City of San Antonio
Parks & Recreation Department

Riverside Park
100 McDonald

As a privately owned park in the late 1800s, Riverside was known as the "old picnic grounds," and described in newspapers as "a delightful retreat." It was leased by the Alamo Electric Street Railway Company and used as an attraction at the end of the streetcar line. Across a fence to the east was Exposition Park where an annual trade fair promoting relations between the United States and Mexico was held.

In 1892, Riverside Park was sold to a local funeral director who wanted to turn it into a cemetery, a plan that failed because of citizen opposition. When Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt gathered his troops in San Antonio for the Spanish American War, they camped and drilled at Riverside Park. In spite of its beauty, Riverside was not able to compete with Brackenridge Park, which opened in 1901, and it was abandoned.

Finally, in 1927, the City purchased 90 acres for a new south side park which was first named for Theodore Roosevelt, and later renamed Riverside. Today, the nine-hole golf course built in 1930 has grown to 27 holes, and the park has nearly doubled in size to 176 acres.