Our History
"No plot of ground this size on the content, north of Mexico City, has been the scene of such varied pageantry as the unimposing square known as Main Plaza. It would be hard to write the full story . . . without writing, at the same time, the history of the city or even of all Texas."
"On this plot of ground the royal pavilion of Spain was set out for the annunciation of each new king, and Te Deums were sung amidst fireworks, and the rodeos with bulls and the clatter of 'skirmishes' with wooden swords."
"Here in 1749, the Spaniards celebrated their peace with the Apaches: four chiefs in full paint and feathers danced . . . in the center of the plaza . . . ."
"In the middle of the plaza in 1836, Davy Crocket stood on a box and made the speech asking to be a private in 'our common cause.' At the west corner of the north side, Santa Anna, president and dictator of Mexico, had his headquarters."
"San Antonio's first real hotel, the Plaza House, was erected in 1847 on the north side, and ten years later the first stagecoaches for San Diego, California, took off from in from in front of it."
All excerpts from San Antonio's Main Plaza
"Main Plaza represented the business center of San Antonio. Here was the trading center, where all the marketing was done, where freighters drove with their teams after long overland trips, and where they assembled upon leaving the city on those lengthy journeys. A peculiar feature of those days was that San Antonio was then divided into two sections. San Antonio west of the river was known as San Fernando, and east of the river as San Antonio de Valero. What Alamo Plaza was to the east side, Main Plaza was to the west side. The residents of San Antonio worshipped in the old Alamo, and those of San Fernando in the cathedral at the same time."
Sunday, June 19, 1910
San Antonio Light Newspaper
To read more about the history of Main Plaza including the provenance of The Main Street Ballroom and Santa Anna Room, click here.
