About this tour
St. Paul Square grew up around one building: the grand 1902 Southern Pacific depot that put San Antonio's East Side on the map. For most of the twentieth century this was a self-contained Black business and entertainment district, its rhythms set by the trains pulling in and the church bells a few blocks over. This short walk takes you from the depot's Mission Revival grandeur — now a restored nightclub — past the sanctuary of the city's first African American Methodist congregation, to the century-old bridge that has twice fought to survive, first as infrastructure, then as a symbol of who gets to shape this neighborhood's future.