SAN ANTONIO - It's no secret that San Antonio has a lot of really old churches.
- Some of the stained glass at San Antonio churches dates back to the 1800s
- The glass is used as a teaching tool
- Some of the stained glass art relays historical stories
Since the late 1800s, Travis Park in downtown San Antonio has been next-door neighbors with St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Members are always happy to share the rich history.
At 160 years old, there's a lot to tell - starting in 1858, just before the Civil War.
"San Antonio was a frontier town, pretty much your typical wild west, shoot-'em-up sort of place," said church historian Lewis Fisher.
History books aside , there's another way to tell the story: through stained glass.
"One of them was made in Philadelphia, the other was made in a studio in Brooklyn, in New York. They were shipped down to San Antonio in pieces. There was no railroad to San Antonio. All the windows had to be disassembled and reassembled here on site. They are the oldest church stained glass windows in San Antonio," Fisher said.
Designed by Italian artisans, they date back to the completion of the church 1875. That's less than 40 years after the Battle of the Alamo.
In a way, they do talk. They have words and tell stories.
"We have one window here which was put in honor of a rescue of a 4-year-old boy who had fallen into the San Antonio River," said Fisher.
As the church prepares to celebrate Founder's Day this weekend, members got creative with ways to share the story to younger generations.
"Our youth minister had the idea of trying to develop a coloring book with our stained glass windows in there," said St. Mark's Rector Rev. Elizabeth Knowlton.
From early on, stained glass windows were used as teaching tools, and with 160 years of history, they hope the message shines through.
"Really so much of the history of the city is part of our church history. You just realize there's countless witnesses that have come before us to make us who we are today," Knowlton said.