Down the Acequia Madre

The Acequia Madre de Valero was constructed from 1724 to 1744 to divert water from the San Antonio River to the Mission San Antonio de Valero (more colloquially known as The Alamo). Hand-dug by priest Antonio de Olivares and the Indigenous American inhabitants of the Mission, this irrigation ditch flowed south from modern-day Brackenridge Park, parallel to what is now Broadway, for about 3.5 miles before it was fed back into the river at what is now Hemisfair Park and South Alamo Street. Visible sections of the Acequia Madre were restored in 1968, and designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark the same year.

This part of the tour completes the record of the King William district, taking a closer look at the houses located east of South Alamo Street, many located where the fields watered by the Acequia Madre once were.

"The built environment is a tangible record of our history. Buildings and land use patterns that have endured for longer than a human lifetime through our preservation efforts can inform decisions by future generations about how they will order the pattern of their lives. My hope is that this record set forth here in narrative form will contribute to a greater understanding of the rich legacy of these buildings and the people who built and cared for them, and strengthen the case for continued preservation of my neighborhood."

- Jessie N.M. Simpson, Down the Acequia Madre (guidebook).