in La Villita.
San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford was involved in the restoration of La Villita and the making of it into an Arts and Crafts Village.
http://www.expressnews.com/ …/La-Villita-renovation-drew-fam…
"In her book “O’Neil Ford, Architect,” author Mary Carolyn Hollers George describes the project and the relationship between Maverick and Ford, both larger-than-life personalities."
“La Villita was an epic undertaking, and the mayor made daily visits to his favorite enterprise. He held strong opinions about how things should be done, and Maverick-Ford clashes were inevitable. Ford felt free to disagree, and Maverick was not accustomed to being crossed. The climax of their disagreements was reached when Ford was fired or would quit, later to return … Periods of mutual admiration tempered the relationship between these two volatile, brilliant, and opinionated men.”
Ford was paid $10 per day for the job, plus expenses. He would later say that the project changed the direction of his life.
During the restoration, 1,800 young people were trained in arts and crafts. During World War II, La Villita was used as a Red Cross Center, though after the war it was converted back to its purpose."
Bernard Pyron
I remember something about Old San Antonio from my youth in South Bexar county - Houston and Commerce Streets, the Alamo, the Menger Hotel, where my father took me as a seven year old to see aged Trail Drivers sitting in the lobby, the San Antonio River, the Market Square, where we sold produce we picked in the Black Jacks of north Atascosa county in the summers of 1946 and 1947, Military Plaza, the Buckhorn Saloon, where my father bought me fresh orange juice as a young boy - and La Villita.
La Villita had not been completely restored when I was a boy, but it had a long and interesting history. It was once a Coahuiltecan Indian village. Later it became a settlement for the Spanish soldiers stationed at the Alamo. And in 1836, La Villita was the site of General. Santa Ana’s cannon position for firing to the east at the Alamo.
Making La Villita into an arts and crafts village became a project of a grandson of Samuel Maverick, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and Texas revolutionary,. Maury Maverick, Mayor of San Antonio, saved La Villita from demolition and and got federal grants for the project to restore the historic village.. The City Council on Oct. 12, 1939, passed “The Villita Ordinance,
La Villita is between the San Antonio River and East Neuva Street, and South Pressa Street and South Alamo Street - in downtown San Antonio. The Old San Antonio City Library was at 210 Market Street, near La Villia, from 1930 to 1968.
One day in the early spring of 1963 I went into La Villia and found a round pot potter making pots in one of the buildings, Since I was a potter I got to know him and went back several times to talk to him. But in 1963 there was not a great deal of craft or art making going on in La Villita.
San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford was involved in the restoration of La Villita and the making of it into an Arts and Crafts Village.
http://www.expressnews.com/ …/La-Villita-renovation-drew-fam…
"In her book “O’Neil Ford, Architect,” author Mary Carolyn Hollers George describes the project and the relationship between Maverick and Ford, both larger-than-life personalities."
“La Villita was an epic undertaking, and the mayor made daily visits to his favorite enterprise. He held strong opinions about how things should be done, and Maverick-Ford clashes were inevitable. Ford felt free to disagree, and Maverick was not accustomed to being crossed. The climax of their disagreements was reached when Ford was fired or would quit, later to return … Periods of mutual admiration tempered the relationship between these two volatile, brilliant, and opinionated men.”
Ford was paid $10 per day for the job, plus expenses. He would later say that the project changed the direction of his life.
During the restoration, 1,800 young people were trained in arts and crafts. During World War II, La Villita was used as a Red Cross Center, though after the war it was converted back to its purpose."
Bernard Pyron Here is the above link again that got messed up - http://www.expressnews.com/.../La-Villita-renovation-drew...
Today, La Villita is a maze of charming shops
Bernard Pyron I
am not aware of any ancestors or relatives of mine who fought in the
Texas Revolution. But a distant cousin, Captain David T. Pyron was in
the 1st Regiment, Permanent Volunteers, Texas Army,Enlistment Jun 1,
1836. And my grandmother's uncle John L.D. Blackb urn was in the Texas Army in 1842 and went into Mexico in the Mier Expedition. https://books.google.com/books …Savage Frontier, 1842-1845, by Stephen L. Moore
"After the escape of the Texans from the prison at Salado, Mexican forces pursued and captured most of the Texans during the next two weeks. John Alaxander and Major William Oldham survived a perilous journey through the mountains and across the Rio Grande, arriving in San Antonio in Mid-April. Only two other Texans from this escape party were known to have made it back home alive, Thomas W. Cox and John L.D. Blackburn."
John L.D. Blackburn is grandmother Virginia Blackburn Pyron's uncle - brother of her father, Gideon B. Blackburn.
"After the escape of the Texans from the prison at Salado, Mexican forces pursued and captured most of the Texans during the next two weeks. John Alaxander and Major William Oldham survived a perilous journey through the mountains and across the Rio Grande, arriving in San Antonio in Mid-April. Only two other Texans from this escape party were known to have made it back home alive, Thomas W. Cox and John L.D. Blackburn."
John L.D. Blackburn is grandmother Virginia Blackburn Pyron's uncle - brother of her father, Gideon B. Blackburn.
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