Hemisfair - A World's Fair and Its Tower

Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on San Antonio River Walk and the Alamo, a free self-guided tour.

In 1968 San Antonio threw a party for its 250th birthday and invited the world. HemisFair '68, an official world's fair, took over these grounds, and its theme structure still rises over the trees: the Tower of the Americas.

The tower opened on April 6, 1968, and reaches 750 feet to the tip of its antenna. It was the tallest observation tower in the United States until the Stratosphere Tower opened in Las Vegas in 1996. Elevators on the outside of the shaft carry visitors to observation decks near the top, for a fee, and a revolving restaurant turns slowly beneath them.

Today the old fairgrounds are a public park that the city has been redeveloping with plazas, restaurants and play spaces. You are standing at Yanaguana Garden, a playground named for Yanaguana, traditionally said to be an Indigenous name for the San Antonio River. It is a good spot to let children burn off energy before the next stops. Look up at the tower and try to guess how long the elevator ride takes.

Getting here: Climb back to street level and walk south on Alamo Street about 500 meters (a third of a mile). Yanaguana Garden is on your left at the edge of Hemisfair.

Did you know?: The tower was conceived for San Antonio's 250th anniversary, and construction began in August 1966, less than two years before the fair opened.

Photo op: From the garden, frame the tower rising above the trees; a low angle makes it look even taller.

More on Wikipedia: HemisFair '68 · Tower of the Americas

Hemisfair - A World's Fair and Its Tower

Stops on this tour