King William Historic District

King William Historic District is a neighborhood of Victorian and turn-of-the-century houses beside the San Antonio River, a few blocks south of downtown San Antonio. Large trees, lawns, and picket and iron fences frame rows of houses and mansions, many with Italianate towers, mansard roofs or elaborate scrollwork. The land was once an irrigated farm of Mission Concepcion, later subdivided after passing through several private owners. Carl Guenther, a German miller, established a mill and home there in 1859, and prosperous German merchants, bankers and manufacturers followed, building imposing homes along King William Street. Notable examples include the 1873 Wulff House, the 1880 Groos House, the 1876 Steves Homestead, the Polk Mansion, and the late Greek Revival Oge House, built in 1860 as quarters for the Arsenal's commanding officer. Of fifty structures on King William Street, forty-three contribute to the district's character. The area declined in prestige in the early twentieth century, but restoration began in the late 1960s.