Yielding to a Higher Power
About this Image:
1) St. Joseph's Hall on East Commerce Street began as a stone house, built in 1873 for the family of banker Friedrich Groos. In 1925, the Groos family sold the house to the St. Joseph's Society, a benevolent group made up of men from St. Joseph's Catholic Church two blocks down the street. The society later added four bowling lanes that extended the property back to Market Street. Bowling gave way to barge rides after the Greek Revival building was dismantled to make way for HemisFair's river extension to the new Convention Center. Photo #082-0591, General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections - ITC
2) A growing Jewish population constructed the Rodfei Shalom Temple on Wyoming Street in 1918 so that its Orthodox congregation could walk to services from their homes on Saturdays. By the 1940s, much of the congregation had moved north to the Tobin Hill area. Even after the Urban Renewal Agency purchased the Mission style building in 1965, the congregation sought ways to preserve what had been identified as the oldest standing Jewish temple in the southwest. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible since it stood on the future site of the Tower of the Americas.
St. Michael's Church was located on South Street, only a block behind the Rodfei Shalom Temple. It had served as a meeting place for the local Polish community since 1868 and provided a school from 1873 to 1964. Its parishioners worshipped at the third oldest Catholic parish in San Antonio (after San Fernando and St. Mary's). Courtesy of silesiantexans.com.
3) In 1922, the congregation replaced the original church with this larger Gothic Revival style building. Twenty-eight vibrant stained glass windows, all donated by parishioners, were saved prior to demolition. These were later installed at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, not far from Market Square. Photo by Joe Bacon, courtesy of silesiantexans.com
2) A growing Jewish population constructed the Rodfei Shalom Temple on Wyoming Street in 1918 so that its Orthodox congregation could walk to services from their homes on Saturdays. By the 1940s, much of the congregation had moved north to the Tobin Hill area. Even after the Urban Renewal Agency purchased the Mission style building in 1965, the congregation sought ways to preserve what had been identified as the oldest standing Jewish temple in the southwest. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible since it stood on the future site of the Tower of the Americas.
St. Michael's Church was located on South Street, only a block behind the Rodfei Shalom Temple. It had served as a meeting place for the local Polish community since 1868 and provided a school from 1873 to 1964. Its parishioners worshipped at the third oldest Catholic parish in San Antonio (after San Fernando and St. Mary's). Courtesy of silesiantexans.com.
3) In 1922, the congregation replaced the original church with this larger Gothic Revival style building. Twenty-eight vibrant stained glass windows, all donated by parishioners, were saved prior to demolition. These were later installed at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, not far from Market Square. Photo by Joe Bacon, courtesy of silesiantexans.com
Credit:
Courtesy of San Anotnio Conservation Society Foundation
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2) Pre-1965
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2) Pre-1965
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