John H. Kampmann, Master Builder: San Antonio's German Influence in the 19th Century

by Maggie Valentine

Overview

Travel back and take a close look at what it meant to be an architect in the 19th century.

Although relatively unknown in modern day Texas, John H. Kampmann was the master craftsman of his time. Explore Kampmann's lasting legacy alongside Maggie Valentine as she reveals how one man changed the face of the city. From an adobe Spanish village to a city of stone and mortar, Kampmann used his skills as a builder, designer, and civic leader for over thirty years, to leave his mark in San Antonio.

John and Caroline Bonnet Kampmann's descendants ultimately contributed much to the history of the city in their lifespan, and for generations to come. His client list read like a Who's Who, and his work included everything from the Menger Hotel and St. Joseph's Catholic Church, to the Oppenheimer and Eagar houses.

Bringing light to an important chapter in Texas history, Valentine follows the urban fabric of San Antonio and its evolution into a multicultural community as it exemplified social, political, and economic history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780825306631
Publisher:	Beaufort Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/17/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Maggie Valentine was born and raised in Southern California. She graduated from UCLA with a PhD in architecture and urban planning. She has taught architectural history and planning at UCLA, California State University, and Montana State University, and is currently a professor at the University of Texas San Antonio. In addition to her critically acclaimed book, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk, she has been published in several anthologies on regional architecture and cinema history.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1 German Roots 1818-1848 5

2 Gone to Texas 1848-1852 17

3 Texas-German Vernacular 1854-1866 31

4 German Community Building and Division 1855-1868 65

5 Reconstruction 1865-1880 107

6 Entrepreneur and Public Persona 1870-1885 145

7 Legacy 171

Endnotes 185

Bibliography 207

Index 215

Editorial Reviews

In this work, Maggie Valentine provides an encompassing narrative of the life and works of John H. Kampmann, a German immigrant to Texas who is believed to be the state’s first master builder and the architectural creator of much of what would become the modern city of San Antonio. Valentine, a professor of architecture at the University of Texas at San Antonio, offers a vivid picture of not only Kampmann, but of the hot, dusty frontier that was South Texas in the mid-nineteenth century. This was the world Kampmann arrived in as a young, skilled builder who left a fledgling career in Germany to pursue his vocation among San Antonio’s muddy streets and adobe dwellings. Readers learn that Kampmann was indeed vital to the development of the city in which he chose to settle, and his architectural compositions—both residential and commercial—left a significant impact on the community. Such iconic buildings as St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, and the Lone Star Brewery continue to bear witness to the influence of Kampmann.

Southwestern Historical Quarterly - Robert Krause

A meticulously documented volume that is essential to understanding San Antonio's evolution from a Spanish adobe pueblo to a 19th-century town built with sturdy German-cut limestone

Rivard Report Robert Rivard

Maggie Valentine's thoroughgoing account of the life and work of San Antonio architect John H. Kampmann adds an important chapter to story of building in nineteenth-century Texas. Meticulously researched, lucidly written, and well illustrated, it is a signal contribution. — Professor Christopher A. Long Ph.D, Architecture, University of Texas at Austin

Impeccable in its scholarship and presentation, while at the same time being engagingly written and historically fascinating — Barbara Ras, Director, Trinity Press

I am thrilled at the marvelous job, and documented detail produced and incorporated in the book. As a family member, I am quite grateful for Maggie's assiduous and scholarly attention to detail, and your intelligence in formulating this book. — Kenneth Bonnet, Ph.D.

From the Publisher