DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this remarkable piece of San Antonio ground. Now, if you want to understand just how deep the roots of this city go, consider what was standing on this very spot nearly three centuries ago. In 1734 — that's before the United States was even a thought — a home was erected here for Geronimo and Javiera Cantu de la Garza, prominent citizens of Bexar.
The man who designed it was Pedro Flores Valdez, Geronimo's own brother-in-law. And when Pedro drew up those plans, he was not thinking small. The de la Garza complex occupied an entire city block.
Limestone and plaster walls, three feet thick. Cottonwood, pecan, fig, and peach trees growing through extensive gardens. This was not a house.
This was a statement. Then, in 1736, Geronimo died, and the Spanish government granted the property to his widow, Javiera. The family held on.
Two generations passed — names, children, seasons — and then Jose Antonio de la Garza stepped into the story. He was using the home's vault to safeguard the valuables of local merchants, which tells you something about the kind of trust the family commanded in this community. But 1818 is where things get genuinely extraordinary.
The Spanish crown granted Jose Antonio permission to mint coins. Actual coins, right here in a family home on a San Antonio city block. Those coins came to be known as jolas — a Spanish slang term for small currency of local issue, circulating through the northeastern provinces of New Spain.
Each jola carried the value of a half real, stepping in where scarce Spanish silver could not reach. What the marker will tell you plainly, and I see no reason to argue with it, is that this made the de la Garza home what was probably the first mint in Texas. A private family.
A vault. Coins with a slang name. And the first mint in Texas.
Of course, a place like this could not stay quiet forever. Come 1835, the Siege of Bexar arrived at these thick limestone walls. Ben Milam's troops fought a two-day battle — two days — just to commandeer this fortress-like compound as their headquarters.
Think about that. It took two days of fighting to take a house. Milam himself died in the struggle to take the city.
After the siege, possession of the home returned to the de la Garza family, and there it stayed for the rest of the century. Through republic, statehood, and war, the family held. But time is patient, and it always collects.
In 1912, the de la Garza home finally came down. And here is where the story lands its last surprise — it took six months of demolition to bring down those walls. Six months.
When the crews finally got through all that limestone and plaster, they found a large sum of money hidden somewhere inside the house. And embedded in the walls — surviving everything, the siege, the generations, the years — a sixteen-pound cannonball. Six months to tear it down, and the house still had secrets left to give.
What the marker says
Erected on this site in 1734 for prominent Bexar citizens Geronimo and Javiera Cantu de la Garza, the de la Garza family home was designed by Geronimo's brother-in-law Pedro Flores Valdez. The complex occupied an entire city block and was crafted with limestone and plaster walls three feet thick. Extensive gardens included cottonwood, pecan, fig and peach trees. The Spanish government granted the property to Javiera de la Garza in 1736 after her husband's death. Two generations later, Jose Antonio de la Garza used the home's vault to safeguard the valuables of local merchants. In 1818 the Spanish crown granted him permission to mint coins which became known as jolas, a Spanish slang term for small currency of local issue used in the northeastern provinces of New Spain. The jolas replaced scarce Spanish silver in the value of a half real, making the de la Garza home what was probably the first mint in Texas. During the Siege of Bexar in 1835, Ben Milam's troops engaged in a two-day battle to commandeer the fortress-like compound as their headquarters. Milam died in the struggle to take the city. After the siege possession of the home returned to the family, in whose control it remained for the rest of the century. Six months of demolition were required to bring down the de la Garza home in 1912. At that time a large sum of money was found hidden in the house and a sixteen-pound cannonball was discovered embedded in the walls, inscribing another page in the de la Garza chapter of San Antonio history. (1999)