page_title: Neighborhoods and districts of San Antonio
section_title: East
hierarchical_section_title: Neighborhoods and districts of San Antonio / East
caption_attribution_description: English: Elizabeth Bowen Nelson House
context_page_description: The city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas is composed of a number of neighborhoods and districts, spreading out surrounding the central Downtown Area.
context_section_description: Bordered roughly by IH-37 to the west, IH-35 to the north, IH-10 to the south, and Loop 410 to the east, the East Side is home to the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, the AT&T Center and its older neighbor, the Freeman Coliseum.  Other northern cities include Windcrest, a northeastern suburb known for its extravagant Christmas light displays.  The far southeastern suburb of China Grove is located along US 87 and was the subject of a Doobie Brothers song entitled China Grove. The Pecan Valley neighborhood, located west of China Grove, was the host of the 50th Anniversary of the PGA Golf Championship. The East Side most notable residents were actress Joan Crawford and congressman Percy Sutton of New York. Joan Crawford was born and raised on the infamous Cherry Street area. Soap star Al Freeman was also born and raised in San Antonio along with actress Paula Prentiss.
  The East Side has the largest concentration of black residents. One of the newest additions to the San Antonio Historic Districts is Knob Hill thanks to the efforts of the late Dora Tovar and is located in the Southeast part of the city and a mile and a half from Alamo Plaza.  It is bordered by Iowa Street to the north, Nelson Street to the south, and South Palmetto and New Braunfels Avenues to the west and east.  The neighborhood is intersected by Virginia Boulevard. Knob Hill was part of the John Bowen tract purchased in 1853. The purchaser of the tract is believed to be the John Bowen, the first San Antonio postmaster and the owner of Bowen's Island (where the Tower Life Building is located downtown).  The Victorian home located at 1003 South New Braunfels was built in 1897 and is immediately south of Knob Hill Addition was owned by Elizabeth Bowen Nelson, the daughter of John Bowen. The house has since been designated the Elizabeth Bowen Nelson House and is San Antonio Historic landmark #961.
  The tract was owned by the Bowens until H.J. Goode purchased the property around 1909.
  Knob Hill is primarily a residential neighborhood platted in February 1910 and is known for its overall architectural integrity.  Its homes are reflective of the Classical Revival style interspersed with Folk Victorian, Bungalows, and Minimal Traditionals.  It was at its prime in the early 20th century, as it was seen as an attractive and less expensive alternative to Laurel Heights and Tobin Hill.  According to early real estate ads published in the San Antonio Daily Express, the owners, W.T. Goode and R.H. and Harry Traylor, spared no expense to make it an ideal place for nice homes.  Knob Hill was advertised for its tremendous distant views of Mission Concepcion, San Fernando Gardens, the "Lady of the Lake Academy," Beacon Hill, Alamo Heights, and Fort Sam Houston among others.  Closer by, residents had a full vista of downtown San Antonio.
  Neighborhood Development
  Knob Hill Addition was situated between the Southern Pacific Depot and South Heights rail car lines and within a five-minute walk to two public schools on cement sidewalks and along macadamized streets.  All lots in the addition were offered at $500 to $800, were fronted north and south, and included the luxury of city water and gas.  The streets, lined with a six-foot easement between the sidewalks and curb, were planted with palm trees and Ligustrum japonicum.  The home at 1145 Virginia currently occupied by the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA), Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Omicron Tau Alumni Chapter still has two of the giant palms flanking the front entrance.  Homes along these tree-lined streets were set back 25 feet from the front property line on terraced lots to ensure symmetry of the development and avoidance of dust from the streets.
  The original Knob Hill plat consisted of 96 lots with 24 even lots per block for a total of 4 blocks.  By early 1911, 11 homes had been completed at a cost of $3,000 to $10,000 each.  Major construction for the development occurred between 1910 and 1935.  According to the 1915 City Directory, 27 addresses were listed including those of owners W.T. Goode and R.H. and Harry Tr
caption: San Antonio Historic Landmark 961
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