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Visitors to the Art League often ask about the building itself, and are often surprised to learn that, while it was built in the late 19th century, it has a very non-Victorian "pedigree"! This invaluable timeline about the property was prepared by former SAALM Board Member and Architectural Historian Diane Elizabeth Williams, B.A., M.A.
Ms. Williams is an architectural historian, historian and photographer in private practice with broad experience in written and photographic documentation and research projects including historic resources surveys, National Register nominations, state and local marker applications, narrative histories, historic contexts, and preparation of documents for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) program. She has worked in urban and suburban areas of large, medium and small cities, in rural areas and at state and federally owned facilities and institutions. Her clients include city, county, and state agencies, non-profit organizations, environmental firms, property owners and developers. Ms. Williams' work is regionally focused within the South and Southwestern states, with occasional projects in other parts of the country. She has served as principal investigator, project manager and architectural historian for numerous projects in Texas and California, as architectural historian and principal investigator for projects in New Mexico, and has experience in several other states. In the summer of 2009 Ms. Williams performed HABS documentation on five buildings at Ellis Island Immigration Station in New York Harbor as an employee of the Heritage Documentation Programs of the National Park Service. Ms. Williams' has published features on architecture and Southwest arts and culture in the Los Angeles Times, prepared a commemorative monograph of Los Angeles' historic Wiltern Theater for the Los Angeles Conservancy, and created tour brochures including the driving brochure for the Charnwood Residential Historic District in Tyler, Texas. In 2002 she received a Cecilia Steinfeldt Fellowship for Research in the Arts and Material Culture from the Texas State Historical Association for large format photographs and written documentation of selected Texas buildings. |
San Antonio Art League and Museum
Timeline: 130 King William Street
1731 Agricultural land associated with Mission San Antonio de Valero (now called the Alamo) is surveyed. Most was north and south of the mission and east of the San Antonio River.
1793 Mission San Antonio de Valero is secularized upon order from the King of Spain (other San Antonio Missions also were secularized about this time)--secularization ended church activity at the mission and distributed the associated agricultural land among the Native Americans and mixed race people who had converted to Christianity and lived and worked at the mission or in its fields. Pedro Huizar surveyed the mission lands and, along with other mission families, received a portion of these lands.
According to maps created in 1731 and 1837, the northeast end of the King William neighborhood—including the San Antonio Art League's property—is on a portion of Huizar's lands.
1793-1856 Land in what is now the King William neighborhood is sold several times between 1800 and 1854. At first the transactions are between original Spanish speaking grantees and their heirs, as well as with other Spanish speaking residents of San Antonio. During the Republic of Texas period (1836-1846) and thereafter transactions also involve sales to Anglo investors, including the sale of property by siblings Pedro and Petra Cabrera to John James on March 22, 1849.
1849-1856 John D. Groesbeck acquires title to a triangular area at the north end of what is now the King William neighborhood. Groesbeck dies in 1856 and his wife Phoebe administers his estate.
1859 Groesbeck's estate is settled about 1859 and that year his wife begins selling land within the triangular area now part of the King William neighborhood.
1866 Phoebe Groesbeck subdivides the property into blocks and lots, and a plat map is prepared.
1870 Phoebe Groesbeck sells Lots 7, 8, 11 and 12 in Block 2 of her 1866 subdivision to the Gymnastic Association of San Antonio, a German athletic and cultural organization (known as a Turnverein). The Association used the lots as an athletic field. Lots 7 and 8 are the lots now owned by the San Antonio Art League. The gallery and museum was originally a carriage house for the Virgilia and Alfred C. McDaniel House, located at 117 Madison Street, which is on Lots 11 and 12.
1883-1895 Lots 7, 8, 11 and 12 are sold three times before Lots 11 and 12 are purchased by Col. Charles C. Gibbs from John Darragh in 1895. Both men were real estate investors; Gibbs also was a land agent for the Southern Pacific Railway.
1895-1896 Gibbs commissions well known San Antonio architect Albert F. Beckmann (1855-1900) to design a large 2½ story home on Lots 11 and 12. Beckmann lived in the King William neighborhood and married a daughter of the founder of the Pioneer Flour Mills, located at the south end of King William Street. In1896, Col. Gibbs presents the new house to his daughter Virgilia (Virgie) and her husband Alfred C. McDaniel, M.D. as a wedding gift.
June 1897 John Darragh sells Lots 7 and 8 to Col. C. C. Gibbs, who likely had the two-story carriage house- now the Art League property—built and probably hired architect Beckmann to design it.
1901 Phoebe H. Groesbeck sells the four lots between Washington, Turner and King William streets to the City of San Antonio for taxes. This area became the King William Park.
1911 Virgilia Gibbs McDaniel inherits the house and carriage house from her mother, Zenobia Barnes Gibbs.
1912 Virgilia Gibbs McDaniel (1875-1912) dies of complications following an appendectomy. Her husband Alfred, 12-year-old daughter Star and 3½-year-old son Gibbs continue to live in the house and continue to own the carriage house. Her children Star and Gibbs inherit this property, which is managed as part of a trust by Alfred C. McDaniel. By this date, the carriage house has become an "auto house" for the family automobile.
1925 With Gibbs McDaniel approaching his 18th birthday, the family consolidates assets to ensure adequate funding for Gibbs' education. Star McDaniel Heimsath, (wed to Charles Heimsath in 1924), sells her share of the property to her brother and father. The auto house--now the Art League property-- is converted to a duplex. The house at 117 Madison Street (on Lots 11 and 12) is sold to the Bonn-Avon School, a private girls' school.
Alfred McDaniel remarries and with his bride Loma Richey McDaniel moves into one of the duplex units. His son Gibbs lives with them. The other unit is rented to tenants including a writer, an artist and a night watchman. The duplex units may have been side by side as shown on a map of the building, or more likely, each unit occupied an entire floor. A wood-frame porch is added along the front of the building. The property is now 130-132 King William Street. At about this time, a one-story garage and storage building with a one-room second floor dwelling unit is constructed on Lot 8. The building has space for two vehicles and appears also to have included a storage room. This building is now the Semmes Studio.
1944 Alfred C. McDaniel, M.D. (1866-1944) dies. By 1948 the property is owned by his son Gibbs, who previously changed the spelling of his surname to MacDaniel. Gibbs continues to occupy one of the units, renting out the other.
1951-1953 In 1951, Gibbs MacDaniel sells Lots 7 and 8 to George J. Loftin, a local chiropractor. In 1953, Dr Loftin turns the west elevation porch into a long brick room and extends it toward the street. The front porch is rebuilt with brick. Its roof serves as an open second floor porch. The property is known as 132 King William Street.
1968 The City of San Antonio designates the King William area a local historic district. It is the first historic district to be designated by the City.
1970 George Loftin transfers the house to Charles and Kathryn (Kay) Scheer. Mrs. Scheer is Dr. Loftin's daughter.
1971-1973 The duplex is converted into a single family residence. Mrs. Scheer buys a variety of architectural elements from owners of 1890s San Antonio buildings for use inside and on the exterior of the house. Interior changes include replacing the ca. 1920s iron balustrade with the current ca. 1890s wood type, removing a portion of the 1953 brick extension at the front of the building and installing a stained glass window, creating a sitting room in the front third of the 1953 brick addition, installing an exterior door from the front porch into the sitting room, converting a front porch door into a window, converting the brick front porch into a wood porch with ca. 1890s wood posts and replicas of these elements, and creating a wrap-around second floor veranda using replicated posts and brackets. According to an article in the San Antonio Express (8-16-1973), some interior hardware and the stained glass windows are from the Jefferson Hotel. The property is now known as 130 King William Street, its current address.
Although these elements were not part of the original design of the carriage house, and they create a false sense of the building's history, the changes resulted in a dwelling that is visually compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. The Scheers also installed the landscaping and built the carport adjacent to the studio building.
Jan. 1972 The King William Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the nation's official list of buildings, structures, sites, objects and districts worthy of preservation. The National Register program is administered by the Department of the Interior, Keeper of the National Register. In accord with National Register listing standards, which utilize different criteria from those used by the City of San Antonio, the National Register district encompasses a smaller area than does the City of San Antonio Historic District.
1972-1973 The Scheers remodel the small garage/apartment adjacent to the house, remove the second-floor room and the garage doors, and install a window and a doorway. The exterior is stuccoed.
1984-1987 Charles Scheer dies, and Kay Scheer administers his estate. Kay Scheer sells the property to Mary and Leo Mendoza, Jr. in 1984. The Mendozas transfer the property to Leo Mendoza Investments in 1985. In 1986, that entity sells the property to the Alamex Co., which sells the property in 1987 to Jose O. Avila. Laura and Salvador Esquiño buy the property in 1987 1987 The Esquiños sell the property to the San Antonio Art League and Museum, which undertakes a fundraising campaign to pay off the mortgage.
1988-1989 Through the generosity of many donors, the mortgage is paid in full. A plaque near the interior staircase lists the major donors. The Art League celebrates "burning the mortgage" with a party.
Early 1990s An interior wall in Gallery 2 (the meeting room) located on the left side of the exterior doorway is removed to create a larger gallery space.
A new wall is installed to create the current office. A second floor wall is installed between the kitchen and Gallery 3.
1997-1998 Ken Graves draws plans for converting the studio building from storage to a classroom. Work ensues. Track lighting is installed. This building is now the Semmes Studio.
1998-2000 A grant for an unknown amount and from an unknown source was received for repairs to studio including electrical, roof, and wall partitions. The exterior window in the studio was removed following an attempted break-in. Repairs undertaken and a cold water sink is installed, and the stucco repaired. The drainage channel around the studio is installed to relieve water infiltration into the building. A marble counter top is removed from the second floor bathroom and stored in the studio for possible use in building a bathroom there.
Early 2000s The windows in Gallery 2 are enclosed, and the exterior wall stuccoed. Exterior doors leading to the vault are enclosed. The front porch is repaired and partially rebuilt by Ruben Tamez: the deteriorated porch deck is removed and a reinforced concrete deck covered with brick installed; porch posts are replaced with replicated types as needed. Railings are installed at the porch steps. A roof leak in the second floor front gallery is repaired. The sewer line to the street is replaced at a cost of $15,000.
2007 The Sculpture Garden is designed by James Wyatt Hendricks and Helen Fey and installed by Ruben Tamez. The Art League's permanent sculpture collection is in the front yard; the side yard is the members' sculpture gallery.
July 2011 The King William Cultural Arts District is established by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
ca. 2015 The second floor carpet is removed and replaced with the current engineered "wood" flooring.
2017 A Semmes Foundation grant funds the remodeling of the studio building, which will be used for art classes and other educational programs.
2020 The glass shelving on the wall behind desk in the gift shop is removed.
Notes: The name King William is said to have been bestowed by German settlers establishing homes in what is now the King William neighborhood to honor Kaiser Wilhelm I, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia, who reigned from 1871 to 1888.
Beyond the King William neighborhood, the area also was known as "Sauerkraut Bend," a disrespectful reference not only to the area's German residents, but also to the bend in the San Antonio River, which in the mid-19th century outlined a small peninsula called Callaghan Island, after its owner. This peninsula was opposite the north end of the King William neighborhood and is used in John D. Groesbeck's 1856 probate inventory of assets as a guide to locating his property here. Sometime after 1912, this "island" was removed and the river straightened.
A large plaque providing a short history of the King William neighborhood is located at the north end of King William Park, which is directly across the street from the Art League property. The plaque was placed by the Texas Historical Commission in 2012. Another plaque, honoring Pedro Huizar, is located in the grassy area at the intersection of King William and St. Mary's streets.
The Texas Historical Commission plaque calls attention to the presence of two National Register Historic Districts located within the larger King William Neighborhood and states the following:
"…The neighborhood encompasses the most diverse and intact collection of architecture in San Antonio. Stone, brick and frame structures in the Gothic Revival, Italianate, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne and Craftsman styles date from 1858 to 1962. The neighborhood exemplifies San Antonio's social, economic and architectural development from the Antebellum period though the Post-World War II years."
Timeline: 130 King William Street
1731 Agricultural land associated with Mission San Antonio de Valero (now called the Alamo) is surveyed. Most was north and south of the mission and east of the San Antonio River.
1793 Mission San Antonio de Valero is secularized upon order from the King of Spain (other San Antonio Missions also were secularized about this time)--secularization ended church activity at the mission and distributed the associated agricultural land among the Native Americans and mixed race people who had converted to Christianity and lived and worked at the mission or in its fields. Pedro Huizar surveyed the mission lands and, along with other mission families, received a portion of these lands.
According to maps created in 1731 and 1837, the northeast end of the King William neighborhood—including the San Antonio Art League's property—is on a portion of Huizar's lands.
1793-1856 Land in what is now the King William neighborhood is sold several times between 1800 and 1854. At first the transactions are between original Spanish speaking grantees and their heirs, as well as with other Spanish speaking residents of San Antonio. During the Republic of Texas period (1836-1846) and thereafter transactions also involve sales to Anglo investors, including the sale of property by siblings Pedro and Petra Cabrera to John James on March 22, 1849.
1849-1856 John D. Groesbeck acquires title to a triangular area at the north end of what is now the King William neighborhood. Groesbeck dies in 1856 and his wife Phoebe administers his estate.
1859 Groesbeck's estate is settled about 1859 and that year his wife begins selling land within the triangular area now part of the King William neighborhood.
1866 Phoebe Groesbeck subdivides the property into blocks and lots, and a plat map is prepared.
1870 Phoebe Groesbeck sells Lots 7, 8, 11 and 12 in Block 2 of her 1866 subdivision to the Gymnastic Association of San Antonio, a German athletic and cultural organization (known as a Turnverein). The Association used the lots as an athletic field. Lots 7 and 8 are the lots now owned by the San Antonio Art League. The gallery and museum was originally a carriage house for the Virgilia and Alfred C. McDaniel House, located at 117 Madison Street, which is on Lots 11 and 12.
1883-1895 Lots 7, 8, 11 and 12 are sold three times before Lots 11 and 12 are purchased by Col. Charles C. Gibbs from John Darragh in 1895. Both men were real estate investors; Gibbs also was a land agent for the Southern Pacific Railway.
1895-1896 Gibbs commissions well known San Antonio architect Albert F. Beckmann (1855-1900) to design a large 2½ story home on Lots 11 and 12. Beckmann lived in the King William neighborhood and married a daughter of the founder of the Pioneer Flour Mills, located at the south end of King William Street. In1896, Col. Gibbs presents the new house to his daughter Virgilia (Virgie) and her husband Alfred C. McDaniel, M.D. as a wedding gift.
June 1897 John Darragh sells Lots 7 and 8 to Col. C. C. Gibbs, who likely had the two-story carriage house- now the Art League property—built and probably hired architect Beckmann to design it.
1901 Phoebe H. Groesbeck sells the four lots between Washington, Turner and King William streets to the City of San Antonio for taxes. This area became the King William Park.
1911 Virgilia Gibbs McDaniel inherits the house and carriage house from her mother, Zenobia Barnes Gibbs.
1912 Virgilia Gibbs McDaniel (1875-1912) dies of complications following an appendectomy. Her husband Alfred, 12-year-old daughter Star and 3½-year-old son Gibbs continue to live in the house and continue to own the carriage house. Her children Star and Gibbs inherit this property, which is managed as part of a trust by Alfred C. McDaniel. By this date, the carriage house has become an "auto house" for the family automobile.
1925 With Gibbs McDaniel approaching his 18th birthday, the family consolidates assets to ensure adequate funding for Gibbs' education. Star McDaniel Heimsath, (wed to Charles Heimsath in 1924), sells her share of the property to her brother and father. The auto house--now the Art League property-- is converted to a duplex. The house at 117 Madison Street (on Lots 11 and 12) is sold to the Bonn-Avon School, a private girls' school.
Alfred McDaniel remarries and with his bride Loma Richey McDaniel moves into one of the duplex units. His son Gibbs lives with them. The other unit is rented to tenants including a writer, an artist and a night watchman. The duplex units may have been side by side as shown on a map of the building, or more likely, each unit occupied an entire floor. A wood-frame porch is added along the front of the building. The property is now 130-132 King William Street. At about this time, a one-story garage and storage building with a one-room second floor dwelling unit is constructed on Lot 8. The building has space for two vehicles and appears also to have included a storage room. This building is now the Semmes Studio.
1944 Alfred C. McDaniel, M.D. (1866-1944) dies. By 1948 the property is owned by his son Gibbs, who previously changed the spelling of his surname to MacDaniel. Gibbs continues to occupy one of the units, renting out the other.
1951-1953 In 1951, Gibbs MacDaniel sells Lots 7 and 8 to George J. Loftin, a local chiropractor. In 1953, Dr Loftin turns the west elevation porch into a long brick room and extends it toward the street. The front porch is rebuilt with brick. Its roof serves as an open second floor porch. The property is known as 132 King William Street.
1968 The City of San Antonio designates the King William area a local historic district. It is the first historic district to be designated by the City.
1970 George Loftin transfers the house to Charles and Kathryn (Kay) Scheer. Mrs. Scheer is Dr. Loftin's daughter.
1971-1973 The duplex is converted into a single family residence. Mrs. Scheer buys a variety of architectural elements from owners of 1890s San Antonio buildings for use inside and on the exterior of the house. Interior changes include replacing the ca. 1920s iron balustrade with the current ca. 1890s wood type, removing a portion of the 1953 brick extension at the front of the building and installing a stained glass window, creating a sitting room in the front third of the 1953 brick addition, installing an exterior door from the front porch into the sitting room, converting a front porch door into a window, converting the brick front porch into a wood porch with ca. 1890s wood posts and replicas of these elements, and creating a wrap-around second floor veranda using replicated posts and brackets. According to an article in the San Antonio Express (8-16-1973), some interior hardware and the stained glass windows are from the Jefferson Hotel. The property is now known as 130 King William Street, its current address.
Although these elements were not part of the original design of the carriage house, and they create a false sense of the building's history, the changes resulted in a dwelling that is visually compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. The Scheers also installed the landscaping and built the carport adjacent to the studio building.
Jan. 1972 The King William Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the nation's official list of buildings, structures, sites, objects and districts worthy of preservation. The National Register program is administered by the Department of the Interior, Keeper of the National Register. In accord with National Register listing standards, which utilize different criteria from those used by the City of San Antonio, the National Register district encompasses a smaller area than does the City of San Antonio Historic District.
1972-1973 The Scheers remodel the small garage/apartment adjacent to the house, remove the second-floor room and the garage doors, and install a window and a doorway. The exterior is stuccoed.
1984-1987 Charles Scheer dies, and Kay Scheer administers his estate. Kay Scheer sells the property to Mary and Leo Mendoza, Jr. in 1984. The Mendozas transfer the property to Leo Mendoza Investments in 1985. In 1986, that entity sells the property to the Alamex Co., which sells the property in 1987 to Jose O. Avila. Laura and Salvador Esquiño buy the property in 1987 1987 The Esquiños sell the property to the San Antonio Art League and Museum, which undertakes a fundraising campaign to pay off the mortgage.
1988-1989 Through the generosity of many donors, the mortgage is paid in full. A plaque near the interior staircase lists the major donors. The Art League celebrates "burning the mortgage" with a party.
Early 1990s An interior wall in Gallery 2 (the meeting room) located on the left side of the exterior doorway is removed to create a larger gallery space.
A new wall is installed to create the current office. A second floor wall is installed between the kitchen and Gallery 3.
1997-1998 Ken Graves draws plans for converting the studio building from storage to a classroom. Work ensues. Track lighting is installed. This building is now the Semmes Studio.
1998-2000 A grant for an unknown amount and from an unknown source was received for repairs to studio including electrical, roof, and wall partitions. The exterior window in the studio was removed following an attempted break-in. Repairs undertaken and a cold water sink is installed, and the stucco repaired. The drainage channel around the studio is installed to relieve water infiltration into the building. A marble counter top is removed from the second floor bathroom and stored in the studio for possible use in building a bathroom there.
Early 2000s The windows in Gallery 2 are enclosed, and the exterior wall stuccoed. Exterior doors leading to the vault are enclosed. The front porch is repaired and partially rebuilt by Ruben Tamez: the deteriorated porch deck is removed and a reinforced concrete deck covered with brick installed; porch posts are replaced with replicated types as needed. Railings are installed at the porch steps. A roof leak in the second floor front gallery is repaired. The sewer line to the street is replaced at a cost of $15,000.
2007 The Sculpture Garden is designed by James Wyatt Hendricks and Helen Fey and installed by Ruben Tamez. The Art League's permanent sculpture collection is in the front yard; the side yard is the members' sculpture gallery.
July 2011 The King William Cultural Arts District is established by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
ca. 2015 The second floor carpet is removed and replaced with the current engineered "wood" flooring.
2017 A Semmes Foundation grant funds the remodeling of the studio building, which will be used for art classes and other educational programs.
2020 The glass shelving on the wall behind desk in the gift shop is removed.
Notes: The name King William is said to have been bestowed by German settlers establishing homes in what is now the King William neighborhood to honor Kaiser Wilhelm I, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia, who reigned from 1871 to 1888.
Beyond the King William neighborhood, the area also was known as "Sauerkraut Bend," a disrespectful reference not only to the area's German residents, but also to the bend in the San Antonio River, which in the mid-19th century outlined a small peninsula called Callaghan Island, after its owner. This peninsula was opposite the north end of the King William neighborhood and is used in John D. Groesbeck's 1856 probate inventory of assets as a guide to locating his property here. Sometime after 1912, this "island" was removed and the river straightened.
A large plaque providing a short history of the King William neighborhood is located at the north end of King William Park, which is directly across the street from the Art League property. The plaque was placed by the Texas Historical Commission in 2012. Another plaque, honoring Pedro Huizar, is located in the grassy area at the intersection of King William and St. Mary's streets.
The Texas Historical Commission plaque calls attention to the presence of two National Register Historic Districts located within the larger King William Neighborhood and states the following:
"…The neighborhood encompasses the most diverse and intact collection of architecture in San Antonio. Stone, brick and frame structures in the Gothic Revival, Italianate, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne and Craftsman styles date from 1858 to 1962. The neighborhood exemplifies San Antonio's social, economic and architectural development from the Antebellum period though the Post-World War II years."