San Pedros Springs Park

San Antonio, Texas

San Pedro Springs Park is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Surrounding the source of the springs, the 46-acre park is the oldest in the state of Texas. It is the location of a Payaya Indian village known as Yanaguana, and is the original site of the city of San Antonio.

The site of San Pedro Springs Park was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years, long before the Spanish arrived in 1718. The park has numerous archaeological sites relating to both prehistoric peoples and those who used the area from the Spanish Colonial period through the early 20^th century.

Archaeological findings have uncovered evidence that human presence in the area dates back 12,000 years. The bones of mastodons, giant tigers, dire wolves, Colombian elephants and extinct horses have been found here, along with projectile points and stone tools. The earliest recorded inhabitants of the springs were the Payaya people, who referred to their village as Yanaguana. Spanish Franciscian priest Damián Massanet led the first European contact with the area, a military expedition in 1691.

In 1709, Spanish Franciscan missionary Isidro de Espinosa and a retinue of Spanish soldiers traveled to the area. In his diary, Espinoza described the springs in detail and noted they had named it Agua de San Pedro (Waters of Saint Peter). Martín de Alarcón founded the city of San Antonio by establishing San Antonio de Valero and Presidio San Antonio de Bexar at the Springs in 1718. He built an irrigation canal in 1719. The springs and surrounding area became designated as public land by King Philip V of Spain in 1729. When the Canary Islanders began arriving in 1731, they first camped in this area.

The city officially declared it a public park in 1852, making it the oldest park in the state of Texas. By 1856, the U.S. Camel Corps had camel stables on the site. In 1860, Sam Houston stopped here to deliver a two-hour speech opposing the proposed Texas secession from the United States. During the Civil War the park was used as a prisoner of war camp. After the Civil War, Buffalo Soldiers used the park as a training camp.

Park facilities now include a gazebo, swimming pool, restrooms, softball and tennis areas, a playground, a skate plaza, the San Pedro Library, and the San Pedro Playhouse

San Pedro Springs is the second oldest park in the U.S. There are many haunting legends and mysterious tales associated with the San Pedro Springs and Park. For example, Francisco Rodriguez, a Canary Island immigrant to Texas in the 1730’s, is reported to have buried several chests of gold and silver coins near the Springs, perhaps in caves under the northern edge of the Park. He died before telling anyone the location, and they have never been found. The same caves were reputed to have been used as hideouts for bandits in the mid-19th century.

Another legend that persists to this day concerns a tunnel that once connected the Alamo and San Pedro Springs Park. The passageway was supposed to have been formed by a cave that ran much of the distance between the two sites, beginning in the Flag Room at the Alamo. Some say the opening at the San Pedro Park end was in the “bear pit”, a small quarry that was a part of San Antonio’s first zoo and that has been covered since 1897. Others say the tunnel emerged under the gazebo and was so large one could ride a horse through it. Geologists say it’s highly unlikely such a tunnel ever existed because it would have had to go underneath the San Antonio River. Today, there is a tunnel under the Alamo, but it wasn’t built until the 1980s, for the purpose of flood control

There have been reports of park visitors hearing children’s voices and laughter even when there’s no one else in the park. The children were probably kindergarten students at the School of Childhood, which was built in 1878 at 429 W. Dewey Place, where San Antonio College’s McAllister Auditorium now sits across San Pedro Avenue from the park. Teachers of the time probably brought their students to the park to play but life expectancy was shorter then and they likely returned because it was a place of joy. A few passersby even claimed to have spotted childlike wraiths running and playing, perhaps in a game of hide-and-seek or ring around the rosie. Security guards at SAC and even park police have heard the laughter.

There have also been sighted small groups of Native Americans performing a drum ceremony. No one sees them arrive or leave; they just appear and start drumming. Clad in traditional garb, carrying a huge drum and dancing slowly. Skipper Williams, a gentleman of Native American ancestry, has said that the area was Comanche country, and the Indians often held special ceremonies on the sacred nights of the “Comanche moon.” Every year, he said, there are four Comanche moons. According to tradition, a Comanche moon is a full moon in the autumn that is bright enough to allow night travel.

He also said that the park was the site of many Comanche ceremonies and the burial place of their chiefs. The somber drumbeats heard, he said, were part of a funeral dirge.

People who live around the park report being outside and seeing Native Americans at random, day and night. Psychics claim the Indians want their land back, as the springs were a huge part of their identity and the land was taken from them.

The main legend of San Pedro Park is “The Lure of Lolita”. In 1851 a man named Vincent Boone was traveling through San Pedro Park and sought refuge from a storm at the Block House. A very old, dark man who called himself Pedro Lara answered the door and, noticing that Boone carried a large money bag, offered him food and the opportunity to stay the night in a hut nearby. He introduced Boone to Lolita, an extremely beautiful young girl that Lara said was his daughter. Boone was wary of Lara, and decided to spend the night with his gun on his chest and his clothes on.

During the night, Boone heard noises in his hut, struck a match, and saw Lara approaching with a knife. The match went out, and Boone shot into the darkness. He lit another match, but Lara was nowhere to be seen. Then, Lolita ran up to the hut and revealed a trap door that led to a shallow cave where Lara lay dead. She begged Boone for mercy, saying she was not Lara’s daughter but had been bought by him as a young child and had been used time and time again to lure travelers into staying in the hut so Lara could rob and kill them. She said the cave already contained the bodies of two people Lara had killed. Whether or not any of this is true no one can say. But in 1900, city workers were extending San Pedro Avenue past Dwyer Street and found a shallow cave with three skeletons.

Native American and historic sites throughout the park are protected both as state archaeological landmarks and by city ordinances. Visitors to the park are requested to not disturb or collect artifacts from the park grounds.