DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Four men stepped off a boat onto the Texas frontier in 1852, and what they built in San Antonio is still standing today — though it looks a little different now than when they started. Those four men were Brothers Andrew Edel, John Baptist Laignous, Nicholas Koening, and Xavier Mauclerc — all natives of France, all members of the Society of Mary, all arriving in a city that was still very much figuring itself out on the edge of the known world.
They broke ground on a building that very fall, 1852, and by March the first of 1853 — less than six months later — more than a hundred students of all creeds came walking through the doors. The whole operation ran on four rooms. Four rooms, more than a hundred students.
You do the math, and then you appreciate that frontier grit runs in more directions than you might expect. Late in 1854, two more brothers joined the cause — Eligius Beyerer and Charles Francis. Now, Charles Francis earned himself a nickname that the marker is happy to hand down to us: the Great Builder.
And he earned it the slow, devoted way. He gave fifty-four years of his life to San Antonio, and it was Francis who finished building the college — saw it through from rough promise to finished form. By 1870, what had started as four rooms had grown into a well-proportioned structure of rough limestone, typically European in style.
Once upon a time, it was the largest building complex in all of San Antonio. Let that settle in for a second. The largest building complex in a city that would become one of the biggest in the American South — and these four Frenchmen started it with a fall groundbreaking and a March opening and four rooms.
Over the years, St. Mary's College educated many prominent South Texans. Eight mayors of San Antonio walked through those doors as students.
Eight. And the college kept its doors open for a hundred and thirteen consecutive years — the marker is careful to note that: consecutive. No gaps, no closures, no interruptions.
A hundred and thirteen years of unbroken service to the city. From 1934 to 1966, the buildings housed St. Mary's University School of Law, which under Dean Ernest A.
Raba became a leading legal institution of the Southwest. That's no small thing — to take a limestone structure in a city that was once the frontier and make it the home of a law school that anchors an entire region's legal tradition. But 1966 is where the story turns.
The building was acquired by La Posada Motor Motels. A six-story addition was built at the rear. The exterior was made Spanish in style — quite a shift from that typically European limestone face it wore for over a century.
So the next time you find yourself looking at that building, remember: underneath whatever style it's wearing now, there's a rough limestone college that four Frenchmen built in the Texas frontier — four rooms at a time.
What the marker says
(1852 – 1966) Established in 1852 in frontier San Antonio by 4 members of the Society of Mary: Brothers Andrew Edel, John Baptist Laignous, Nicholas Koening, and Xavier Mauclerc--all natives of France. Construction of this building began in fall, 1852, and its doors opened March 1, 1853, to more than 100 students of all creeds. Structure then had 4 rooms. Late in 1854 brothers Eligius Beyerer and Charles Francis joined the faculty. Francis, known as "The great builder", devoted 54 years of his life to San Antonio and finished the building of the college. By 1870 it was a well-proportioned structure of rough limestone, typically Eropean in Style. Once the largest building complex in San Antonio, St. Mary's College educated many prominent south Texans, including 8 mayors of San Antonio. From 1934 to 1966 the buildings housed St. Mary's University School of law, which,under Dean Ernest A. Raba, became a leading legal institution of the southwest. St. Mary's is the only college to have served the city for 113 consecutive years. After 1966, when the building was acquired by La Posada Motor Motels, a 6-story addition was built at the rear and the exterior made Spanish in style.