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In the late 1700s, residents of the Villa de San Fernando petitioned the King of Spain for permission to furrow an acequia (irrigation ditch) to water the land for the growing population. After years of opposition from the San Antonio de Valero missionaries, the king upheld the viewpoint of the townspeople. In 1778, they finished the Acequia de Arriba that began just west of the San Antonio River and swerved south and west to San Pedro Creek. Because of the acequia, the community flourished. Limestone ditch gates south of Hildebrand Avenue are still visible evidence of an agrarian era and the San Antonio Zoo's fish ponds are intact remnants of the acequia's past. The Franciscan missionaries and early Spanish settlers excavated a total of seven irrigation ditches along the San Antonio River and San Pedro Creek. Water was carried to the garden plots, farmlands and each of the five missions. The acequias of San Antonio shaped future settlement patterns and street alignments. The Zambrano/Rosengren House, a Texas landmark in its own right, was built was built shortly after the completion of the acequia. In the 1900s, talented and world-renowned artists took up residency along the Acequia de Arriba. The River Road Country Day School was built in 1926. The celebrated painter, Georgia O'Keeffe, was one of many who painted at this school. Famed Texas boot maker, Sam Lucchese built a house in 1926 with a stage on which daughter Josephine, an internationally renowned opera singer, performed. Potter Harding Black, watercolorist Caroline Shelton, writer Lois Burkhalter, and Broadway producer Walter Starcke all lived in this scenic neighborhood. (2012) |
