The small (
63 feet wide and 33 feet tall
) adobe structure known as the Alamo was started in 1727 as a stone and mortar church for the Spanish Catholic Mission San Antonio de Valero.
How much of the Alamo is original?
An army artist who sketched the Alamo compound in 1849 after the remodeling commented that the chapel had been topped with “a ridiculous scroll, giving the building the appearance of the headboard of a bedstead.” Of the present Alamo building,
probably only the bottom 23 feet of wall
are part of the original.
What were the dimensions of the Alamo?
| Cornerstone (1st stone) Laid May 8, 1744 | Height of the building About 30 feet tall | Width of the building About 60 feet wide | Type of Stone in the Alamo Limestone | Location San Antonio, Texas |
|---|
How many soldiers did the Alamo have?
On February 23, a Mexican force comprising somewhere
between 1,800 and 6,000 men
(according to various estimates) and commanded by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began a siege of the fort.
Did anyone survive the Alamo?
The battle of the Alamo is often said to have had no survivors
: that is, no adult male Anglo-Texan present on March 6, 1836, survived the attack. However, numerous other members of the garrison did escape death. At least a dozen soldiers survived the siege as couriers.
How many Mexican died at the Alamo?
Some 600
Mexican soldiers died in the battle, compared to roughly 200 rebellious Texans. Furthermore, the brave defense of the Alamo caused many more rebels to join the Texan army.
What’s the oldest building in Texas?
| Building Location First Built | Alamo Mission Long Barracks San Antonio c. 1724 | Mission San Juan Capistrano (Texas) south of San Antonio 1731 | Espada Acequia south of San Antonio 1731 | Presidio La Bahía Goliad 1749 |
|---|
Is the real Alamo still standing?
It was partially demolished in 1912 in a dispute over the structure’s historic value. The state had acquired the church in 1883. The Alamo was operated from 1905 to 2011 by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Today, the Alamo — its name is Spanish for cottonwood — is managed by the Texas General Land Office
.
Can you go inside the Alamo?
The Alamo is free to visit!
You can go inside the church and walk around the grounds
, as well as visit all the various buildings which are open to the public. There is a fee if you wish to rent an audio guide or take a guided tour.
About 100 Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders
James Bowie and William B. Travis
. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas.
When was the Alamo destroyed?
The Alamo: 13 Days of Glory.
February 23, 1836
, began the siege of the Alamo, a 13-day moment in history that turned a ruined Spanish mission in the heart of downtown San Antonio, Texas, into a shrine known and revered the world over.
How old is the Alamo today?
304
What happened 6 weeks after the Alamo?
Several hundred of Santa Anna’s men died during the siege and storming of the Alamo. Six weeks later,
a large Texan army under Sam Houston surprised Santa Anna’s army at San Jacinto
.
WHO SAID Remember the Alamo?
Use of the phrase has been attributed both to
Gen. Sam Houston
(who supposedly used the words in a stirring address to his men on 19 April 1836, two days before the Battle of San Jacinto) and to Col. Sidney Sherman, who fought in the battle.
Was Sam Houston at the Alamo?
Houston was appointed commander in chief of the Texan army and helped negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee living in eastern Texas.
Even as Mexican forces besieged the Alamo in March 1836, Houston attended the convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos that voted for Texan independence.
How did Susanna Dickinson survive the Alamo?
She and her daughter, Angelina, were the only Anglos who escaped the carnage, but one black man and several Mexican women and children also survived. As she exited the Alamo,
a bullet tore through her leg
. Because of that injury, Santa Anna supplied her with a horse to reach Gonzales.
What famous person died at the Alamo?
Many know the famous names of
James Bowie, William B. Travis, and David Crockett
as men who died defending the Alamo, but there were about 200 others there during the Battle. These men came from a variety of backgrounds and places, but all came together to fight for Texas liberty. Who were they?
Was Jim Bowie at the Alamo?
James Bowie, byname Jim Bowie, (born 1796?, Logan County, Ky., U.S.—died March 6, 1836, San Antonio, Texas), popular hero of the Texas Revolution (1835–36) who is
mainly remembered for his part in the Battle of the Alamo (February–March 1836)
.
How did the Alamo get its hump?
“
A pitched roof didn’t really look right behind a flat surface, and since that third floor was never added, they needed something to hide that roof
.” What could hide the roof of a supply depot? A hump, or “campanulate,” the technical term architects use for bell-shaped facades like that at the Alamo.
Did Davy Crockett play the violin?
Crockett was a performer on the violin
, and often during the siege took it up and played his favorite tunes.”
Who was the youngest Alamo defender?
King agreed to his son’s request.
William Philip King
reportedly manned a cannon and was the youngest defender killed in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. King County was named in his honor.
What is the oldest city in Texas?
Considered to be the oldest town in Texas,
Nacogdoches
was founded in 1779 by Don Antonio Gil Y’Barbo. This quaint little town is booming with history and stories from years past beginning with the Caddo Indians, who lived in the area before the Spanish, through the present day.
What is the oldest house still standing?
What is this? Dating back to around 3600 BCE,
the Knap of Howar
is the oldest building in the world and is most likely the oldest house still standing. The Knap of Howar consists of two stone-built houses that were discovered in the 1930s when erosion revealed parts of the stone walls.
What is the oldest building still standing?
Dating back to 3600 BC and 700 BC, the
Megalithic Temples of Malta
are considered to be the oldest free-standing structures on earth. The temples were built during three phases of cultural revolution – Ġgantija (3600-3200BC), Saflieni (3300-3000BC) and Tarxien (3150BC-2500BC).
When was the hump added to the Alamo?
The church remained in ruins for years, but the U.S. Army renovated it in
1850
. The Army added a roof and the world-famous “hump,” a curved parapet in architectural terms, to the previously flat-topped facade.
What is Alamo the Spanish word for?
First recorded in 1830–40, alamo is from the Spanish word
álamo poplar
, ultimately < a pre-Roman language of Iberia.
What does Alamo mean in English?
The definition of an alamo is
a poplar tree from the southwest area of the United States
. An example of an alamo is a cottonwood tree. noun.
