Alamo Roman & Portland Cement Company, Brackenridge Park, San Antonio, Bexar County, TX

Significance: Organized on January 15, 1880, the Alamo Roman and Portland Cement Company claims to be the first manufacturing establishment to produce true Portland cement west of the Mississippi River. The manufacturing plant was established at this site and, from the cement rock taken from the adjacent quarry, began producing cement in 1880 at the rate of ten barrels a day. Although local acceptance of this new building material was slow to develop, the company continued to expand and in 1897, after being reincorporated as the San Antonio Portland Cement Company, introduced an advanced manufacturing process: a rotary kiln using powdered coal as fuel. In 1908 a new site was selected and a new plant erected thereon which is today one of the Southwest's largest producers of Portland cement. Although the original frame factory buildings are not extant, the ruins of the three kilns that remain are significant objects in the history of building technology in the Southwest.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-174
Survey number: HABS TX-3173
Building/structure dates: ca. 1880 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 11000513