JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Whether it’s by foot or in a vehicle, touring the buildings and sites at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph provides a glimpse into the unique history of the base and its beginnings.
There are 398 structures, sites and objects within the Randolph Field Historic District constructed between 1929 and 1950. Randolph Field, which is the former name for JBSA-Randolph, was dedicated on June 20, 1930, as the site of the U.S. Army Air Corps Training Center.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the historic district covers 410 acres at JBSA-Randolph, bordered on the north by Harmon Drive and A Street; on the east by the east hangar flightline, located on Fifth Street East; on the south by Northeast Drive and H Street; and on the west by the west hangar flightline, located on Fifth Street West.
The National Register of Historic Places is administered by the National Park Service and includes districts, structures, buildings and objects of significance in American history, architecture and archeology.
Lane Bourgeois, 12th Flying Training Wing historian, said the historic buildings and structures at JBSA-Randolph were constructed in the Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style of the 1920s and 1930s common in Texas and Southwestern U.S. during that time period.
According to the book, “The Architecture of Randolph Field, 1928-31,” Spanish Colonial Revival architecture includes stucco exterior, red tile roofs, entrances with ornamented glazed tiles, wrought-iron balconets, elaborate cast stonework, open courtyards and rows of arches.
Spanish Colonial Revival architecture evolved from the Mission Revival style of the late 19th century in California when architects began designing structures that reflected the regional Catholic missions of the Spanish colonial days.
According to historical sources, Bourgeois said the structures and buildings at JBSA-Randolph were designed and constructed in accordance with the vision of Lt. Harold Clark, who developed the “Air City” concept and layout of Randolph Field and his team of architects, including the father-and-son team of Atlee and Robert Ayres.
“It was built to be aesthetically pleasing and functional at the same time,” he said. “We use the base today as a testament to the vision of the architects. Everything is designed in one consistent kind of architectural style.”
Building 100, known as the “Taj Mahal” and located on Washington Circle, is an example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture with its white stucco exterior and clay tile. The two-story, T-shaped building, completed in 1931, houses the administrative offices for the 12th FTW and is 170 feet high – making it the tallest structure at JBSA-Randolph.
The Taj Mahal includes a central tower with a domed roof covered by ceramic tile and an auditorium. Inside the tower is a functional 500,000-gallon water tank. The tower is of the Art Deco design, also prevalent in the 1920s and 1930s, that included symmetrical facades, towers or pylons to emphasize height, ornamental metalwork, concrete and glass block and colorful murals, according to a 2011 article published in the San Antonio Express-News magazine “Trends.”
The construction of the Taj Mahal came about from Clark’s idea to have a centralized administration building at the installation that would serve many purposes. The structure housed a post office, signal office, print plant, a weather office, Judge Advocate offices, a courtroom, telephone exchange room, a photography unit and Air Corps Training Center administrative offices.
Buildings surrounding the Taj Mahal along Washington Circle include the Chapel, building 102, completed in 1934, and the former Post Exchange, building 200, constructed in 1931. The Chapel, located on the northeastern side of Washington Circle, has features of both Mission Concepcion and Mission San Jose in San Antonio.
Architecture of the chapel includes an ornamented entrance of Spanish Baroque influence and asymmetrical bell towers with shallow domes.
The Y-shaped Post Exchange has three wings, an open courtyard and a covered, colonnaded walkway. The Post Exchange was located in the southwest wing, a grocery store in the southeast wing and a restaurant in the north wing. Other amenities in the Post Exchange building included a shoe shop, a tailor shop, an exchange office, a beauty shop and restrooms. Today, the building houses the 12th FTW Historian Office and the 12th FTW Inspector General Office.
Behind the Taj Mahal, near or within the Main Circle are the Commanding General’s Quarters, building 300; residential housing; and the Officer’s Club, building 500. All were constructed in the 1930s.
Located in the southern end of Main Circle is the former aviation cadet complex. Consisting of six structures, the cadet complex included the cadet academic building, building 900; four barracks, buildings 901, 902, 903 and 907; the administration building, building 905; and a parade ground.
All of the former cadet complex structures are now offices for the Air Education and Training Command, including the academic building, which is the AETC headquarters.
The cadet academic building housed classrooms, a library, instructors’ offices and a radio room. Cadets took classes in weather, the use of radio and armaments. The four cadet barracks each could house 106 men, with two men in each room, and included recreation rooms, an orderly room, mess hall, kitchen, storerooms and administrative offices.
Gary Boyd, AETC History Office command historian, said building 905 was the center of a cadet’s life because it was the place they reported to for the start of their training and housed both recreational and dining facilities.
On the ground floor of the cadet administration building were supply rooms, a mess hall, kitchens and administrative offices. Located in the basement were a bowling alley, post exchange branch, barber shop and gymnasium. The second floor consisted of offices, including that of the Commandant of Cadets.
“It was almost like the reception center of today’s basic training,” Boyd said. “You would report here, get your initial issue of clothes and get your haircut. You would eat here and you would meet your upperclassmen and leadership here on your way to being assigned to cadet barracks and it was in the middle of the parade field. This building was the nexus for everything you did in aviation cadet training.”
In the southwestern portion of Main Circle are three structures that were used as medical facilities. Building 661, which today is headquarters for the 19th Air Force, was constructed in 1942 as a medical research facility; building 671 was the site of the former School for Aviation Medicine, which conducted research and testing on aviation cadets as they went through training at JBSA-Randolph from 1939 to 1959 until it was moved to Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio; and building 675 is the former station hospital, which had a capacity for 200 beds and included laboratories and operating rooms.
Other structures of interest within the Randolph Field Historic District include the former enlisted barracks, buildings 499, 491, 663, 581 and 399; the hangars on the east and west flightlines; the former bachelor officers’ quarters, buildings 110 and 120; the former bachelor officers’ mess, building 112; the former children’s base school, building 584; and the former non-commissioned officer clubs, building 598, near the east flightline, and building 693, near the west flightline. Today, building 598 is the site of the base library, and building 693 houses the Airman & Family Readiness Center.
Dayna Cramer, 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron cultural resource manager at JBSA-Randolph, said the squadron has an installation design guide that contains requirements for renovating historic structures, including the type of materials, colors, windows and siding that need to be used in the renovation.
“We try to make sure that everything is kept up to the standards of that installation design guide and architectural compatibility,” she said.