DUANE
Duane's take
The way the official marker tells it, here's what happened on this corner of San Antonio. Back in 1854, the Germans of San Antonio got together and organized something called the Casino Club — exclusive from the start, the kind of place that had a velvet rope before velvet ropes were fashionable. Now, that club ran for decades, doin' what exclusive clubs do.
Then, in 1881, a different outfit took shape — the San Antonio Club, established for literary purpose. You had your exclusivity on one side, your literary ambition on the other, and both of them humming along through the years. Then 1925 rolls around, and somebody decided there was no reason to keep those two worlds apart.
The institutions merged, and out of that union came the San Antonio Casino Club. And if the merger was the story, the building was the exclamation point. Completed in 1927, it rose downtown with a tiered dome so distinctive you didn't need a street address to find it.
Inside, it had club rooms, dining rooms, dormitories, and a ballroom — the full range of human ambition, from a quiet read to a full night of dancing. It became a downtown landmark, the kind of building a city points to when it's trying to show you what it thought of itself. Then 1942 came along, and oilman Thoms Gilcrease bought the structure.
The Casino Club name gave way to something new, and from that point on, the building carried his name — the Gilcrease Building. Two clubs, one dome, and a name that changed with the money. That's downtown San Antonio for you.
What the marker says
The exclusive Casino Club was organized in 1854 by San Antonio Germans. In 1881 the San Antonio Club was established for literary purpose. The institutions merged in 1925 to form San Antonio Casino Club. This building, completed in 1927 with its distinctive tiered dome, became a downtown landmark. It boasted club rooms, dining rooms, dormitories, and a ballroom. After oilman Thoms Gilcrease bought the structure in 1942, it became known as the Gilcrease Building.