Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Austin: lawn, terminal)

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by Willsatx

940 good to see you back and wow this thread keeps growing. I was wondering when the Bookstop left the building thats JW interiors now.

We forgot to mention the bookstop at 281 and bitters, its now a ski place.

Actually, the Bookstop was on the other side of that structure, where there is a Party City or something like that currently. I used to work on San Pedro back then and would often go there during lunch once or twice a week. This was the mid-1990's. The Sun and Ski Sports is on the far left side of the building. I am not sure what was there earlier, I don't think the BookStop took up the entire building, though I could be wrong.

I actually bought my last to bikes from that Sun and Ski place.....

[georgepwebster]

Originally Posted by GJTexas

I used to work at the Handy Andy at wonderland and remember putting groceries in peoples cars in the drive through. I think the castle was off of Wurzbach or huebner. There was also a castle on vance jackson at St Marks Church. Northwest Center actually was one of the first outdoor malls of its type. It had a large court yard in the middle that had a playground for kids. There used to be a Texas State Optical there where I got my first pair of glasses there. There used to be a Whites store in that center also. In later years there used to be a large flea market, swap meet there. I still call convenience stores 'Ice House's' Whether they were Mr M's or Lone Star Ice House's. (My Mr M's were Cherry Ridge and 410 and Vance Jackson and 410. My Lone Star was Vance Jackson and Future) I remember the Christmas tree in northstar mall and my memories remember it being made up of poinsettias, both red and white ones and it was set up outside of Frost Brothers store.

Lone Star Ice Houses were everywhere. Who'd they sell out to, U-Totem?

The Castle was on the north side of Wurzbach between Vance Jackson and LockHill Selma, east and uphill of the railroad tracks. If you drive up Elm Creek at the crest of hill into the subdivision remnants of the foundation remain. In the 60s, it was owned by Doug Saunders, who built the subdivision. I always got a kick out the overgrown remnants of the golf course which stretched to LockHill Selma.

[georgepwebster]

Originally Posted by GWhopper

Could this "castle" have been the algo diferente?The mansion that once stood where Elm Creek is now?

Yep, that's it.

[georgepwebster]

Originally Posted by wCat

We frequented the Frontier on Austin Hwy more often, but I do remember the one closer to the Witte.

As far as the Urrutia mansion, it was long gone by the time I hit SA. I've done some research on the exact location....but there is a great link to the history of it and Dr. Urrutia if I can find it. Has lots of pictures and stories.

The sad thing about that mansion is that it was torn down by O'Neil Ford of all people! He got the contract to design that VW dealership and he was part of the site selection committee. His competitor, Bartlett Cocke had also bid on that project, and his office was located across Broadway from the Urrutia Mansion. Ford had enough ego and power to snub his competition to build that dealership right smack in Cocke's view! This story is right out of the book about O'Neil Ford....great read on his life and projects.

I'll try to find the link to Urrutia with the pics....it's wonderful!

Thanks, I didn't remember Ford was the architect, San Antonio's Frank Lloyd Wright . No comparison with Cocke. .

[PecanSarah]

My son lives in Bethesda MD and he has a photo of himself as he appeared on the Capt Gus show.
He said it was a happy day for him. He also has a picture of himself with Spiderman at JC Penny's.
Our daughter took him.

[georgepwebster]

Is Sunset Mall the new name for the Sunset Ridge Shopping Center at New Braunfels and Brees?
My only reading memories there were at the comic book racks at Sommer's Drug Store. My first lesson in inflation was when comics went from 10¢ to 12¢. That's when I switched to Mad Magazine. Little did I know that the 'Golden Age' had ended and the 'Silver Age' had begun.
Does anyone remember eating at a Mammy's Cafeteria? Seriously politically incorrect with plantation scenes on the walls. Youngblood's Fried Chicken, near the Boy Scout HQ on Broadway?

[PecanSarah]

The property belonging to Dr. Urrutia was at Hilderbrand and Broadway. Today the ONLY remains are the Giant wall with a saint on it. The front of the property belongs to AT & T. The back parking lot has a fence and that was where the home was.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by PecanSarah

The property belonging to Dr. Urrutia was at Hilderbrand and Broadway. Today the ONLY remains are the Giant wall with a saint on it. The front of the property belongs to AT & T. The back parking lot has a fence and that was where the home was.

Just re-posting a page from this forum where I put some old photographs from the Urrutia mansion....

https://www.city-data.com/forum/1742997-post1646.html

[wCat]

Originally Posted by PecanSarah

The property belonging to Dr. Urrutia was at Hilderbrand and Broadway. Today the ONLY remains are the Giant wall with a saint on it. The front of the property belongs to AT & T. The back parking lot has a fence and that was where the home was.

PSarah.....there is a lot of misinformation about Dr. Urrutia's property along Broadway. He did indeed own the property at Hildebrand and Broadway, but he had quite a bit of land holdings in San Antonio and Bexar County. When he left Mexico after the uprisings, he vowed to never go back. He acquired a great deal of land along Ave A and River Ave (Broadway). His initial permanent resident was at the location where the Volkswagon Dealership was built. It was quite a palace. After a number of years, he was asked to return to Mexico and he deeded his property to his sons...one of which was also named Dr. A. Urrutia. (you can see why there is confusion over which "Dr. Urrutia" owned that property when O'Neil Ford ordered it to be demolished.....actually neither did at the time of razing...but Dr. Urrutia Sr was the orginal builder.) He lived in Mexico for some time and continued to maintain a "summer residence" in San Antonio at the Hildebrand/Broadway location which he called Miraflores. It was also quite an impressive home. He was widowed once, and married two or three more times in his very long life. He had seven sons and at least five daughters and many of his descendants still live in San Antonio. I believe four of his sons also became doctors.

There is so much to this man that is fascinating beyond the few remaining relics of his home. He always maintained that he was full blooded Indian and not Mexican or Spanish....and attributed that fact to his long life (he was over 100 when he died I believe.)

[tcs]

Originally Posted by GJTexas

I used to work at the Handy Andy at wonderland and remember putting groceries in peoples cars in the drive through. I think the castle was off of Wurzbach or huebner. There was also a castle on vance jackson at St Marks Church. Northwest Center actually was one of the first outdoor malls of its type. It had a large court yard in the middle that had a playground for kids. There used to be a Texas State Optical there where I got my first pair of glasses there. There used to be a Whites store in that center also. In later years there used to be a large flea market, swap meet there. I still call convenience stores 'Ice House's' Whether they were Mr M's or Lone Star Ice House's. (My Mr M's were Cherry Ridge and 410 and Vance Jackson and 410. My Lone Star was Vance Jackson and Future) I remember the Christmas tree in northstar mall and my memories remember it being made up of poinsettias, both red and white ones and it was set up outside of Frost Brothers store.

I used to always try to steal those little cart ID numbers that Handy Andy had. My mom would make me in charge to give the clerk the number for the grocery cart. Oh and Handy Andy had the cart wheels on their buggies all movable. That was wierd.