George Dullnig, a native of Austria, came to San Antonio in 1865 ("George Dullnig"). He started in business as a fruit seller, but eventually earned enough money to build the Dullnig Block at the northwest corner of Alamo and Commerce Streets. This ornate building, with its twin towers, housed his grocery store, a dentist office, and the Alamo City Business College.

Dullnig became a well-known entrepreneur: he established the Fifth National Bank (later Alamo National Bank), helped to build the Gulfshore/San Antonio & Gulf Railroad, and ran both a coffee roasting plant and a health resort called Dullnig Wells ("Former Clerks"; "Marker Dedication"). He died suddenly of appendicitis in 1908.

Looking northwest towards the corner of the Dullnig Building at the intersection of Alamo and Commerce Streets (prior to the street widening). Both octagonal towers are present, as well as the arched parapet bearing the building's name on the south side. At one time, the U.S. Weather Bureau used the towers for observation.

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Courtesy of the San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation