San Antonio, Texas.
The year was 1968 when San Antonio hosted a World’s Fair. The history of these expositions goes back to the 1790s when, in 1791, Prague, Bohemia hosted the first industrial exhibition on the occasion of the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia. (Source, Wikipedia). In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the fairs were very popular with multiple expositions held in the same year in cities around the world. In 1914, for example, there were 11 cities holding international expositions. The World’s Fairs have lost their lustre with a high cost for infrastructure and a need to use the large facilities after the conclusion of the event. In the 2010 decade, for example, as of this writing, there have only been four international expositions. The next proposed sites in the United States are in 2025 when, among other world cities, Houston, San Francisco and New York State are under consideration.
In 1968, San Antonio Texas hosted Hemisfair ’68 on a site near downtown. A 50th anniversary celebration is planned for April 6-8, 2018. According to the Hemisfair website, this celebration focuses on the diversity in San Antonio. The park is alive and well and continues to be an attraction that holds events often. You can visit their website here.
Probably the most significant structure built for that fair is the Tower of the Americas. Open daily for rides to the top, there is even a restaurant on top of the 750-foot (228 m) tower. The revolving Chart House Restaurant even takes reservations online. Other residents of the park include UNAM, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and the John H. Wood, Jr. Federal Courthouse.
The sound of moving water permeates the park with lots of sculptural designs. The park is a great place to take a break, sit and visit, or stroll through the grounds. You can get to the park via the San Antonio River Walk. Consider the park as a destination to visit when you are in the city. After a day of meetings at our conference, the late afternoon walk to the park provided some exercise to counterpoint sitting in rooms all day. I submit for your review a gallery of images captured using the new Sony RX-100 V camera. For the photo types among you, most of the images were captured via 3-exposures then processed into HDR via Lightroom. In most browsers, you can click on an image in the gallery to enlarge it and to scroll through the set.
John Steiner
Flare Legend Adventures
How cool is this? Whaaat? Whaaaaaat? It sort of reminds me of Atlanta’s olympic park. It renews my faith in people in general, when they plan for a use outside of the short term. Parks, green space & fountains, are nice city amenities for people & tourists, providing seating, shade and trails to traverse while still in walking distance to whatever you might need.
Only a short walk from downtown, they just opened a major convention center next door to the park.
Hemisfair Park is one of my favorite places. I spent many wonderful times there and on the River Walk when I lived in Texas. Somewhere, I have a box of photographs of San Antonio and its many delights. Thanks for the memories.
I am happy my post was a catalyst for your memories. My wife wasn’t with me on my visit to San Antonio as it was work related. I want to go back sometime to share those interesting places with her.