66 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES 
It is a city of much charm, combining the old with the new in a 
setting of natural beauty. The San Antonio River “ winds through 
the city with many curves and is crossed by bridges that afford 
pleasing glimpses of its greenswarded banks, even in the heart of the 
business district. There are many large edifices of architectural 
merit, and a fine municipal auditorium that seats 6,500 and cost 
$1,500,000. The mild winter climate is an attractive feature. Excel- 
lent water for domestic use and for many manufacturing establish- 
ments is supplied by artesian wells 900 to 1,200 feet deep from strata 
in the Coastal Plain sediments. According’to the local chamber of 
commerce, the output of its 1,175 factories had a value of $85,000,000 
in 1930. They have the advantage of cheap natural gas, oil, and 
lignite for fuel. San Antonio has many churches and clubs, several 
libraries and theaters, and many educational institutions. A women’s 
college, Our Lady of the Lake, on the western edge of the city, is 
visible from the railroad a few minutes after leaving the depot. 
On the outskirts of the city to the north is Fort Sam Houston, an 
Army post of 4,378 men and 211 officers, and to the south are extensive 
Army flying fields and schools. In Brackenridge Park, in the valley 
of the San Antonio River, are numerous features of interest, including 
a large zoological collection. 
Although San Antonio has a large proportion of sunshiny days, its 
precipitation averages about 27 inches a year, or about the same as in 
much of the west-central United States. This is usually sufficient to 
produce fair crops and excellent forage, but there is considerable irri- 
gation from ditches and from artesian and pumped wells. From 45 
years of observation by the United States Weather Bureau it has 
been found that the mean annual temperature is 69°, the winters 
averaging about 60° and the summers 80°, and the average humidit 
is 68 per cent. The springs and autumns are long, but the summer 
heat at most times is tempered by breezes and low humidity. 
San Antonio probably owes its origin to two great springs, with a 
total average volume of about 58,000,000 gallons a day,” that supply 
the flow in the San Antonio and San Pedro Rivers. It is believed that 
the water is derived from the Edwards limestone along a fault. 
Probably the first Spanish visitor was Cabeza de Vaca, who crossed 
central Texas about 1535. In 1718 a garrison was stationed here, and 
This river, the outlet for the drain- | large amount of rain falls in a very short 
age of an extensive hilly area northwest | time. There is a record of a succession 
of the city, sometimes has freshets | of these at Taylor, ig on Sept. 9-10, 
which on some occasions have done | 1921, in which 23.11 inches of rain fell. 
considerable To prevent al ‘iis Meinzer, E., Large springs 
these floods the great Olmos Dam has the U S$ : U. 8. Geol. Sur- 
_ been built across the valley. Occasion- | vey Water-Supply Pancé 557, pp. 37-38, 
ion | 1927. 
and other parts of the West in which a 
