Bexar County Boys’ School Workshop and Greenhouse (former) – Southton TX

City:
Southton, TX

Site Type:
Schools, Education and Health

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Started:
1939

Completed:
1940

Designer:
Russell White

Quality of Information:
Good

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

WPA funded two projects for the Bexar County Boys’ School in 1939. Construction of a greenhouse for the facility, which served as a “juvenile delinquent” training school was authorized in December 1939, with WPA funding $2,213 and Bexar County funding $968 and employing 30 workers. A workshop, 30×85 feet, “…for inmates at the Bexar County Training School for Boys” replaced a building previously destroyed by fire (Boys Home Gets $15,000 Shop, 1940). WPA funded $10,738.50 of the cost of the workshop and Bexar County funded $4,397.62. Plans were drawn by Russell White, Bexar County engineer. The workshop was constructed of hollow tile, stucco, and tile roofing and also contained two garages and a laundry. The greenhouse was 12×30 feet, and used for experimental gardening. The new buildings were formally dedicated July 9, 1940 and the Optimist Club and others provided equipment for vocational training. The status of the greenhouse is unknown, but the workshop was remodeled for use as a kitchen and dining room for the Lifetime Recovery facility located on the former school property. Although identified as a school, the facility was more accurately described as a detention center for juvenile males who had been arrested.

Source notes

Authorization to begin work on many WPA projects made. Corsicana Daily Sun, December 6, 1939, p. 12.
New bridge to be inspected. San Antonio Express, May 5, 1940, p. C11.
Boys' Home Gets $15,000 Shop: Dedication Ceremonies Next Week. San Antonio Express, June 12, 1940, p. 1A and 2A.
Betterments at Bexar County Boys' School. San Antonio Express, July 9, 1940, p. 14.
Heritage Buildings: The Workshop. Retrieved fromhttps://www.lifetimerecoverytx.org/campus-expansion.html

Site originally submitted by Susan Allen on July 22, 2018.

Location Info


10290 Southton Road
San Antonio, TX 78223
Bexar County

Location notes: The location of the facility was Southton, on the Southern Pacific RailRoad off US 281 ten miles Southeast of downtown San Antonio in southern Bexar County. An aerial map view shows the workshop located behind the main building, and it matches in appearance the photograph published in the San Antonio Express.

Coordinates: 29.3161994, -98.4305382

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