Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Company

Near this site in 1879, Englishman William Loyd discovered a blue argillaceous limestone believed to be a natural cement rock. Analysis by San Antonio druggist and chemist George H. Kalteyer confirmed the rock contained proper proportions of lime and clay to produce portland cement. Loyd and Kalteyer, along with other investors, organized the Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Company, which was chartered in January 1880. This, the first portland cement plant west of the Mississippi, began with on intermittent pot kiln. A second pot kiln was added in 1881, when the company name was changed to Alamo Cement Company. The tall stack Schoefer-type kiln was added in 1889. Cement from this plant was used in the construction of the State Capitol and the Driskill Hotel in Austin. Through the vision and leadership of Portland Cement pioneers Loyd, Kalteyer,and Charles Baumberger, who succeeded to the presidency following Kalteyer's death in 1897, the company flourished. In 1908 the plant relocated to a site later known as Cementville near Alamo Heights. The original quarry became the Japanese Sunken Gardens in Brackenridge Park. The kiln area was designated as Baumberger Plaza in 1944. (1991)

Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Company is a historical marker in San Antonio, Bexar County, dedicated in 1991. It is one of 239 historical markers documented in Bexar County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 542 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.4619, -98.4769 near San Antonio. The nearest cataloged historic site is Portland Cement Plants (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Chinese Sunken Garden Gate, Confederate Tannery, and Trinity University.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5029000098. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.