The Alamo City's history, at risk in 1926, is depicted with an Old World artistic flair in his pictorial map by San Antonio artist Emily Edwards.
Emily, with Rena Maverick Green, founded the San Antonio Conservation Society in the early 1920s to preserve the Missions and other historic structures, and to prevent the draining and paving over of the river's Great Bend.
Emily had studied drawing with Pompeo Coppini and taught art at Brackenridge High School. Both would factor in the future of San Antonio's riverbend.
Miss Edwards set her hand to work on this map in 1925. It was ready in 1926 and sold to raise funds for the Society. The same year, the group purchased the granary doors from Mission San Jose to prevent their sale to tourists. The Society staged a puppet show for the City Commissioners to agitate for the preservation of the riverbend.
The problem with rivers is that they flood. Diverting the river and paving over the bend seemed the most plausible solution. Miss Edwards and the Society kept the riverbend from this fate until a more tempting solution appeared.
In 1924, a former art student of Miss Edwards' graduated from U.T.'s school of architecture. Five years later, he approached his former teacher with a plan that would not only make downtown safe from flooding but would also put the riverbanks to good use.
"The Shops of Romula and Aragon," would turn the riverbend into a dreamy sunken garden and hub of commerce. Romula would be nestled within the bend. Narrow cobblestone paths would take visitors to Aragon, beyond the bend. The finest shops, clubs, and eateries would be located in this enclave modeled on Old World cities. Gondolas would move visitors to and fro.
Hugman took his plan to the Conservation Society who, in turn, worked their magic on city officials. They succeeded in arranging a meeting. Although local politics and the Great Depression intervened, Romula & Aragon eventually came to pass under a simplified moniker: the San Antonio River Walk.
Emily and her talents set those wheels in motion. Next time you're at the River Walk, imagine it paved over and thank Miss Edwards.
Copies of her original map are rare, fetching between $7k to $10 today. I thought it was too gorgeous and bursting with detail not to be admired by more Texan eyes.
The Physical Details
- 18x24" (fits in a standard size frame)
- An early Texas story told in striking imagery
- Limited Edition of 254 hand-numbered copies
- Printed with love in Texas on archival heavyweight fine art paper
