{"id":235850,"date":"2026-04-05T09:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T09:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/235850\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T09:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T09:04:17","slug":"where-i-live-king-william","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/235850\/","title":{"rendered":"Where I Live: King William"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Where I Live\u00a0series<\/a> aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special. Have we been to your neighborhood yet?\u00a0Get in touch<\/a>\u00a0to share your story. If your story is selected and published, you will receive a $250 stipend.<\/p>\n

I was born and raised in the heart of the King William neighborhood just south of downtown. Having lived in my family home for over 60 years, I have seen the area change in\u00a0 many ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My home is actually on a street that is zoned mostly commercial. Many many years\u00a0 ago there were three houses next to me. Eventually, Bonham Academy needed to expand so the\u00a0San Antonio Independent School District bought those properties. I am the only house standing\u00a0 on my side of the block. My other neighbor is The Family Dollar Store (which I still find myself\u00a0calling Winn\u2019s).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oh how I remember the delicious aroma of the popcorn machine and almost\u00a0every day during the summer, me and my sister would go to Winn\u2019s to purchase an ICEE. A few\u00a0 blocks south of my home was the old Handy Andy Grocery Store, which is now the Ace Mart\u00a0Restaurant Supply Company. We didn\u2019t have to drive far for our groceries. On the corner of St. Mary\u2019s and Pereida across from my house was the 24-hour Pig Stand Caf\u00e9. Great memories there\u00a0as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Tina Garza poses for a portrait in King William Park. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Walking to church on Sunday mornings with my sisters is a cherished memory. We\u00a0attended Westminster Presbyterian Church which is now the San Antonio Mennonite Church\u00a0across from the high school. The \u201clook\u201d of the neighborhood has changed a lot over the years, however the \u201cfeel\u201d has never changed. This is my neighborhood and I am at home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Me and my sisters attended Brackenridge High School. It was named Wheatley High School when we\u00a0were there. Again, we were spoiled because of our close proximity to everything in the\u00a0neighborhood. My 16-year-old son does the same thing his mom did over 40 years ago. Wow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

My parents rented for many years from the grandson of the original owner of my home,\u00a0who was also the owner of several homes a few blocks south of mine and on the same street. My\u00a0parents purchased our home when I was about 12. I believe my home was built around 1895. Living in an older home does have its challenges. It is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. No insulation, single pane windows, high ceilings and hardwood floors, window A\/C units, old gas heaters. We used to keep the front and back doors open and get a very nice breeze through the house during the mild weather months.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Patrons enjoy beverages at The Friendly Spot Ice House in King William. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

I also have three older sisters. Our parents have since passed on and my sisters gifted me their share in the home, so it is all mine! When my parents and grandmother were alive I can\u00a0remember lots of family barbecues in the backyard and during Fiesta season, my home becomes \u201cFiesta central.\u201d Family and friends love to park at my home given the close proximity to a lot of Fiesta events.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The view of the Tower of the Americas from the King William neighborhood. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

I have always worked downtown. My first job while in high school was with Frost Bank. I worked there for five years. Then 20 years with Fulbright & Jaworski (now Norton\u00a0Rose Fulbright) in the old Bank of America building on St. Mary\u2019s Street (across from the\u00a0Greyhound Bus station). I currently work for Winstead PC in the Weston Centre building on Pecan Street. I have been here almost 14 years. I take the VIA bus to work every\u00a0day, cross the street to go to work and get dropped off in front of my house every day \u2014 can\u2019t\u00a0 beat that!\u00a0I\u2019m regularly asked what is it like growing up on a busy (mostly) commercial street. I tell\u00a0people I love it!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have always been very active in neighborhood issues and events, as well as volunteering at my son\u2019s schools. When he attended Bonham Academy I was on the board of the PTA.\u00a0I am now the Treasurer of the Brackenridge High School Athletic Booster Club and I also serve on the Campus Advisory Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I am a past board member with the King William Association and currently serve on the Residential Quality of Life Committee. And let us not forget the annual King William Fair and parade during fiesta.\u00a0I look forward to the parade and fair each year.\u00a0I truly enjoy giving back to the community.\u00a0My son for the past several years, along with his Eagle teammates from Brackenridge, have been volunteers in the beverage booths at the Fair. Volunteering is in our blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All in all, I could not dream of living anywhere else in this great big city of ours. Where I\u00a0 live is where I have always and forever will live.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0Where I Live\u00a0series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[90919,19342,7185,90920,741,90921,11380,90922,82,84,83,3151,90923],"class_list":{"0":"post-235850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-24-hour-pig-stand-cafe","9":"tag-brackenridge-high-school","10":"tag-fiesta","11":"tag-fiesta-season","12":"tag-king-william","13":"tag-king-william-association","14":"tag-king-william-historic-district","15":"tag-king-william-neighborhood","16":"tag-san-antonio","17":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","18":"tag-san-antonio-news","19":"tag-where-i-live","20":"tag-winns"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}