DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Monte Vista Historic District in Bexar County. Now settle in, because this is a neighborhood with some serious pedigree. Between 1890 and 1930, San Antonio started reaching outward, growing a ring of suburbs around itself, and Monte Vista was one of them.
But not just any suburb. The kind where the city's heaviest hitters decided to plant their roots. We're talking Otto Koehler, president of the city brewery.
Ed Galt, an oilman. Alfred Gage, a West Texas cattleman. J.G.
Talcott, a veterinary surgeon. And Maury Maverick — former San Antonio mayor and New Deal Congressman — a name that carries its own weight just saying it out loud. These were the business and civic leaders who built their homes here, and they built them with intention.
Now, when you've got that kind of money and that kind of ambition all gathered on one set of streets, you don't get a neighborhood that looks like anything in particular. You get everything. Georgian and Renaissance Revival.
Mediterranean. Neo-Spanish. Victorian.
Art Deco. Monte Vista became an eclectic blend of architectural styles, and the architects behind those homes were no slouches either. J.
Riely Gordon worked here — best known, the marker tells us, for his Texas courthouses. Atlee B. Ayres was responsible for a number of the homes.
And H.A. Reuter designed what the marker calls the distinctive Renaissance Revival mansion at 114 East Kings Highway — built for cattle baron Herbert Kokernot. That address alone sounds like it belongs in a story.
Then there's Robert Kelly, a San Antonio architect who designed the Bushnell apartment building — eight stories tall, the tallest structure in the entire district. Monte Vista held onto all of this. While other neighborhoods got swallowed by time or progress or both, Monte Vista retained much of its historic character from that era.
It stands today as a reminder of San Antonio's growth and turn-of-the-century development — a place where brewery presidents and cattlemen and congressmen once chose to call home, and where the architecture still tells you exactly who they were.
What the marker says
One of several San Antonio suburbs created between 1890 and 1930, Monte Vista has retained much of its historic character from that time. City brewery president Otto Koehler, oilman Ed Galt, West Texas cattleman Alfred Gage, veterinary Surgeon J.G. Talcott, and former San Antonio mayor and New Deal Congressman Maury Maverick business and civic leaders who built their homes in this area. The neighborhood is an eclectic blend of many styles of architect, including Georgian and Renaissance Revival, Mediterranean, Neo-Spanish, victorian, and Art Deco. Represented here are the designs of several noted architects such as J. Riely Gordon, who is best known for his Texas courthouses. Atlee B. Ayres was responsible for a number of the homes in Monte Vista, while H.A. Reuter designed the distincitive renaissnce revivial Manison at 114 east Kings Hwy for cattle baron Herbert Kokernot. San antonio architect Robert Kelly designed the 8-story Bushnell apartment building, which is the tallest structure in the district. Characterized by its distinctive homes and colorful history, Monte Vista is a reminder of San Antonio's growth and turn-of-the-century development.