Neighborhood Fit for a King
King William Historic District
San Antonio derives so much of is charm and popularity from the multi-cultural contributions of numerous ethnic groups. Among those contributors are immigrants of German descent who congregated just south of downtown and established what’s now known as the King William Historic District.
“The district encompasses land that was once irrigated farmland belonging to Mission San Antonio de Valero, or the Alamo,” says Lisa Lynde, executive director of the King William Association, an organization focused on historic preservation. “When the mission was secularized in 1793, the lands were divided among the resident Native American families or sold at public auction.

“It was about this time in the mid-19th century that a large population of Germans, who had immigrated to Texas in the 1840s, began to settle in this area, which became known as ‘Sauerkraut Bend’ to the rest of San Antonio. Surveyor Ernest Altgelt came to San Antonio in 1866 and built the first home in King William. The main street into the neighborhood was named King William in honor of a prominent monarch – King Wilhelm I, king of Prussia in the 1870s.”
The King William neighborhood featured large, impressive houses designed and built in the Greek Revival, Victorian and Italianate styles. The area flourished, then declined in the 1930s and 1940s when many of the fine old homes were converted into apartments. “Around 1950, the area began to attract a group of people who found its proximity to the downtown business district attractive and who recognized the potential of restoration of the fine old homes and smaller cottages,” Lynde explains. “An interest in preservation grew, and it slowly became a fashionable and desirable place to live once again.”
In 1967, a group of residents formed the nonprofit King William Association with a mission to create the King William Historic District, and the following year they succeeded. Thus, King William became Texas’ first residential historic district. In 1972, it gained recognition as a National Register Historic District. Subsequently, the district expanded to include an area of more-modest late- 19th and early-20th-century homes between S. Alamo and S. St. Mary’s streets.

To support the fledgling King William Association, neighbors organized a one-block art exhibit with food and music, and some homeowners opened their homes to public tours. This became the first King William Fair, which has grown into a major one-day event during the community-wide Fiesta San Antonio celebration every April.
The Fair currently brings 30,000 guests into a 15-block area that offers a 1.5-mile parade, food and beverages, arts and crafts, plus music on five stages, dance performances and a kid’s play area. Proceeds from the Fair support the arts, education and neighborhood improvements.
In addition to the King William Fair, the Association hosts a neighborhood yard sale in October and a holiday home tour in December.
“If visitors want to tour a home during the year, the only home open is Villa Finale, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation,” Lynde says. “This is the last home of preservationist Walter Mathis; it operates as a museum with his belongings displayed as he left them.”

Visitors can also experience King William’s peaceful ambiance through walking tours. Routes and other neighborhood information are posted on the King William Association website, www.ourkwa.org. In addition to approximately 1,100 residences, the neighborhood is within easy walking distance of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and art galleries.
One of the more prominent landmarks is Pioneer Flour Mill, founded as the C. H. Guenther Mill by Carl Hilmar Guenther in 1859 along the San Antonio River across from King William Street. The installation was San Antonio’s first flour mill, and the company it launched has grown into a world leader. Guenther and his fellow German immigrants of the mid-19th century likely would be quite proud and pleased that the shady, pleasant residential area they established not far from downtown San Antonio still exists as a neighborhood fit for a king.

