Alamo Methodist Church

The Alamo Methodist Church is a fine example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. The style is especially suitable to this site, with its background of strong Spanish influence. Although the interior has been altered slightly to accommodate a secular usage, the exterior still features corner towers and parapets, expressions of San Antonio's Spanish heritage.

The land where the building stands was part of the lower labor (Labor de Abajo) which constituted the farmlands between Mission San Antonio de Valero and Mission Concepcion. When San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo) was secularized in 1793, that part of the Labor de Abajo which now is the King William area was known as land "pertaining to the secularization of the Alamo Mission". After 1823 the land became known as Labor de los Mochos, a name found in the deed records as late as 1909. The corner of South Alamo and Wickes Street marks the curve in the Acequia Madre of the Alamo, The acequia , or irrigation ditch, system dates from the early eighteenth century. The acequia continued down what is now Wickes Street on its way toward the San Antonio River. Although they have been filled In and paved over, walls of the Acequia Madre 'Still exist on Alamo and Wickes Streets. This site, then, is an Important link in any future exploration or documentation of the acequia system.

Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church South bought two lots at this corner of South Alamo and Wickes Street In 1908 for $3000 from Joseph and Julia Courand. Services were held in a house built at 102 Wickes until January 1912, when the church was begun. The last installment on the debt was paid In January of 1911 and the building was dedicated in 1913.

Beverly Spillman, the architect, was prominent throughout South Texas. In addition to designing many fine homes, he was the architect for numerous theaters in South Texas, the San Angelo Hotel, the East Wing of the San Antonio City Market-place (now undergoing major renovation as El Mercado with matching HUD funds) and the General Office Building and Entry Gate for the San Antonio Portland Cement Company.

Spillman's design for the Alamo Methodist congregation reflects the popularity of Spanish Mission derivative motifs in San Antonio. Many secular buildings there feature elaborate or simplified parapets, entrances, fenestration, domes, and towers directly relatable to the missions downriver. Some of these are the Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific Depots (National Register 1975 and 1976, respectively) and the Heimann and Collin-Gunther Buildings included in the Southern Pacific Depot Historic District, nominated in 1978.

The church did not prosper, however, and by the 1970's the congregation had diminished considerably. After the merging of the congregation of the Alamo Methodist Church with another congregation in 1975, the building was sold to William and Marcia Larsen, the present owners. The Larsons are organizers of the non-profit Church Theater, a professional theater and educational facility providing performances for thousands of students in addition to operation of dinner-theater for entertainment. The presence of the Church Theater within the locally designated King William Historic District has encouraged the redevelopment of South Alamo Street, the only commercially-zoned street within the District.