{"nrhp_refnum":"69000201","name":"Ursuline Academy","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"300 Augusta St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Antonio","county":"Bexar County","state":"TX","lat":29.43124939200004,"lon":-98.49161258599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-11-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of eight nineteenth-century buildings at 300 Augusta in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, built for the Ursuline Academy for girls, founded in 1851. The oldest building is a two-story rammed-earth (pise de terre) structure.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the buildings form an ecclesiastical complex unique to Texas, including the largest known rammed-earth (caliche pise) building in the state. It also records the Ursuline order's role in Catholic education in Texas, and cites the 1882 Priest's House as an excellent example of late Gothic Revival architecture.","narrative":"This group of eight buildings at 300 Augusta in San Antonio once housed the Ursuline Academy, a school for girls. The sisters arrived in 1847, and the first academy building went up in 1851. It is a two-story structure of caliche rammed earth, known as pise de terre, and is described as the largest such building in Texas. Jules Poincard, a French architect living in San Antonio, was probably its designer and builder. Later work includes a dormitory with a clock tower begun in 1866, a Gothic Revival chapel finished by 1870, a residence used as a workshop in 1872, and a Priest's House in 1882. The nomination describes the ensemble as ecclesiastical architecture unique to Texas and ties it to the Ursuline order's educational work in the state. The school moved to a new site in 1965. At nomination, the complex was vacant and deteriorated, a school building had burned, and ownership was split between a conservation society and a private estate.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Jules Poincard (French architect, probably architect and builder of the first building); Frances Giraud (probable builder of post-Civil War buildings); Rev. Dubuis (architect and builder of the 1853 addition)","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival (chapel and Priest's House); rammed-earth (pise de terre) construction for the first Academy building","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked deteriorated and use listed as vacant. A classroom/school building and a dormitory addition were damaged or destroyed by fire, and parts of the property were described as in danger of destruction.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.8244-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/57/9712/40971257/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/69000201.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000201/81a40f37f6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000201/81a40f37f6-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Arthur W. Stewart","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ursuline_Academy,_San_Antonio,_Texas.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Arthur W. Stewart</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ursuline_Academy,_San_Antonio,_Texas.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971257","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursuline_Academy_(San_Antonio,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000186"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bexar-county/ursuline-academy-69000201/"}