The St. Mary's Strip is an

entertainment district An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...

in Midtown San Antonio. Located just north of

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

, "the Strip" encompasses a section of North St. Mary's that is roughly bounded by Mistletoe Avenue and Grayson Street.After years of decline, the St. Mary's Strip is better than ever
. Saldana, Hector. MySanAntonio.com. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016. It is situated adjacent to the

Pearl Brewery The Pearl Brewing Company (also known as the Pearl Brewery or just Pearl) was an American brewery established in 1883 in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. In 1985, Pearl's parent company purchased the Pabst Brewing Company and assumed ...

and is part of a rapidly redeveloping corridor of central San Antonio. In contrast to the tourist-oriented River Walk, the Strip is geared more towards locals. Every weekend, thousands of people visit the bars, clubs, coffee shops, food trucks, restaurants, and entertainment venues that line St. Mary's Street west of

U.S. Highway 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at t ...

and north of

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

.Plan to fight crime on St. Mary's Strip
. Baucum, Emily C. KSAT 12. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.

History

The Strip has been called "San Antonio's first entertainment corridor", with some drawing comparisons between it and

Austin's Austins was a department store in the Diamond area of Derry in Northern Ireland. The store was established in 1830 and, until 2016, remained standing as the world's oldest independent department store. The building measures and is five storie ...

Sixth Street during its heyday.The St. Mary's Strip is back -- and millennials totally own it
. Saldana, Hector. San Antonio Express News. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.About
. The St. Mary's Strip. Retrieved 8 December 2016. The area around Tobin Hill, the neighborhood in which it resides, was first developed in 1731History
. Tobin Hill Community Association. Retrieved 8 December 2016. as agricultural land. In 1777, the "Upper Labor"

acequia An acequia () or séquia () is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Particularly in Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and the modern-day American Southwest particularly n ...

was constructed on the southern fringe of Tobin Hill, following the Rock Quarry Road -- the predecessor to the modern St. Mary's Street.Tobin Hill
. City of San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation. Retrieved 8 December 2016. A century passed before any significant, non-agricultural development took place. By the late 19th century, the area was known as the "Old Main Association", a reference to the section of Main Avenue that ran through its boundaries. A series of court cases inadvertently paved the way for residential suburbs, and members of the Tobin family erected seven houses in the 1880s and 1890s, lending their name to that of the current neighborhood. By 1919, the streetcar reached the eastern edge of Tobin Hill, opening the doors to commercial development along St. Mary's Street and other north-south corridors touched by the city's public transportation system, such as San Pedro and McCullough. In spite of the decline of streetcar and its eventual disbandment in San Antonio in the 1930s,History (Streetcars in San Antonio)
. Texas Transportation Museum. Retrieved 9 December 2016. North St. Mary's continued to thrive as a major northbound commercial corridor extending from the city's central business district, aided by the construction of

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

between it and downtown in the 1950s.The San Antonio Area Freeway System
. The Texas Highway Man Pages. Last updated 6 December 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2016 The Strip was adversely affected by the controversial construction of

to its immediate east in the 1970s, losing much of its traffic to the city's newly constructed major north-south expressway. The Strip experienced its famous first golden age during the 1980s and early 1990s, with an estimated 15,000 people attending an

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

block party hosted by Daisy Fuentes and another 12,000 coming out for a Halloween bash in late 1990. Musician Art Sandoli's "The St. Mary's Strip", released in the fall of 1985, celebrated the burgeoning entertainment corridor's newly formed identity. This golden age came to a close with the subsequent rise in crime in the area. Violence discouraged patrons from visiting, and nightlife began to taper off into its nadir in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The murder of

Alamo Heights Alamo Heights is an incorporated city that is surrounded by the city of San Antonio in Bexar County in the U.S. state of Texas. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Alamo Heights was 7,357. It is part of the Greater San Antonio metrop ...

resident George “Tres” Waters III on July 8, 1990 shocked the community, tarnishing St. Mary's reputation for a generation. According to Texas Public Radio's

David Martin Davies David Martin "Dave" Davies is an American print and broadcast journalist based in Texas. As a newspaper columnist for the ''San Antonio Express-News'', he writes about video games. In the mid-2000s, Davies was the host of a television show ''U@P ...

, who used to be a bartender for several establishments along the Strip during that time, crime in the area was "sensationalized and blown out of proportion by the local media".Will Reviving The St. Mary's Strip Revive Past Problems?
. The Source, Texas Public Radio. Flahive, Paul. Retrieved 9 December 2016. A former San Antonio police officer described the character of most crime in the area as "quality of life" issues, such as those of parking and loud music.Crime a factor in decline of St. Mary's Street night life
. Serna, Stephanie. KSAT 12. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2017. The street has recently been revitalized with an influx of

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000 ...

activity. New bars have sprung up to complement the character of some of the older establishments. The Phantom Room, the Strip's southern anchor, burned to the ground in late 2016.SAFD: St. Mary's Strip bar 'likely a total loss' after early morning fire
. White, Tyler. San Antonio Express-News. 16 November 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Strip Culture of San Antonio Entertainment districts in Texas