From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology," at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Birthed from Spanish colonization on the backs of Native laborers and claimed by no less than four nations over its 300-year history, San Antonio is a city defined by cultural pluralism and struggle. Situated at the confluence of Native American, European, Tejano, Mexican, and Black cultures, it has witnessed colonization and missionization, myriad skirmishes and wars, and racial subjugation and emancipation. Due to large-scale municipal redevelopment and improvement projects, extensive archaeological work has been conducted within San Antonio over the past decade. This symposium highlights some of the work exposing the material remains of different occupational eras and subpopulations. Bound together by the unique development of San Antonio, these papers illuminate the city’s famed and forgotten histories alike.

Other Keywords
Missions • Urban Archaeology • Spanish Colonial • Cemetery • San Antonio • Homestead • Projectile Points • Cultural Resource Management • Ceramic Technology • Acequias

Geographic Keywords
Texas • Southwest • San Antonio, Texas • Bexar County, Texas, United States • United States South/Southwest • Texas, United States • southern U.S. - Texas

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

  • Documents (10)
Documents
  • Acequias, Battlefields, And Missions, Oh My!: The Complexity Of Doing Urban Archaeology In San Antonio, Texas (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ann M. Scott. Victoria C. Pagano. Caitlin A. Gulihur.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Under the San Antonio skyline lies buried a complex history of struggle. From military installations to missions and homesteading to subjugation, San Antonio offers urban archaeologists a variety of resources to discover, investigate, and share with the public. Projects in San...

  • Archaeological Findings for the City Hall Renovations Project, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rhiana D. Ward.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Since 1722, Plaza de Armas has been the focal point of military occupation, commerce, and municipal growth for the city of San Antonio, Texas. In the heart of downtown, the space served as the second location for the Presidio de Béxar, consisting of a series of linear buildings...

  • Archaeology Along San Pedro Creek, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Antonio E. Padilla.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. San Pedro Creek has long played an important role in the development of San Antonio. The abundance and variety of resources in the vicinity of the six springs that give birth to the stream served as an ideal site for the establishment of the first mission in San Antonio, Mission...

  • Archaeology And Resource Management In San Antonio: A City-Wide Perspective On Recent Finds (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only P. Shawn Marceaux. Matthew Elverson.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The City of San Antonio is one of a handful of cities in the United States with City Archaeologists. Although few in number, these cities share a commonality in their rich histories, significant resources, and popular heritage tourism. Join the City of San Antonio’s City...

  • Homesteading on Salado Creek: A Case Study of Mexican-Anglo Settlement in San Antonio (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Caitlin A. Gulihur. Ann M. Scott. Victoria C. Pagano.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. A native of Kentucky, Young Perry Alsbury moved to Texas in the 1820s. Here, he served in the Texas Revolution as a member of Deaf Smith's spy company and participated in burning the bridge over Vince's Bayou during the Battle of San Jacinto to prevent the retreat of Santa...

  • Indigenous Ceramic Technology within the Pluralistic Context of Mission San Antonio de Valero (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Steve A. Tomka.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. At its final site, Mission San Antonio de Valero was occupied from 1724 to 1793. Members of more than 100 indigenous groups resided in the mission during this 69 year period. Five pottery making traditions were represented within these ethnic groups. Petrographic and...

  • Outside The Mission Walls: The Complexities Of Compound Concepcion (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Victoria C. Pagano. Caitlin A. Gulihur. Ann M. Scott.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Over the past 290 years, the compound and the lands adjacent to Mission Concepcion have seen waves of development that have altered the landscape from the rural agricultural setting of 1731 to a bustling urban district of residential and commercial development. During this time,...

  • The Revolutionary Legacy of the Ruiz Family at Site 41BX795 (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Zachary M. Overfield. Karissa A. Basse. Brooke Bonorden.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. One of only two Tejano signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, José Francisco Ruiz was a complex historical figure who navigated the cultural and political frontier of San Antonio, serving as a broker between Anglo, Spanish, and Native American spheres to further the...

  • Shifts in Projectile Point Form from Pre-Mission through Mission Times within the Pluralistic Context of the Texas Missions (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jason Whitaker. Steve Tomka.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The missions of south Texas and the Coastal Plains became home to members of hundreds of indigenous groups during the 18th century. These groups occupied a large geographic area encompassing Northern Mexico, West Texas, the Edwards Plateau, Central Texas and the Coastal Plains...

  • When Modern Aviation Progress Meets the Tenacious Echoes of a Jim Crow Past: Archaeological and Historical Cemetery Investigations at Stinson Municipal Airport, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Mason D. Miller.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Famed to the Forgotten: Exploring San Antonio’s Storied History Through Urban Archeology" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. This paper details the development history of Stinson Municipal Airport in southern San Antonio, Texas. Founded by barnstormers in 1915 on an experimental sewer farm tract, Stinson would soon expand into what was originally part of the City’s adjacent San Jose Burial Park -...