SAN ANTONIO RIVER (NIGHT)

San Antonio's second most famous attraction, the River Walk (or "Paseo del Rio") sits 15 feet below the busy city streets and is the lifeblood of the city, featuring hotels, restaurants, shops and nightclubs. Tall cypress trees and dense tropical foliage provide a year-round tropical garden which has been called the "Venice of America." Saved from destruction after severe floods in the early 1920's by the efforts of architect Robert Hugman and FDR's WPA assistance, the River Walk was built in 1938 and expanded for the 1969 Hemisfair World's Fair. This view highlights the Arneson River Theater (Robert Hugman, 1939); in the background, (right to left) the Smith-Young Tower (Atlee & Robert Ayres, 1929) which, at its construction, is said to have been the tallest building west of the Mississippi; and the Alamo National Bank Building (Graham, Anderson, Probst, 1929), as well as a romantic full moon.