You are here

Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast » South Central Texas » San Antonio (Bexar County) » Downtown San Antonio » Kress Store

Kress Store

-A A +A
1938, Edward F. Sibbert. 315 E. Houston St.

Designed by the Kress Company's vice president in charge of architecture, the San Antonio store's facade is typical of the company's architectural image in the 1930s in its use of ornamental terra-cotta, here entirely white. What makes this facade so fascinating is the manner in which Sibbert combined Spanish and pre-Columbian decorative motifs. The ornamentation above the sign, as well as the tops of the two towers that frame the facade, is generally Spanish Baroque in inspiration, but the true surprise is the five stylized rattlesnake tails between the towers, clearly drawn from the sculptural work of the Aztec culture of central Mexico.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
×

Data

What's Nearby

South Texas Building (Central Trust Company)
Travis Park United Methodist Church
Nix Professional Building
Majestic Theatre
La Mansion del Rio Hotel

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Kress Store", [San Antonio, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-SA32.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 153-153.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,