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

Valentine, Maggie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0825307309 ISBN 13: 9780825307300

Publisher: Beaufort Books, 2014

Synopsis

Although relatively unknown in modern day San Antonio, John H. Kampmann was an imposing force during his lifetime (1819-1885). Maggie Valentine explores the lasting legacy Kampmann had as a craftsman, builder, contractor, stonemason, construction supervisor, building designer, materials supplier, and business and civic leader for thirty-five years in San Antonio. He changed the face of the city from an adobe Spanish village to a city of stone and mortar. The book also looks at what it meant to be an architect, the business of building, and the role of immigrants. John and Caroline Bonnet Kampmann's de­scendants contributed much to the history of the city for generations. His client list reads like a Who's Who in 19th-century San An­tonio. His work included the Menger Hotel, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and the German-English School, as well as the Steves, Eagar, Halff, Groos, and Oppenheimer Houses. In addition he ran businesses from a bank to a brewery, and served as city alderman and fire captain. This study brings to light an important chap­ter in the formation of the urban fabric of San Antonio and its evolution into a multi-cultural community. Valentine explores the built environment as it exemplified the social, political, and economic history.

About this title

From 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.

Review:

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

(Robert Rivard, Rivard Report)

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.

(Robert Krause, The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Southwestern Historical Quarterly)

About this edition

• Publisher: Beaufort Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0825307309
• ISBN 13: 9780825307300
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224