The Nix Houses, Innovation and Style in Texas' Oldest Historic District

This is the untold story of three prominent South Texas players in real estate in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries. The characters profiled are true-life individuals who shaped the skyline of San Antonio: Atlee B. Ayres, Joseph Madison ("JM") Nix and Birdie Lanier Nix. When these three got together in the late 1890s life would never be the same for them as well as for San Antonio. Published by Watercress Press, the book peices together an intricate historical account of a real estate project launched by an unknown architect and out-of-town developer that proves to be the genesis of two patron families of San Antonio. Pachecano's essay weaves the architectural significance with the social, economic and political histories seen as contemporaneous with the creation of the Nix Houses in the late nineteen century.