HemisFair ’68 and The Homes on Goliad Street
Part Five: The Emmanuel and Rosa Longini & William and Augusta Herrmann Home, 138 Goliad Street
About this five-part series: During the early 1960’s, San Antonio was poised for urban renewal, which eventually brought a world’s fair and new municipal buildings to this economically-stalled South Texas city. When construction began for HemisFair ’68, only 22 of 300 historic homes were saved from the neighborhood once called Germantown. This series strives to help restore the sense of community enjoyed by the diverse residents who made their homes a short walk from the Alamo.
Perhaps one of the most charming historic homes in Hemisfair’s urban park district is the Longini — Herrmann home, which reflects a Victorian Eclectic style, popular in the 1890’s when the home was built. This home also has the distinction of remaining with only two families for most of its years, until it was sold to the Urban Renewal Agency for HemisFair ‘68.
The Longini family built the home in 1893 and lived there until 1911, when they exchanged it for 582 acres in Dimmit County, about two-hours southwest of San Antonio. The Herrmann family purchased the home in 1916 and kept it in the family for nearly 50-years. This home was formerly known as the Acosta-Halff home, although it’s unclear why “Halff” was applied to the home’s name, although Emanuel Longini worked for the Halff brothers.
Vicente Acosta first owned this property in 1810 as a grant from the Spanish government, but the land was later confiscated when Acosta participated in the Hidalgo revolution against Spain. The land was purchased by Wilson Irvine Riddle, an Irish-American merchant and land speculator, who was imprisoned after the Mexican revolution but saved his family by moving them to Goliad in 1842, when his daughter Sarah was just two-weeks old. She was the first American girl born in San Antonio. Fifty years later, in 1892, Sarah Riddle Eagar sold this lot at 138 Goliad Street to Emanuel Longini for $2,500.
The Longini’s Journey to Germantown
Like the Halff brothers, who lived at 138 and 142 Goliad Street, Emanuel Longini immigrated to the United States from Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France as a teenager, when many fled the crushing poverty of the day. Longini became a citizen of the United States in 1878, nearly 10 years after he arrived in Galveston, Texas. He was both a salesman and buyer for M. Halff and Brother (Mayer and Solomon Halff’s successful mercantile business), and later co-owned the wholesale Longini Mexican Hat Company with Joseph Oppenheimer.
By 1882, Longini married Rosa Levy in Galveston, where their son Walter was born the next year. By the time daughter Essie came along in 1895, the Longini’s were living on Goliad Street. The family remained in the home until 1911. They often traveled to visit extended family in Galveston or New York, and they eventually rented a home at 330 Madison Street in the King William area of San Antonio. Longini died at the home in 1924, and Rosa moved to New York to be closer to their daughter Essie and husband Marcus Rothschild. Rosa lived with her son Walter at 225 Central Park West, with a view of the Great Lawn and Reservoir, until her death in 1949.
The Herrmann Family, Recently of Kansas
Between 1911 and 1916, when William Herrmann purchased it, the home was a rental. The large Herrmann family of eleven moved to South Texas from Kansas, where they farmed wheat. Both William and his wife, Augusta were born in Germany, and they brought two daughters, one son, as well as Augusta’s parents to live on Goliad Street. The Herrmann’s also had three boarders during the 1920’s. They must have enjoyed retiring to San Antonio’s warm climate and welcoming community after retiring from a challenging Kansas life of harvesting wheat crops. Augusta enjoyed the Marigold Bunco Club in Germantown, and toured the Colorado Springs and the West during the 1920’s with her husband. Augusta lived at the address until 1953, when the home passed to their daughter, Anna H. Schenk, who lived there and rented rooms until it was sold to the Urban Renewal Agency in 1964.
In the 1890’s, many homes were designed with texture variations (note the brick work, metal roof, porch spindles, and curved, shingled dormers) asymmetrical facades and irregular floor plans. The home’s original floor plan and architecture remains relatively intact, although it’s unclear which finishes are from 1892 or from 1916, when the Herrmann’s purchased it and made modifications. It is interesting to note that the standing seam metal roof is believed to be original to the home, and if so, it has withstood 125 years of Texas heat.
The 1,150 square foot carriage house that now sits behind the Sarah Riddle Eagar home was originally behind the Longini — Herrmann home, but was moved about 100 feet to make way for additions to Beethoven Hall. Made of a wood frame clad with patterned wood shakes, this is the only wood structure in the urban park district. Records indicate the house was built in 1917 by Hermann Schultze (a neighbor at 114 South Street) and included carriage storage, horse stalls, hay loft, and servant’s quarters.
In 1987, the home was designated as Historically Exceptional by the City of San Antonio as part of the Preservation Landmark program. It is also designated as a State Archeological Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission, which includes guidelines against non-historic modifications.
During the world’s fair, the home was painted red and white and transformed into Casa San Miguel, a Philippine-themed restaurant. The carriage house became a Swiss bakery/creperie called Creperie Parisiennes.
Conclusion
This series about the homes along Goliad Street grew out of my need to complete an applied project for a masters degree in Liberal Studies, and my passion for family history. My paternal grandparents immigrated from Yugoslavia through Ellis Island in 1902, and I’m heartbroken that I didn’t engage them in conversation about their life’s journey of immigration to the United States, or the successful lives they built here. I can only imagine that I was too young to take note, and when I did gather information about our family, it was from my aunt, the last surviving member of her large family of Serbian-speaking, Orthodox-worshiping immigrants from the old country.
Learning about the historic homes remaining in Hemisfair park has brought me closer to my adopted community of San Antonio, and for this I am forever grateful. I’m also thankful to be asked to serve on Hemisfair Conservancy’s Development Board. We are tasked with raising awareness about our “new” city park, and the beauty it brings to downtown San Antonio, for tourists and locals alike. Please join me in supporting Hemisfair Conservancy’s work to preserve these historic homes by donating to the Conservancy through this website: https://hemisfair.org/donate/
Twenty-nine percent of donations are used for historic preservation.
Copyright Notice: The unauthorized use of images from Hemisfair Conservancy, San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation, University of Texas at San Antonio, or the author is prohibited without prior consent from these entities.
