Place Names of San Antonio: Plus Bexar and Surrounding Counties

by David P. Green

People have been putting names to places around San Antonio for more than 300 years. This is the first book to sort things out. More than 500 San Antonio names are defined, sometimes with pictures, in 9 Early Spanish Names; Streets; Parks and Plazas; Schools and Universities; Libraries, Learning Centers and Museums; Landmark Buildings and Names; Medical Center; Military Bases; and Separate Suburbs and Towns. A tenth chapter gives origins of names in seven adjacent Atascosa, Bandera, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson.

152 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2002

Reviews

[SaraKat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was meant to be more of a reference book than a book that should be read cover-to-cover, I believe. I learned a bunch of interesting tidbits while reading it, but there were long periods of tediousness mixed in with them. Hearing the way the places of San Antonio were named and how they came to be was fascinating and cleared up for me the reason that there are five hundred streets in San Antonio named Wurzbach. :)

Veterans' wives and widows pushed to have this road named for him. Relatives of his brother William Wurzbach spoke against this because there was already a Wurzbach Road on the northwest side of town, and they thought it would be confusing to have a road on the northeast side with the same name. It is.

There were some really touching stories and some really funny ones. Hearing about all the turmoil of the Civil War was interesting, because it isn't really as much of a big part of culture around here like it is in the Deep South of the U.S.

"Just like public statuary, names are all too easily overlooked monuments to what the community has considered important. Each tells a story..."

I enjoyed the author's speculation about what would have happened if the Spanish explorers who first visited the area were a little earlier or later since they had a tradition of naming the area after the saint whose feast day was closest to their arrival. In our case, St. Anthony. But the days before and after are Ephram and Romauld. Not as fun. :)

And a Texan saved the French wine industry! We should get a discount on wine now. The lovely park battle for and against alcohol was dramatic. And I read about so many people from history that I completely admire and want to know more about!

[Evalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compilation of the facts and history behind the names of the streets, buildings, organizations, parks and more of San Antonio, including Bexar and nearby counties. Of special interest to those who live in, and love, San Antonio.

[Geraldine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I know the city pretty well, this was a very enjoyable into how streets and places got their names.