Josephine Tobin Drive - San Antonio, TX, USA
N 29° 26.993 W 098° 31.695
14R E 545748 N 3257923
A street sign as a memorial monument you cannot miss. This street is named to honor the mother of a former mayor of San Antonio.
Waymark Code: WM9KQD
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/30/2010
Views: 7
This large street sign that spans the road is dedicated to the honor of Josephine Tobin, mother of one of San Antonio's former mayors. The Tobin family is a locally famous family that has been as generous to the city as the city has been to them, and they have been very generous. There is a plaque on the side of the rock work structure holding the sign in place on the Woodlawn Lake Park property nearest the gymnasium and pool. The plaques reads, "Dedicated in loving memory of Josephine Tobin/ mother of our former Mayor John W. Tobin// By the Citizens of San Antonio." The street this large memorial spans across is named Cincinnati Ave. east of this block where this sign is. From this sign near the intersection of Alexander Ave. and Cincinnati, the street name changes for the next several miles westward to South Josephine Tobin Drive. It forms the southern boundary of Woodlawn Lake Park's perimeter. North Josephine Tobin Drive, also named after this same woman, is the northern boundary. These two streets do not cross themselves, and this is the only memorial sign over the streets named after Josephine Tobin. Josephine (Smith) Tobin was the daughter of John William Smith, who became the first mayor of San Antonio under the Republic of Texas, serving as mayor three times: 1837-38, 1840-41, and 1842-44. John W. Smith's daughter Josephine would marry and give birth to her son, John Wallace Tobin, who would also become Mayor of the same city from 1923-1927. This branch of the Tobin family had large land holdings and many business ventures that gave the Tobin prominance within the city's infuential leaders of the day. Another Tobin relative, Edgar G. Tobin used his portion of the family's inheritance to invest in starting a business of aerial mapping for oil and gas companies grew to be the dominate aerial map company in the US, and now the largest one internationally. Fortunately for San Antonio, the family members were very philanthropic and donated much of their wealth to the Arts in San Antonio, Boston and New York. In 2009, the Tobin family donated a large tract of their land, including their original homestead, to the city of San Antonio. This land has now become made into the Robert L. B. Tobin Park as part of the Salado Creek Greenbelt project, managed by the San Antoino Parks and Recreation Division (see WM9BXR and WM9CB3). As the plaque indicates, the Tobins were active in local politics, with both John William Smith (grandfather) and John Wallace Tobin (grandson) being the Mayor of San Antonio. (reference: (
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