Federal Building/Post Office Murals – San Antonio TX

City:
San Antonio, TX

Site Type:
Art Works, Murals

New Deal Agencies:
Arts Programs, Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA)

Artist:
Howard Norton Cook

Designer:
Howard Cook

Marked:
No

Description

A beautiful, 16 panel mural titled “San Antonio’s Importance in History” adorns the walls of the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building (formerly the main U.S. Post Office) in downtown San Antonio Texas. The mural was painted by Howard Cook between the years of 1937 and 1939 using the fresco technique (fresco is the process of painting directly on fresh, wet plaster). Cost of the mural was $12,000. Each panel represents a different period in San Antonio’s rich history from the arrival of the conquistadors and Franciscan missionaries to the great cattle drives and cotton businesses of the early 1900’s. Mr. Cook painted many of the figures for the mural on a wall in his Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico studio in preparation for painting the actual mural on the wet fresco. That study now belongs to the Witte Museum in San Antonio.

The murals were fully restored in 1999.

Source notes

https://howardnortoncook.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipolito_F._Garcia_Federal_Building_and_United_States_Courthouse https://www.gsa.gov/portal/ext/html/site/hb/category/25431/actionParameter/exploreByBuilding/buildingId/551 Information from exhibit in Witte Museum, San Antonio Texas

Site originally submitted by Elizabeth Hilburn - https://doorwayintothethepast.blogspot.com/ on June 11, 2013.

Location Info


615 E Houston St
San Antonio, Texas 78205
Bexar County

Coordinates: 29.4265733, -98.48650

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One comment on “Federal Building/Post Office Murals – San Antonio TX

  1. Susan Allen Kline

    The San Antonio Post Office and Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 (which includes the murals).

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One comment on “Federal Building/Post Office Murals – San Antonio TX

  1. Susan Allen Kline

    The San Antonio Post Office and Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 (which includes the murals).

Join the Conversation

Please note:

  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

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