Answers to Go with Susan Smith
Q. I noticed that the building at the northwest corner of Hopkins and LBJ has been painted white. The name A.B. Rogers can be seen at the top of the building. Who was Rogers?
A. Rogers was a key figure in the development of San Marcos as a tourist destination. Arthur B. Rogers moved to San Marcos in 1873 at the age of two.
He started his business career as a clerk at Hutchins Hardware Company in 1892. Five years later he opened A.B. Rogers Furniture and Coffins on Fort Street, now West Hopkins Street. He was the owner of the first funeral parlor in San Marcos.
He then moved to the corner of San Antonio and North Austin Street (now LBJ) where Sean Patrick’s Irish Pub/Texas Grub is now located.
In 1906, Rogers relocated his funeral home and furniture business to the building in the patron’s question at Hopkins and LBJ.
C.E. Rugel was his partner from 1914 to 1939 when Rugel died. Mr. and Mrs. Willard Pennington became partners in the Rogers Funeral Home in 1944. They purchased the business from Rogers when he retired in 1945.
Rogers’ interests were broad. He was a developer and a rancher, but he realized early on that San Marcos’ natural wonders could bring visitors to town. He purchased what is now Rio Vista Park in 1911 and opened Rogers Park/Rogers Resort. As the resort grew he added diving boards, a water slide, a restaurant, cabins and a pavilion.
According to Doni Weber’s book on Aquarena Springs, Rogers traded a gray horse and $50 for Wonder Cave in 1916. Doni Weber is a great granddaughter of A.B. Rogers and daughter of aquamaid Shirley Rogers.
In 1926, he purchased 125 acres around the headwaters of the San Marcos River. He built a golf course and began construction on the Spring Lake Hotel. The grand opening on April 22, 1929 started with swimming and golfing and ended with dinner for 300 and dancing for 600 guests.
Readers will probably notice that Rogers’ ambitious project opened in the spring of 1929. The Great Depression began with the stock market crash that October. It was certainly a difficult time to establish a new resort.
In the 1930s, the hotel was leased for use as a hospital. From 1940-1960, it leased to the Brown School.
In 1961, Rogers’ son, Paul Roger re-opened the hotel as Aquarena Springs. Paul Rogers went on to develop the park with the Sky Ride, a 220 foot tower, and of course, the famous aquamaids and their companion, Ralph the Swimming Pig. Of these, only the glass-bottom boats remain.
Susan Hansen’s March 13, 1988 profile of Rogers in the San Marcos Daily Record provided most of the information for this article. I especially enjoyed the introduction to that article.
Hansen wrote: “When A.B. Rogers moved to San Marcos in 1873, what would eventually become Spring Lake was little more than marshland. In fact there were days when that portion of the San Marcos River was so narrow that a person could almost jump across without getting his feet wet.
“The scene changed dramatically in the early 1880s, though. With the construction of the dam across from the Southland Ice House, local residents could now enjoy boating, swimming and fishing near the headwaters of the river.
“Still, for nearly 40 years afterwards, Spring Lake and the land surrounding it remained largely untouched. A few boat docks were built near the springs themselves, from the 1890s on, most development took place south of the dam.”
Hansen’s full San Marcos Daily Record article is available at the library. If you prefer a book, come check out Doni Weber’s book, “Aquarena Springs.”
