An Anniversary for San Antonio Riverwalk Landmark
The Nix Hospital was dedicated on this day 90 years ago. Originally called the J.M. Nix Professional Building, it surpassed the height of the previous development of Joseph Madison Nix, The Medical Arts Building ( now known as the Emily Morgan Hotel ) which was 13 stories tall and built in 1926. The Nix Hospital is a 24 story structure…without a 13th floor, and it cost $1.5 million to build. J.M. Nix had earlier purchased the land from the Herff family in 1920 for $125,000.
According to an advertisement at the time, the Nix was described as “the first professional building ever to house a complete hospital, doctors’ offices, and parking facilities under the same roof”
It cost $2 million to build, and mystery has always surrounded the series of faces seen on the exterior of the building. There are five faces under the 2nd floor windows, and there seems to be no record of their meaning…despite many theories. Some say that one of them is a nurse, and another is a physician. What do you think ?
The Nix was the first air-conditioned hospital in the United States, and when it was completed, it was the largest and tallest hospital in the country.
Amongst the many thousands of people born there are the legendary entertainer Carol Burnett, Colonel Oliver North, and former Mayor of San Antonio, Henry Cisneros. Its always fun on a narrated cruise on the river to pause and see the optical illusion of the building, where it looks like it is balancing on one wall.
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