La Villita Historic Arts Village is an art community in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. There are

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

, stores selling souvenirs, gifts, custom jewelry, pottery, and imported Mexican folk art, as well as several restaurants in the district. La Villita connects to the

San Antonio River Walk The San Antonio River Walk is a city park and special-case pedestrian street in San Antonio, Texas, one level down from the automobile street. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and sh ...

and its outdoor venue, the Arneson River Theatre. It is close to the Alamo, the

Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, Rivercenter Mall, and HemisFair Park. It is within walking distance of most downtown hotels. Located on the south bank of the

San Antonio River The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...

, La Villita was one of San Antonio's first neighborhoods. In 1939, as ground broke on the San Antonio River Walk development, city officials led by Mayor

Maury Maverick Fontaine Maury Maverick Sr. (October 23, 1895 – June 7, 1954) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas, representing the 20th district from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1939. He is best remembered for ...

acted to preserve this part of San Antonio's history. It was a Native American settlement and then a collection of primitive brush huts, called ''jacales'', for the Spanish soldiers (and their Indian wives and children) stationed nearby at the Mission San Antonio de Valero (an active mission from about 1718 to 1793, now better known as the Alamo). After a flood in 1819 washed away most of the huts, more substantial

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

houses replaced them. Late in the 19th century, European immigrants from Germany, France, and Italy moved into the area and soon became active in business and trades: retailers, bankers, educators, and craftsmen. The variety of architectural styles seen in La Villita's buildings reflects the cultural mix, from the one-room homes of the poor to the larger houses of the prosperous. La Villita deteriorated into a

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

in the early part of the 20th century. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, work began on the River Walk, a make-work project funded by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

which came close to La Villita. The project, led by Mayor Maury Maverick, sponsored a companion effort in 1939 by the

National Youth Administration The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal agency sponsored by Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency. It focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. ...

to restore and preserve this colorful part of San Antonio's history. The NYA offered classes in arts and crafts as part of its program. Today La Villita is an arts community, and is included in the

National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas. This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Bexar County, Texas. There are ...

. The galleries and shops found in one

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. In a city with a grid system, the block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are th ...

offer art by local and regional artists featuring oil paintings, sculptures, watercolors, metal art, rock art, textiles, copperwares, pottery, jewelry, stained glass, and regional folk art. During four nights of the

Fiesta San Antonio Fiesta San Antonio (or simply Fiesta) has been since its 1891 inception an annual festival held in April in San Antonio, Texas. It is the city's signature event, along with some events held in the neighboring cities (Boerne, Schertz, Windcrest, ...

each April, La Villita is host to a Night in Old San Antonio with dozens of booths grouped to offer fifteen areas for various kinds of food, such as Sauerkraut Bend, China Town, Irish Flat, and the Mexican Market. The outdoor festival, with its narrow streets decorated with paper flowers and ''papel picado'' (cut paper banners), typically attracts 85,000 celebrants, many wearing costumes and unusual hats. The event is a major fundraiser for the

San Antonio Conservation Society The Conservation Society of San Antonio (legally incorporated as the San Antonio Conservation Society) is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Founding members were Emily Edwards, who became the organizati ...

Contributing properties

Twenty-seven houses or buildings are listed as notable in the district. Some of these are also notable individual listings.

References

External links

Official web site
{{Authority control National Register of Historic Places in San Antonio Buildings and structures in San Antonio Tourist attractions in San Antonio Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas