San Antonio History Map
This map documents overlays historic elements of the city on a modern map. Click on colored elements in the map for more information. Some of the components include:
• Colonial acequias, the irrigation systems used to water the fields around the colonial missions
• The historic course of the San Antonio River
• Original footprints of the five San Antonio missions
• The lines of the San Antonio Traction Company, the original streetcar system
• The perimeter of the city, as defined in the mid-1800s -- the "36 square miles" referred to occasionally in period literature and histories
• A variety of historic breweries, mostly as noted on the Texas Breweries website. If you're interested in breweries, you should also check out the Texas State Historical Association's page regarding Texas breweries.
Each item is tagged with information about the source(s) used. Be aware, however, that accurate geographic historic data for many of the components is sparse, and so representations on this map tend to be general in nature. The path of the acequias, for example, can be traced in part using modern property maps, but there are significant portions of the acequias which are interpolated from known specific points. Routes of the acequias on the south side of the city are not nearly as well charted as those closer to downtown and north of downtown, so rather than show something wildly inaccurate, we've held off on showing anything until better information is available.