La Villita in San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Bowen-Kirchner House
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, May 2, 2015
1. Bowen-Kirchner House Marker
Inscription.
Bowen-Kirchner House. . Margarita Pérez de Rodríguez, consort of Compañía de Béxar soldier Jose Antonio Rodríguez, was given this land "in satisfaction of her constitutional allowance." She sold the property in 1851 to San Antonio postmaster John Bowen, who conveyed it to Auguste Kirchner in 1871. The house, built either by Bowen or Kirchner, appears on the 1873 Koch bird’s-eye view map of San Antonio. Thomas Abbott, a shoemaker, bought the property in 1881 from his wife’s family, the Heiligmans, who also owned the house to the east. Anna Schneider, a clairvoyant, lived here for many years. Following its purchase by the City of San Antonio in 1940, the house served as the La Villita project office and Red Cross Training Center., The house is built of uniformly sized blocks of “caliche”, a clay and calcium substance. The local building material, cut from the ground and dried, was used in the late nineteenth century.
Margarita Pérez de Rodríguez, consort of Compañía de Béxar soldier Jose Antonio Rodríguez, was given this land "in satisfaction of her constitutional allowance." She sold the property in 1851 to San Antonio postmaster John Bowen, who conveyed it to Auguste Kirchner in 1871. The house, built either by Bowen or Kirchner, appears on the 1873 Koch bird’s-eye view map of San Antonio. Thomas Abbott, a shoemaker, bought the property in 1881 from his wife’s family, the Heiligmans, who also owned the house to the east. Anna Schneider, a clairvoyant, lived here for many years. Following its purchase by the City of San Antonio in 1940, the house served as the La Villita project office and Red Cross Training Center.
The house is built of uniformly sized blocks of “caliche”, a clay and calcium substance. The local building material, cut from the ground and dried, was used in the late nineteenth century.
Erected by La Villita Tenants Association and the San Antonio Conservation Society. (Marker Number B.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1851.
Location. 29° 25.309′ N, 98° 29.344′ W. Marker is in San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County. It is in La Villita.
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Marker is on Villita Street west of King Philip Alley, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: San Antonio TX 78205, United States of America. Touch for directions.
3. The front view of the Bowen-Kirchner House And Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on July 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 4, 2015, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 438 times since then and 4 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on May 4, 2015, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. 3. submitted on July 2, 2023, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.