Enos Gary owner of 1534 McKinley

I found the owner from 1940 - The Enos Gary's --- who is this guy? And what does an Entre Nous club do exactly? Hmmmm


He was the Principal at Brackenridge High School - where Grandpa Ozuna graduated
He was also an alumni from UT Austin Class of 1933 - Go Texas!


Gary sold the house in the 1940's to the Baptist Missionaries. The house was a parsonage from the 1940's (Oct 19th 1944 a petition to city council for a tax waiver) to at least 1963.

This ad is so pretty it had to be shared

May 8th 1910 San Antonio Light and Gazette

Highlands Christian Church

There is a church on the corner by my house - made of limestone - the original name and build date of the church was a mystery. Nina and I got used to calling it the Beat Down Church ... the sad looking sign on the corner has it named "Clift of the Rock".. the church needs a powerwash in the worst way. I knew it had to have some kind of history because it is a substantial looking building .. limestone, stained glass, arched windows all that stuff. Thanks to the Historic Homeowners Fair sponsored by the City of San Antonio I was able to use an 1954 City Directory to lookup the the original church name - Highlands Christian Church ... Finally, I have a research hook.

October of 1951 was the groundbreaking - Roy D. Holt was the first Reverend of the church at this location.

Will N. Noonan was the architect : He built out some of the Monte Vista homes of the 1930's. He also designed a home for A.H. Wilde in 1933 , the N. stands for Nelson, he was born in 1885






April 2 1950 San Antonio Express
Riverside Baptist Church
3600 S. Presa
Plans are drawn




The Harlandale Masonic Lodge went up in 1925 and is still standing ... it was ugly to start with and has only gotten uglier ... amazing that its still around ..

Mechanic's Liens ... how to track down old houses

I love San Antonio - we have a wonderful Conservation Society that holds lots of useful information and people regarding the neighborhood. I found out that you can discover the builder of your old San Antonio home by searching through the Bexar County Clerk's login search. The url is http://www.countyclerk.bexar.landata.com/Default.aspx. Select the Register button, once you have registered you will be able to select the Login-Search Button. Select the 1837-1863 Historical Records Search. If you know the original owner of the house - select Grantor/Grantee. Enter the search parameters of interest (I used last name and dates of interest.)

Gilman 1924-1928
a Mechanics Lien is the most useful in establishing the builder:

The Mechanic's Lien that was discovered for the house was a lien placed by HILLYER DEUTSCH and JARRATT CO to ensure payment.





HILLYER DEUTSCH and JARRATT CO was a lumber company specifically noted in Donald E. Everette's book, Montevista - Architecture and Society in a Gilded Age. On page 99 he documents that a home on East Lynwood designed by the Kelwood Company used lumber from Hillyer Deutsch and Jarrett. The similarities between the Spanish style Monte Vista homes and this Highland Park home are striking. On the other hand, the lumber company supplied the material for the project managed by Contractor Amos Sweitzer and built for Mrs. Maude B. Hall on 104 East. The house could have been designed by a whole host of builders. I am still holding lots of circumstantial evidence with nothing definitive. The mechanics lien guaranteed the payment of $13,000 for materials and labor to the lumber company and set the terms of payment. The Vice President of Hillyer Deutsch and Jarrett was at the Clerk's office to sign the papers that day.