Among the rich and varied collections in The DRT Library is that of Ernst F. Schuchard (1893-1972), engineer, secretary, and later the president of Pioneer Flour Mills in San Antonio, the company founded by his grandfather, Carl Hilmar Guenther. Mr. Schuchard's interests and skills are reflected in his collection of early stereographs and in later photographs of his own, in scale drawings and original paintings, and in his records of detailed research on the San Antonio missions, their original fresco designs and irrigation system, on mills and milling, including the mill of Mission San Jose, and on early San Antonio buildings.

One of Mr. Schuchard's better known contributions is a compilation of images, narrative, and chronology for the 100th anniversary of the Pioneer Flour Mills, "a scrapbook of pictures and events in San Antonio during the last 100 years," published in 1951. The photographs, prints, and negatives for this publication were included in the Ernst F. Schuchard Papers donated to the library in 1976 in his memory by his widow, Mrs. Dorothy Schuchard, and his daughters.

Selected Images


"On the San Antonio River near 1st mission"
stereograph, ca. 1879
Alexis V. Latourette, photographer
A woman and three children , the smallest child with a fishing pole, sit on a log dam on the river near Mission
Concepcion.
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"Door of San Jose de Aguayo"
stereograph, ca. 1879
Alexis V. Latourette, photographer
Mr. Schuchard inscribed on the back, "note painted designs on walls," and these fragments of the original frescoes are faintly visible on both left and right of the portal, the lighter patterns on the left, and an intact darker pattern on the right.
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Ernst F. Schuchard, Mission San Jose,
fresco details of facade, 1932
watercolor on paper, ca. 17 in. sq.
Based on extensive study and experimentation with pigments, this finely executed watercolor rendering is a depiction of the artist's concept of how the walls of Mission San Jose were originally decorated. Mr. Schuchard researched fresco paintings throughout the world, analyzing and reproducing the paints used on the San Antonio missions and simulating the designs from remnants still on the walls and from evidence found in early photographs, such as that by Latourette, and from early writings. In the Schuchard papers in the library are his notebooks with records of his research and samples of the paint with which he experimented.
SC05.062


Ernst F. Schuchard, Mission Concepcion,
fresco design details of interior, 1932
watercolor on paper, ca. 17 in. sq.
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"Bridge Bld. Febr. 26, 1903"
Better known as the Clifford Building, the unique cylindrical structure is well known in downtown San Antonio
and still prominent at the northwest end of the bridge on Commerce Street over the San Antonio River. The photograph was made in the aftermath of one of the floods of the San Antonio River before the construction of
Olmos Dam in the mid-1920s.
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West End Lake
Inscribed by Mr. Schuchard, "Skating on West End Lake, 1899," with associated text: "In February the temperature went down to 4 degrees F. West End Lake and the river froze over."
Pioneer Flour Mills 100th Anniversary album, p. 45.
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