Roosevelt Park in San Antonio, Texas is named for President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. The origins of the park date to 1888, when it was known as the International Fair Grounds. The name was changed to Roosevelt Park in 1920. Its current layout and design was created by the architectural firm of Hare & Hare, and for a brief time was known as Lambert Park, before returning the name to Roosevelt Park In 1898, Army Lt. Colonel Roosevelt, and then-recent Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Col. Leonard Wood, established recruitment headquarters for the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

at the

Menger Hotel The Menger Hotel is a historic hotel located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA, on the site of the Battle of the Alamo. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a contributing building in the Alamo Plaza Historic Dist ...

, with Wood signing up volunteers on the hotel patio and Roosevelt working out of its bar room. Enlistees were encamped and trained by Roosevelt in what is now the 12.9-acre Roosevelt Park. The recruits would come to be known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Roosevelt himself noted that Texans, in particular active Texas Rangers, made up a large percentage of the volunteers. The current park was once owned by Bexar County. When the City of San Antonio assumed ownership of the facility in 1920, the park was named Roosevelt Park.

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{{Theodore Roosevelt Parks in San Antonio Tourist attractions in San Antonio Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders Military history of the United States Cavalry regiments of the United States Army American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Military units and formations of the United States in the Spanish–American War