Confederate Tannery

Confederate Tannery. . Farmers Raised Crops In This Area between the San Antonio River and the Upper Labor Acequia until 1862 when the Confederate government purchased the fertile farmland to build a tannery and sawmill. The facility included a large building with vats and reservoirs, carpentry, blacksmith and tailor shops, a dormitory and dining hall, and a superintendent's residence. Water needed to process leather was channeled from the river in a stone-lined ditch. At its peak the tannery processed 1,500 hides a month, and the saw mill had a daily capacity of 3,000 board feet of lumber. The complex closed at the end of the Civil War and was acquired by the city in 1870. The northernmost part of the property at the junction of the acequia and river was retained by the city for its future water works, and the lower lots were sold. By the late 1800s, all of these lots had been purchased by the Koehler family and George Brackenridge, both of whom later donated their holdings to the city for public park land., Captions , Lower Left: This map illustrates the Confederate tannery in the 1860s. The facility was part of the Confederacy's plan to establish a system of local manufacturers to support the war effort. , Source: San Antonio Municipal Archives, Office of the City Clerk., Lower Middle: The United States government assumed ownership of all Confederate property at the end of the Civil War. The tannery and sawmill, valued at $150,000 in this 1867 advertisement, were sold to the city in 1870 for $4,500. , Source: San Antonio Hearld, January 29, 1867., Lower Right: The tanning process involved many steps including soaking, scraping, drying, and oiling the hides. This illustration shows a tanner removing a hide from the tanning pit. , Source: William Henry Pyne, The Costume of Great Britain, William Miller, 1808.