Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Works
a.k.a. Japanese Sunken Garden
Brackenridge Park, San Antonio, TXThe first Portland cement factory west of the Mississippi was located in San Antonio.
With the discovery of cement rock in the northern sections of San Antonio, William Loyd and associates founded the first portland cement works in the southwest. Although not the first in the United States, it was the first portland cement works west of the Mississippi River.
William Loyd discovered the cement rock while on a hunting trip and proceeded to investigate the possibility of manufacturing cement. With the help from several friends, the Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Company was organized as a hydraulic cement manufacturing venture.
Land leased from the city was quarried and the stone produced a high quality cement. The mill was adjacent to the poor house and promoters of the cement factory were encouraged by friends who told them that after they went broke they wouldn't have to go far.
During the early years of production, the sale of lime and building stone was the chief source of income. The company later expanded into sidewalk construction to show the utility of Portland cement. Newly-laid walks were covered by wooden planks, obviously for protection so that secret inspections could determine the quality of their product. Finally, General Q. A. Gillmore presented a favorable evaluation of the Alamo Cement. Among notable buildings built by the Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Company was the Texas Capitol in 1888, the second largest building in the United States at that time.
In 1907 the old quarry and plant site was deemed unsatisfactory due to inaccessibility to railroad freight. After twenty-five years at the same location, the plant was moved to its present location on Nacogdoches Road.
In 1917 San Antonio Park Commissioner Ray Lambert conceived the idea that the old quarry and works would be a suitable location for a sunken garden. Due to the money raising efforts of Park Commissioner Lambert the old Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Works was converted into a sunken garden using prison labor. Total cost of the conversion was only $7,000 which included a Mexican village. Pagoda, and the sunken gardens.
A young Japanese couple was invited to manage the gardens until the advent of World War II when Mr. and Mrs. Jingo were forced to move because of rising Japanese sentiment concerning the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The giant smokestack, quarry pits, and kiln remain visible in the Sunken Gardens of the first Portland cement factory west of the Mississippi.
Bibliography
[MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Lesley, Robert W. History of the Portland Cement Industry in the United States. Chicago: International Trade Press, Inc., 1924.
Helen Jingu, Los Angeles, California, to Institute of Texas [sic] Cultures, San Antonio, Texas, February 25, 1969. MS. (Available at Institute of Texas Cultures, San Antonio. Texas.)
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.