DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you find yourself wandering through the La Villita neighborhood of San Antonio, you're walking through layers — layers of people, layers of time, layers of stone. The marker on the William and Mary Ann Richter House peels those layers back, and what you find underneath is one of the stranger little stories this city has to offer.
San Antonio's La Villita neighborhood reflects the influence of wave after wave of immigrants. Spanish settlers arrived in the late 1760s. Then came the 1840s, and along with them — German, Swiss, and French families, building their lives in the Texas heat, stone by stuccoed stone.
That's the world William and Mary Ann Richter stepped into. Both of them German immigrants. Both of them planting roots.
Records indicate they built their home right here in 1868 and 1869. Now — why here? Why this particular spot?
Well. The marker tells us it was reportedly for access to leeches. Leeches in the acequia — that's the irrigation ditch running nearby.
See, William Richter was a barber. But not just a barber. He was licensed also as a surgeon and a dentist.
And in his practice, he used those leeches. You heard me right. The man picked his real estate based on proximity to his medical supply.
That stuccoed limestone house wasn't just a home — it was practically a professional decision. The building stood, and stood, and kept standing. His heirs eventually sold it in 1947 to the Vsidro Zepeda family, who occupied it all the way into the 1990s.
Different families, different generations, same walls. That limestone held. Today, the building retains its historic design — a quiet, stubborn reminder of the early German population of San Antonio.
One barber-surgeon-dentist, one acequia, and one house that refused to be forgotten.
What the marker says
La Villita neighborhood reflects the influence of immigrants as San Antonio grew, from Spanish settlers in the late 1760s, to German, Swiss and French families coming in the 1840s. Records indicate William and Mary Ann (Mozer) Richter, both German immigrants, built their home here in 1868-69, reportedly for access to leeches in the acequia, or irrigation ditch. A barber, licensed also as surgeon and dentist, Richter used the leeches in his practice. His heirs sold the home in 1947 to the Vsidro Zepeda family, who occupied it until the 1990s. Retaining its historic design, the stuccoed limestone building serves as a reminder of the early German population of the city. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002