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Post by Hiram on Mar 5, 2009 0:24:34 GMT -5
If the watchtower of the Powder House was constructed on the highest point overlooking the area, it would be near the intersection of N. Pine and Paso Hondo, on the far north side of Alamo Masonic Cemetery. maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=paso+hondo+san+antonio&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.748002,56.25&ie=UTF8&ll=29.423937,-98.461018&spn=0.017568,0.027466&z=15&iwloc=addr&layer=c&cbll=29.421139,-98.469389&panoid=Dlmlfm_q_ZlZpSWlhbRGbA&cbp=12,225,,0,5 (The image may load slow) You'll see the tall obelisk just to the right of the vehicle. That's the highest point in the area. Looking a bit further to the right you can see the Tower of Americas (622 feet to the top of the roof). That will give you an idea of the elevation of the area (approx. 750 feet). As an added bonus, click right one time and you can see across the road the monuments for Ad Gillespie and Samuel Walker in Odd Fellows Cemetery. Between those two monuments may rest the charred remains of Alamo defenders, and just west of there lies the remains of one Rebecca Cumings Portis, who once captured the fancy of Wm. B. Travis. Looking west from the grave of Portis, in the 19th century, one would be able to see the Alamo in the distance.
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Post by TRK on Mar 5, 2009 13:38:55 GMT -5
John, thanks much for posting that link and your comments on the area. It's a very cool, interactive street-level walkaround of the site.
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Post by bmoses on Mar 7, 2009 20:39:00 GMT -5
The Powderhouse, or "Garita" as it was known to the Spanish and later to the Mexicans, was actually located just south of modern Commerce Street in the area roughly bounded by Monumental and South Palmetto (both north/south trending streets). It was likely on or immediately adjacent to a property now known as City Cemetery Number 2, NCB 1388 Block Lot A2.
There are several maps on which the Powder House and Watchtower were recorded. Two of the best of these are the map of the plans for Confederate to fortify San Antonio and the Gentilz map replicating the town's original boundaries. After making overlays of these and other historic maps, I have concluded that the structures once stood at the far western edge of this cemetery directly in line with a projection of Commerce Street (if Commerce didn't bend). That would be east of Piedmont Avenue between Commerce and Montana Streets.
Craig Covner has also worked with these overlays and suggests that the buildings would have stood a little further west, either in or immediately west of Piedmont Avenue. This area, perhaps 200 feet west of the location I propose is around 8-12 feet below the crest of the hill and thus less than ideal for a watchtower.
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Post by cantador4u on Mar 8, 2009 1:20:07 GMT -5
I looked up the word GARITA in my Spanish-English dictionary. It means "sentry box" or Gate keeper's box".
The word's ending "_ita" is the diminutive form and indicates connotations of smallness or affection.
- Paul Meske
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Post by TRK on Mar 8, 2009 8:58:27 GMT -5
Bruce, I assume that the Gentilz map you referred to is unpublished; is it in the DRT Library at the Alamo? (The map with the proposed Confederate defenses for San Antonio is in George Nelson's The Alamo: An Illustrated History.)
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Post by Hiram on Mar 8, 2009 11:16:58 GMT -5
The road and maps make sense in relation to the Powder House. I'm curious if anyone has come across a good physical description of the facility. In terms of terrain, not the optimum location for a watch tower. Or for that matter, an artillery position. Convenient perhaps, but not ideal.
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Post by TRK on Mar 8, 2009 11:33:01 GMT -5
Hiram, go to the Historic Bexar walking tour, Part II, in the "Texas Revolution and Texas Republic" section of this forum; toward the end of it is a phyiscal description of the site that I compiled. Note, you need to be logged in to access the walking tour.
-Tom
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Post by Hiram on Mar 8, 2009 11:57:10 GMT -5
Thanks Tom,
This is why I like this forum. You can find good information here from the members.
John
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