A Cultural Resources Assessment of the Proposed Site of New Construction for the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Bexar County, Texas
Creators: name: Jackson, Jack M.
name: Prewitt, Elton R.
Publisher: name: Prewitt & Associates, Inc.
Year: 1988
Subjects: subject: 48998 (Fips Code)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/6846/48998-fips-code
subject: Salado Creek
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/6847/salado-creek
subject: JBSA-Sam Houston
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/82532/jbsa-sam-houston
subject: Balcones Fault Zone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/82540/balcones-fault-zone
subject: Brooke Army Medical Center
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/82539/brooke-army-medical-center
subject: Twentieth Century
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/813/twentieth-century
subject: Nineteenth Century
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/84/nineteenth-century
subject: PaleoIndian
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/4/paleoindian
subject: Archaic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/8/archaic
subject: Historic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/25/historic
subject: Euroamerican
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/28/euroamerican
subject: 41BX779
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/79350/41bx779
subject: 41BX778
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/79349/41bx778
subject: 41BX389
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/79352/41bx389
subject: 41BX194
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/79351/41bx194
subject: 41BX346
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/79354/41bx346
subject: 41BX422
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/79353/41bx422
subject: Herman Eisenhauer Site
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/79355/herman-eisenhauer-site
subject: Funerary and Burial Structures or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/301/funerary-and-burial-structures-or-features
subject: Cemetery
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/302/cemetery
subject: Domestic Structures
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/256/domestic-structures
subject: Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/272/resource-extraction-production-transportation-structure-or-features
subject: Agricultural or Herding
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/273/agricultural-or-herding
subject: Military Structure
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/322/military-structure
subject: House
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/259/house
subject: Commercial or Industrial Structures
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/280/commercial-or-industrial-structures
subject: Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/251/domestic-structure-or-architectural-complex
subject: Farmstead
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/747/farmstead
subject: Ceramic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1/ceramic
subject: Glass
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/6/glass
subject: Building Materials
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/8/building-materials
subject: Metal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/11/metal
subject: Houston Race Riot of August 1917
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/152695/houston-race-riot-of-august-1917
subject: Archaeological Overview
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/1/archaeological-overview
subject: Historic Background Research
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/18/historic-background-research
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Heritage Management
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/24/heritage-management
subject: Site Evaluation / Testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/10/site-evaluation-testing

description: An archaeological survey of three areas within the Fort Sam Houston military reservation and an archival study of the specific history of the military uses of these areas was conducted by Prewitt and Associates, Inc. during December 1987 and early January 1988. The largest of these areas is a 147- acre triangular tract where a new addition to the Brooke Army Medical Center is planned. The two smaller areas are along Salado Creek where planned all-weather bridges will link the new facilities with those already in existence. Examination of all three areas revealed evidence of moderate to severe disturbances and few intact structural remains. The archival map study revealed several episodes of use of each area and of extensive earthmoving in all of the areas during the recent past. An area of trenches was documented on Thomas Field where construction of the expansion facilities is planned. This area is depicted on maps from the World War I era as a drill field and did not become Government property until June 1919. A 1943 aerial photograph shows scrub growth transected by a number of small roads. The first documentation of a trench area appears on a 1951 map of the Fort Sam Houston Firing Ranges. Traces of the trenches are still visible. It is presumed that the trenches were dug after 1943. Where Binz-Engleman Road crosses Salado Creek, the eastern bank of the creek remained outside the military reservation until very recently. From the early 1940s to at least 1953, the City of San Antonio operated a gravel pit and water works on the east bank of the creek. These structures are no longer shown on the 1967 USGS map. On the west bank of the creek, no structures could be documented before the one shown on the 1967 USGS map. Foundation remnants of this building were located during the survey. A landfill area of about 10 acres west of Salado Creek and south of Schofield Road has been designated 41BX779 and may be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. However, current construction plans only impact the extreme northern margin of this site. Where W. W. White Road crosses Salado Creek, there is evidence of extensive land modification, an abandoned cemetery, and a late nineteenth century farmstead. A 1917 map of this area depicts a house and barn on the west bank of Salado Creek. This was probably the farmstead of Herman Eisenhauer which was purchased by the Government on August 21, 1917. Later maps of the Post depict a cemetery where soldiers hanged in connection with the Houston Race Riot of August 1917 were interred from 1917-1918 until 1937 when their bodies were exhumed and reburied in the National Cemetery and elsewhere. Subsequent maps show the land here as vacant except for a gravel pit which was open in 1946 at the southern end. The only area where undisturbed cultural deposits appear to be present is the northern portion of this area where artifacts consistent with the remains of the Herman Eisenhauer farm were found. This site has been designated 41BX778. It is argued that the limited intact deposits from this 1885-1917 occupation do not retain sufficient information yield potential to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Finally, it is recommended that a generalized developmental history and map series of the Fort Sam Houston military reservation be prepared as a planning tool.