The Marianist Heritage House

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The discrete, small white house located in Pecan Grove, known as the Marianist Heritage House, is the oldest building on the campus of St. Mary’s University. Built sometime before the school moved from its original location downtown to its current location in 1852, this house was used by the farmer who owned the property. Although its original purpose is unknown; however, a building is a building, and the new tenants of the land would make use of anything they could.

After St. Mary’s moved onto this land, it was in dire need of structures to teach classes because St. Louis Hall served primarily as dormitory. Not one to waste what they’ve been given, the faculty of the university utilized the Marianist Heritage House and other similar structures as the first lecture halls while more permanent structures were constructed.

As the university expanded its facilities throughout the 1900s, the small farm houses fell out of use as St. Mary’s adopted larger surplus portable military barracks that could accommodate more students. By the 1950s, two farm houses remained on campus. One was situated by the quad and the other was in Pecan Grove. The house by the quad was deconstructed as the area expanded, and it was eventually paved over, leaving only the house in Pecan Grove. From the 1920 to the 1950s, it served as the private residence, office and classroom of Brother Frank Zirnheld, S.M. until his death in 1955.

For the majority of its existence, the Heritage House was used as a science and mathematics classroom. While primarily a science classroom, the house was split into two rooms, a classroom in the front and a lab in the back. However, this ended when Garni Science Hall was completed with the expansion of the School of Science in 1951 (By then, Brother Zirnheld had retired from teaching.). The house became an office space for staff without offices. From the 1980s to the 1990s, Father George Montague had his office in the front half of the building. In the back, another brother used the space to compile the course catalogues until computers made the old practice of printing them on paper by hand obsolete.

In 1995, after Father Montague retired from teaching, the university decided to retire the house and formally designate it a landmark on campus. In a ceremony celebrating the rich history the house has had traveling around campus and serving as a classroom for the Marianists, St. Mary’s commemorated it officially as the Marianist Heritage House. Today, the house is occasionally used as an impromptu storage building. During the annual Fiesta celebration in San Antonio, Pecan Grove becomes the center of the campus during Oyster Bake, with the Heritage House serving as a silent reminder of the school’s long history here in the city.