Japanese Tea Garden

Ray Lambert, former City Parks Commissioner, was given 11 acres of land by Mrs. Emma Koehler, widow of George W. Brackenridge, in 1915. This piece of land is where the Japanese Tea Garden has been located for over a hundred years. In 1920, a small “village” of houses were built in order to serve as the manufacturing and sale of Mexican arts and crafts. Additionally, the houses contained an outdoor restaurant. In 1928, the city of San Antonio invited Kimi Eizo Jingu to live in the villages and he opened the Bamboo Room to serve light lunch meals and tea. The bamboo room operated until 1942, when anti-Japanese ideology swept the country and forced Mr. Jingu to leave his home and the garden. The dedication ceremony of the Japanese Tea Garden was attended by family members of Mr. Jingu and representatives of the Japanese Government. In recognition of the Tea Garden's origin as a rock quarry that played a prominent role in the development of the cement business, as well as its later redevelopment as a garden, the site is designated as a Texas Civil Engineering Landmark, a Registered Texas Historic Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Location: 3853 N. St. Mary's St, San Antonio, Texas 78205 (Mission Reach section of River Walk)