{"nrhp_refnum":"92001403","name":"Aztec Theater","other_names":["Aztec Theater and Office Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"104 N. St. Mary's St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Antonio","county":"Bexar County","state":"TX","lat":29.424658747000024,"lon":-98.49102683199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-10-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 6-story masonry theater and office building at 104 North St. Mary's Street in downtown San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, built in 1926 with Mayan Revival detailing. The street level holds shops and the theater, with offices above.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a notable example of the 1920s 'exotic theme' motion picture palace and a rare surviving example of the short-lived Mesoamerican-inspired architectural and decorative style. It meets Criterion C in Architecture at the state level. The interior retains elaborate Mesoamerican-themed ornament and a high level of historic integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1926 on a corner lot in downtown San Antonio, this six-story brick building combines a movie palace with an office block. Its exterior is brown scored brick with cast stone ornament, including pilaster capitals showing feathered-headdress figures. The interior is the main attraction. A ticket booth shaped like a stepped pyramid, a three-story grand foyer with sixteen columns topped by heads of the moon goddess Coyolxauhqui, and an auditorium designed to resemble a Mesoamerican temple courtyard all draw on Maya, Aztec and Mixtec sources. Original features include an asbestos fire curtain depicting the meeting of Cortez and Montezuma, a gold sunburst above the proscenium, and the mechanisms for an atmospheric ceiling. Changes came mainly in the 1960s, when the street front was refaced with pink granite and the balcony was divided. It was recognized as a rare example of the exotic-theme motion picture palace and of short-lived Mesoamerican-inspired design, significant in architecture at the state level.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Kelly, Robert B. (Kelwood Company); Pianta, Hannibal (contractor)","architectural_style":"Other: 2-part vertical block; Other: Mayan Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant/not in use, though the building retains a high level of integrity with few alterations. Street-level granite and display windows date from the late 1960s, and the balcony was split into two theaters in that decade.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.013142-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/29/9711/40971129/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/92001403.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001403/d8e8f43b62-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001403/d8e8f43b62-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Charou at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aztec_On_The_River_-_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Charou at English Wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aztec_On_The_River_-_Building.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79002914","name":"Main and Military Plazas Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/main-and-military-plazas-historic-district-79002914/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971129","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_Theatre_(San_Antonio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4832962"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bexar-county/aztec-theater-92001403/"}