St. Mary's Strip

The St. Mary's Strip is an entertainment district in Midtown San Antonio. Located just north of downtown, "the Strip" encompasses a section of North St. Mary's that is roughly bounded by Mistletoe Avenue and Grayson Street. It is situated adjacent to the Pearl Brewery and is part of a rapidly redeveloping corridor of central San Antonio. In contrast to the tourist-oriented River Walk, the Strip is geared more towards locals. Every weekend, thousands of people visit the bars, clubs, coffee shops, food trucks, restaurants, and entertainment venues that line St. Mary's Street west of U.S. Highway 281 and north of Interstate 35. History The Strip has been called "San Antonio's first entertainment corridor", with some drawing comparisons between it and Austin's Sixth Street during its heyday. The area around Tobin Hill, the neighborhood in which it resides, was first developed in 1731 as agricultural land. In 1777, the "Upper Labor" acequia was constructed on the southern fringe of Tobin Hill, following the Rock Quarry Road -- the predecessor to the modern St. Mary's Street. A century passed before any significant, non-agricultural development took place. By the late 19th century, the area was known as the "Old Main Association", a reference to the section of Main Avenue that ran through its boundaries. A series of court cases inadvertently paved the way for residential suburbs, and members of the Tobin family erected seven houses in the 1880s and 1890s, lending their name to that of the current neighborhood. By 1919, the streetcar reached the eastern edge of Tobin Hill, opening the doors to commercial development along St. Mary's Street and other north-south corridors touched by the city's public transportation system, such as San Pedro and McCullough.