Alazan-Apache Courts
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Alazan-Apache Courts
The Alazan-Apache Courts is a public housing project built between 1939 and 1942 on San Antonio's predominantly Mexican-American West Side. It was still operating in the early 1990s. During the 1930s more than 100,000
Mexican Americans
lived in San Antonio, many of them in little more than shacks with tin roofs, dirt floors, and scrap-material walls. These dwellings had no indoor plumbing, and sanitation was primitive. In 1937, during the
Great Depression
, the United States Housing Authority was established. San Antonio began its own San Antonio Housing Authority on June 17, 1937. Among the five SAHA commissioners the one most responsible for promoting the Alazan-Apache project was the Italian-born Father
Carmelo Tranchese
, pastor of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. In September 1937 the USHA agreed to fund the San Antonio housing program. Five projects were scheduled: Alazan and Apache Courts for Mexican Americans, Lincoln Heights and Wheatley Courts for Blacks, and Victoria Courts for Whites. Many of the nearly 500 landlords who had to be bought out, however, demanded compensation beyond that allocated. Angered, the USHA administrator ordered the projects stopped in early March 1939. Eleanor Roosevelt intervened, and work began on the Alazan project in July with the demolition of the 929 substandard structures that occupied the site.
Alazan opened some of its units in August 1940 and the rest by early 1941. The project cost nearly $4 million. In less than a year the smaller, adjacent Apache Courts was scheduled for completion at a cost of $1,116,000. The USHA requirement that union labor be used for construction prevented local Mexican Americans from working on the project and added to its cost. The total cost of the five housing projects was over $10 million. The federal government loaned 90 percent of the necessary funding, while the required 10-percent local contribution was raised through a bond drive. All debts were repaid though rents. By the end of 1942 the 2,554 single-family units in all five projects were open for nearly 10,000 tenants, including 4,994 tenants in the 1,180 single-family dwellings in the Alazan-Apache projects. The carefully constructed buildings contained multiple single-family dwellings, which ranged from three to 6½ rooms each, including private bathrooms and kitchens. All were equipped with modern appliances. On-site services included library facilities, health clinics, and social, recreational, and educational programs. The cost of the utilities and services was included in the tenants' rent, which ranged from $8.75 to $14.00 a month. Eligibility for the housing was determined by minimum and maximum annual salary limits, which varied depending on family size. United States citizenship was required by the SAHA as one way of reducing the number of applicants, who far outnumbered the units available. The occupants of the Alazan-Apache Courts formed a tenants' association to maintain the project, and their courts were judged by some observers to be "the best maintained housing project in the United States." The success of the projects led to demands for more. Tranchese headed the cause. Lack of funding, however, and the developing
World War II
made the effort unproductive, and public housing development in San Antonio ceased until the 1950s.
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Bibliography
Categories
Citation
Published
Bibliography:
Lyndon Gayle Knippa, San Antonio, Texas, during the Depression, 1933–1936 (M.A. thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 1971). Robert Garland Landolt,
The Mexican American Workers of San Antonio, Texas
(New York: Arno Press, 1976). Selden Menefee and Orin C. Cassmore,
The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio
(Washington: GPO, 1940). Carmelo A. Tranchese Papers, Microfilm Collection, St. Mary's University Library. Donald L. Zelman, "Alazan-Apache Courts,"
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
87 (October 1983).
Categories:
Peoples
Mexican Americans
The following, adapted from the
Chicago Manual of Style
, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Donald L. Zelman,

“Alazan-Apache Courts,”
Handbook of Texas Online
accessed April 24, 2026,
TID
MPA01
Original Publication Date:
November 1, 1994
Most Recent Revision Date:
September 29, 2020
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Commemorating 250 years of American independence through the stories, people, and places that shaped Texas and the nation.
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, Texans have a unique opportunity to reflect on the state’s role in the American story. Through exhibitions, programs, educational initiatives, and community events across Texas, Texas America250 encourages celebration, reflection, and commemoration at both local and statewide levels. At the Texas State Historical Association, we are proud to support this important moment through our mission-driven work in history education and public engagement, including Texas History Day, and we invite students, educators, and communities to explore this milestone in meaningful ways.
On July 4, 2026, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the greatest nation in the history of the world. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Long may these ideals live in the heart of every Texan and every American. May God bless all who have defended our freedoms that we enjoy each day. And God bless the United States of America.
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