San Antonio Water Works Pump Station No. 2 - San Antonio, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 29° 26.933 W 098° 28.619
14R E 550720 N 3257833
Currently it is the Amy & V.H. McNutt Events Center.
Waymark Code: WM16XHM
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/24/2022
Views: 1
NRHP Nomination Form"San Antonio Water Works' second water pumping station, now known as the Borglum Studio, is located two miles northeast of downtown in the Brackenridge Municipal Park Golf Course. The 36' by 36' one story raised basement structure is constructed of rough faced limestone. A wood frame addition measuring approximately 23' by 28' is attached to the north elevation forming a T plan.
The original stone structure was completed in 1885 downstream from the first pump station at the headwaters of the San Antonio River. Prior to the rechanneling of the river, the Mill-race pump station as it had been called, was on the north bank of the millpond that supplied the station. The pond has since been filled in.
George W. Brackenridge was principal owner and president of the San Antonio Water Works from 1883 to 1906, having purchased the controlling interest from J.B. Lacoste and Associates who started the company in 1877. The addition of the No. 2 pump station to the underdeveloped system in 1885 began a period of rapid expansion; under Brackenridge and subsequent owners, the waterworks operated successfully as a private enterprise until purchased by the city in
1925. The pump house itself is located in a large urban park donated to the city by Brackenridge and named in his honor.
In 1915 the pump station was abandoned and later spotted by sculptor Gutzon Borglum as an ideal spot for his San Antonio studio."