Robert Hugman

Robert H. H. Hugman (February 8, 1902 – July 22, 1980) was an American architect and the acknowledged visionary behind the now world-famous San Antonio River Walk.

Born in San Antonio as Robert Harvey Harold Hugman, he finished Brackenridge High, before graduating from the School of Architecture and Design at the University of Texas at Austin in 1924. He worked in New Orleans from 1924 to 1927. Robert and his wife Martha had a son, Robert Harvey Harold Hugman, Jr, born on March 8, 1925. His second wife was Elene Barnby Newman (the widow of Lt. Col. Fred Newman.)

The Vieux Carré Commission, established in New Orleans in 1925, was "a close second" to Charleston as the earliest governmental historic preservation agency in the country, though its powers were only advisory. The efforts to save the Spanish colonial buildings of the French Quarter, inspired Hugman to join those seeking to hold onto his city's rich architectural heritage when he returned to San Antonio.

After the city's downtown suffered a series of floods, with the worst in 1921, plans had been proposed to convert that part of the San Antonio River into a paved-over concrete storm sewer. The San Antonio Conservation Society and other civic groups rallied to oppose the idea. In 1929 Hugman introduced a proposal called, "The Shops of Aragon and Romula,” a beautification and flood-control plan for the heart of the city. He kept the proposal alive for seven years, advocating for his vision with elaborate drawings, in private meetings and public speeches.

When private architectural commissions disappeared with the Great Depression, Hugman worked as a planner for public works projects, redesigning Woodlawn Lake, Elmendorf Lake, Concepcion Park, and others, including two new parks in Seguin.

His plan for the River Walk was eventually adopted in 1938 when funding became available from the Works Progress Administration. According to biographer Vernon Zunker, Hugman designed 31 unique staircases for the River Walk, along with bridges, water elements, an outdoor theater, and many other features. The bridges were built with high arches to allow gondoliers to pass, as well as floats in the dreamed-for River Parade. Hugman's designs included landscaping, showing where every one of 11,000 trees and shrubs were to go among the existing bald cypress and other native trees.

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