East Side Historic Districts
Government Hill & Dignowity Hill,
San Antonio
Two City of San Antonio historic districts on the near East Side: Government Hill, which grew up beside Fort Sam Houston from 1890 to 1930, and Dignowity Hill, first settled in 1854 on the rise east of downtown. Most of the houses are about a century old, and Fort Sam's Walters Gate is 1.5 to 2.5 driving miles away.
Questions about Government Hill or Dignowity Hill? Call or text me at (919) 800-9870
Government Hill and Dignowity Hill are neighborhoods just northeast and east of downtown San Antonio, inside the city and in San Antonio ISD. Each holds a City of San Antonio historic district, so a house inside the district line needs the City's approval before its outside changes. Most houses were built between about 1900 and the 1940s. From Government Hill, Walters Gate at Fort Sam Houston is about 1.5 driving miles away, and both neighborhoods pay a 2026 tax rate of $2.511964 per $100.
Tiffany Reed, REALTOR® | MRP · Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: City of San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation · Bexar Appraisal District · Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector · OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM)- The neighborhood and the historic district are two different maps. Government Hill's 86-acre district takes in about 150 of the neighborhood's roughly 930 single-family houses, and Dignowity Hill's 359-acre district about 940 of roughly 1,400.
- Inside a district, work on the outside of a house, from a new fence to a new roof, needs the City Office of Historic Preservation's sign-off, called a Certificate of Appropriateness. Homeowners don't pay to apply.
- On a $300,000 house that's your homestead, with the exemption filed, 2026 property taxes come to about $5,120 a year, or about $425 a month. Rent the same house out and it's about $7,540.
- Dignowity Hill's district has about 155 houses built in 2010 or later, most of them two stories or taller on lots of about 2,700 square feet. Government Hill's district has had one new house in that time.
What's it like to live in
Government Hill and Dignowity Hill?
Both neighborhoods sit on a street grid that's more than a hundred years old. Houses are set back behind front yards, many of them edged with wrought iron, wood pickets or low stone and brick walls, and where there's a sidewalk it usually runs behind a strip of lawn. Dignowity Hill drops off to the west, so on its western blocks you'll see yards held up by brick or stone retaining walls, and from the top of the bluff you look straight across at the downtown skyline. In Dignowity Hill, a garage, where a house has one, is usually a small one-car building out back, reached from an alley or a side street.
Government Hill runs right up to Fort Sam Houston, and it grew because of the post. The trade-off is the one that comes with any old house: details nobody builds anymore, a list of things to maintain, and inside the district lines, a City review before you change the outside, back yard included.
Is Government Hill or Dignowity Hill a good fit for you?
Look closer at these two neighborhoods if you want:
- A century-old house, most likely one story with a front porch, and you're fine running exterior changes past the City
- A short drive to Fort Sam Houston's Walters Gate
- Downtown close by, and reachable on foot or by bike from Dignowity Hill over the Hays Street Bridge
- A newer two-story house on a narrow lot, on a block of century-old ones (Dignowity Hill)
- No HOA dues: the neighborhood associations here are voluntary
What are the houses like in
Government Hill and Dignowity Hill?
Mostly one-story wood houses from about 1900 to the 1940s, on lots of roughly 4,500 to 9,400 square feet, with a newer run of two-story houses on narrow lots in Dignowity Hill. Here's how the single-family houses inside each historic district compare.
| Inside the district | Government Hill | Dignowity Hill |
|---|---|---|
| District size | 86 acres | 359 acres |
| Single-family houses | About 150 | About 940 |
| Built before 1950 | About 9 in 10 | About 3 in 4 |
| Built 2010 or later | 1 | About 155 |
| One story | About 8 in 10 | About 8 in 10 |
| Typical lot | 5,400 to 9,400 sq ft | 4,500 to 8,900 sq ft |
| Typical living area | 1,150 to 1,900 sq ft | 1,100 to 1,650 sq ft |
"Typical" is the middle half of houses: a quarter are smaller and a quarter are larger.
Because most of these houses were built before 1978, the seller has to give you the federal lead-based paint disclosure, and you get 10 days to have the paint inspected or tested unless you agree in writing to a different period or waive it.
Government Hill
The neighborhood took shape between 1890, the year the post was named Fort Sam Houston, and 1930. Its architecture covers Folk Victorian, Queen Anne, Classical Revival and Romanesque Revival, in brick, stone and wood. Two of its landmark houses stand a few blocks apart. Lambermont is the Romanesque Revival house on E. Grayson Street. The Bullis House on Pierce Avenue, with its tall Ionic columns, was finished in 1909 for Gen. John Lapham Bullis, the frontier officer Camp Bullis is named for, and it's a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Most of the district's streets, such as Mason, E. Carson, Spofford and Quitman, are lined with much smaller one-story houses, most of them built in the 1920s and 1930s. During the World War II housing shortage, many single-family houses here were divided into apartments, and duplexes and small multifamily buildings still mix in with the houses. Government Hill's commercial blocks are along N. New Braunfels Avenue. After the war, I-35 was built straight through the neighborhood, and the historic district sits between the highway and the fort.
Dignowity Hill
Dr. Anthony Michael Dignowity, a Czech immigrant, settled here in 1854, and most of the neighborhood was built between about 1877 and 1940. That long stretch shows up in the styles, from Folk Victorian and Italianate to Queen Anne, Craftsman bungalows and the occasional Tudor Revival, most of them wood. Lots are fairly even in size, except along Lockwood-Dignowity Park, where both the lots and the houses get bigger. About 75 house lots hold two or even three houses, mostly toward the north end. Alleys run east to west, and at the district's southeast corner the Historic City Cemeteries, a National Register district of their own, interrupt the street grid.
Dignowity Hill is also where most of the new houses are. About 155 houses inside the district went up in 2010 or later, most of them two stories or more, at a median of about 1,500 square feet, on lots of about 2,700 square feet. Every new house goes before the Historic and Design Review Commission, which reviews its design against the City's guidelines for new construction in a historic district. Commercial blocks cluster on E. Commerce Street, on E. Houston Street at Hackberry Street, along N. New Braunfels Avenue and at Nolan and N. Pine streets.
Is the house inside the historic district?
Ask this about every address, because the district lines don't follow the neighborhood names. In Government Hill, the historic district is the 86-acre core near the fort, around Mason Street, E. Carson Street, Pierce Avenue, Spofford Street, E. Grayson Street and N. Palmetto Avenue. Most of the neighborhood around it, on streets like Sandmeyer, Coleman, Bee and N. Hackberry, is outside the district. In Dignowity Hill it's the other way around: the district covers most of the neighborhood, and the roughly 470 single-family houses outside it are mostly east of N. New Braunfels Avenue, on streets like St. James, St. Charles and Logan.
Outside the district, exterior work needs the usual City building permits but no historic approval. One exception: a single property can be designated a historic landmark on its own, wherever it is. The City's historic properties map shows both. Zoning marked H, HS, HE or HL means the property falls under historic review.
Data current as of October 2026Sources
What needs City approval in a historic district,
and how long does it take?
Anything on the outside of the house or lot: repairs, materials, windows and doors, fences, driveways, additions, a new house or a demolition, including the back and side yards nobody sees from the street. The approval is called a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA), and it comes from the City's Office of Historic Preservation (OHP). Work that stays entirely inside, without touching exterior windows or doors, isn't reviewed by OHP, though it may still need a building permit.
Who signs off depends on the size of the change:
| Who reviews it | How often | Typical requests |
|---|---|---|
| OHP staff | No meeting needed | Repairs in the same material, painting and caulking, a re-roof in the same type and color, many fences, patios and small additions |
| Compliance and Technical Advisory Board | Monthly | Window or door replacement, a change in roofing, siding or porch decking, driveways and walkways, painting brick or stucco, work done without approval |
| Historic and Design Review Commission | Twice a month | New houses, additions, full rehabilitations, historic tax incentives, demolition of a landmark |
- Timing. A case manager reaches out within one business day of an application. Anything headed to the advisory board or the commission is due 19 days before that meeting, and the certificate usually follows within 10 days after it.
- Cost. The City charges no fee for a residential application. Begin before the certificate is issued, though, and the City can halt the job and charge $500 for an application filed after the fact.
- Windows. OHP pushes repair first, and it treats a window as beyond repair only when about half or more of its parts would have to be rebuilt. If full replacement is approved, the new windows need a primed and painted wood exterior. Clad or composite windows need the commission's explicit approval.
- Fences. A new front fence generally matches the neighbors' height or stays at 4 feet or under, often wrought iron or painted wood pickets. Rear privacy fences can go to 6 feet in wood. Chain link is on the list to avoid.
- Early advice. OHP staff will talk through a project before you apply, and the commission's Design Review Committee gives informal, non-binding feedback on bigger plans such as an addition or a new house.
More about the City's tax incentive for a big rehabilitation
A house inside a local historic district can qualify for a City tax break when the rehabilitation costs at least 30% of the Bexar Appraisal District's value for the structure alone, not counting the land. Roof, foundation, siding, wiring, plumbing, HVAC and interior work all count. On a house whose structure is valued at $130,000, that's about $39,000 of work.
Once the work is verified, you choose one of two ten-year options: the City line on your bill stays frozen at its value before the work, or you pay no City tax for five years and then City tax on half the value for five more. Only the City of San Antonio line changes. San Antonio ISD and the county lines don't. For scale, the City line on a $300,000 homestead is about $1,350 a year.
There are two applications, both approved by the Historic and Design Review Commission: certification near the start of the work and verification after it's finished, with every permit closed. The break starts January 1 of the year after verification and stays with the house if it sells. The owner files for it with the appraisal district, along with OHP's verification letter, in each of the ten years. Every piece of the work also needs its COA and permits, so talk with OHP before the first contractor shows up.
Moving here on orders to Fort Sam?
The PCS to San Antonio Guide covers JBSA's gates, the areas around each installation and a countdown to work through once your orders are in hand.
Get the PCS GuideHow far are Government Hill and Dignowity Hill from Fort Sam Houston's gates,
the Medical Center and downtown?
From Government Hill it's about 1.5 driving miles to Fort Sam Houston's Walters Gate, and from Dignowity Hill about 2.5. The miles below are rounded and measured to the closest gate that's open around the clock at each installation.
| Neighborhood | Fort Sam Houston (Walters Gate) | Lackland (Luke East Gate) | Randolph (Lindsey Gate) | Camp Bullis (main gate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government Hill | 1.5 mi | 13 mi | 14 mi | 20 mi |
| Dignowity Hill | 2.5 mi | 13 mi | 15 mi | 19 mi |
From Government Hill, the drive to Walters Gate is N. New Braunfels Avenue to the I-35 frontage road and then N. Walters Street. From Dignowity Hill, it's N. Hackberry Street up to I-35. If you'll work at Brooke Army Medical Center, the BAMC/I-35 Gate is about 4 miles from Government Hill and 5.5 from Dignowity Hill, mostly on I-35. Randolph is out I-35 to FM 78, Lackland is across town by way of US-90 and Military Drive, and Camp Bullis is up I-10. My Fort Sam Houston page has the gate hours, visitor centers and on-post housing.
What are the drives to City Hall, the Medical Center and the airport?
Downtown's City Hall is about 2 miles from Dignowity Hill and 3 from Government Hill. The South Texas Medical Center is the long drive, about 10 to 12 miles.
| Neighborhood | Medical Center (University Hospital) | Downtown (City Hall) | Airport (SAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government Hill | 12 mi | 3 mi | 7.5 mi |
| Dignowity Hill | 10 mi | 2 mi | 8.5 mi |
Scroll down for the live listings I set up for ZIP codes 78208 and 78202, which show what's for sale today in and around both neighborhoods. Open a listing for its photos and details, and save the search if you'd like to hear when a new one comes on.
(SEP 27, 2026 - OCT 27, 2026)
What are property taxes in
Government Hill and Dignowity Hill?
Every house in both neighborhoods pays the same 2026 rate, $2.511964 per $100 of value, because every one of them sits inside the City of San Antonio and San Antonio ISD. What moves one bill above another is the appraised value and whether the owner has a homestead exemption.
- Homestead: your principal residence, the house you own and actually live in. Filing for the homestead exemption takes $145,000 off the value San Antonio ISD taxes on most houses here and 20% off the City and county lines.
- Appraised value: the Bexar Appraisal District's value for the house and land each year. It's what the rate is multiplied by, after exemptions.
Here's what that rate comes to on a $300,000 house, with and without the homestead exemption.
| The house | 2026 rate per $100 | Yearly tax, $300,000 value | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your homestead, exemption filed | $2.511964 | About $5,120 | About $425 |
| A rental or second home (the homestead exemption ends) | $2.511964 | About $7,540 | About $630 |
That's property tax only. Homeowners insurance comes on top, so get a quote on a house this age during your option period, the days right after your contract is signed when you can still walk away for any reason. There's no HOA here to add.
More about the seven lines on the bill
| Taxing unit | 2026 rate | Homestead exemption | On a $300,000 homestead |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio ISD | $1.186900 | $140,000 plus 0.01% (at least $5,000) | About $1,840 |
| City of San Antonio | $0.562880 | 20% (at least $5,000) | About $1,350 |
| Bexar County | $0.285963 | 20% (at least $5,000) | About $690 |
| University Health | $0.276235 | 20% (at least $5,000) | About $660 |
| Alamo Colleges | $0.166650 | 1% (at least $5,000) | About $490 |
| San Antonio River Authority | $0.019300 | 4% (at least $5,000) | About $60 |
| Bexar County Road and Flood | $0.014036 | $3,000 plus 20% | About $30 |
Many bills here also show a line for San Antonio TIF #11 (Inner City). Its rate is zero, so it doesn't add anything to what you pay. Every house's units and exemptions are on its record at bcad.org.
More about homestead timing, 65 and older, and disabled veterans
The application is Bexar Appraisal District Form 50-114, filed after you've moved in. On a resale, the seller's exemption usually covers the year you buy, and yours starts January 1 of the next year; April 30 is the regular deadline. If nobody had a homestead exemption on the house the year you buy it, yours can cover the months you owned it that year, provided the application goes in before the first anniversary of your closing.
Beginning with the second year your exemption is in place, the appraised value used for your homestead is capped at a 10% rise per year, plus the value of anything you add. Once you turn 65, San Antonio ISD takes off another $60,000, the City $85,000 and Bexar County $50,000, and the school tax on your homestead stops rising above the year you qualify. A disability qualifies you for the same school and City amounts.
On Form 50-135, a disabled veteran can exempt part of the value of one property, on a scale that runs from $5,000 at a 10% to 29% rating to $12,000 at 70% or higher, with $7,500 and $10,000 in between. If VA rates you 100% disabled or individually unemployable and pays 100% disability compensation, the homestead is fully exempt. A surviving spouse who doesn't remarry can keep that exemption.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector, 2026 Official Tax Rates and Exemptions · Bexar Appraisal District property records and 2026 values · Texas Comptroller, exemptions · Texas Tax Code, Chapter 11 · Texas Tax Code §23.23 · Texas Comptroller, disabled veteran exemptions
Taxes, schools and historic district lines vary by address. Confirm them for any home before you make an offer.
Which school district serves
Government Hill and Dignowity Hill?
San Antonio ISD, for every house in both neighborhoods. It's the central city's district, with more than 42,000 students.
- Your zoned campus. SAISD assigns schools by home address, and its find-a-school tool shows the campuses for a specific house.
- Choice schools. SAISD also runs choice schools that any student can apply to, whatever the address, through an application and lottery.
- Campus reports. With the campus names in hand, look each one up on tea.texas.gov, where the state posts a report card for every campus.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: San Antonio ISD · SAISD choice schools · Bexar Appraisal District (school district by parcel)
What's nearby in
Government Hill and Dignowity Hill?
Day to day, most errands run along E. Commerce Street, E. Houston Street and N. New Braunfels Avenue, and downtown is a short drive. In Dignowity Hill, driveways are uncommon and most cars park on the street or off an alley. In Government Hill it changes from house to house, so look at where you'd park before you look at the kitchen.
One landmark ties Dignowity Hill to downtown: the Hays Street Bridge. The railroad set two 19th-century metal truss spans over the tracks at Hays Street in 1910, the City closed it to cars in 1982, and since 2010 it has carried people on foot and on bikes between Dignowity Hill and downtown.
Groceries and errands
- New Braunfels and Houston H-E-B, 415 N. New Braunfels Avenue
- The commercial blocks on N. New Braunfels Avenue in Government Hill, and on E. Commerce Street and E. Houston Street in Dignowity Hill
Parks and outdoors
- Lockwood-Dignowity Park, 801 N. Olive Street: two parks joined into one, with a dog park, playground, multipurpose field, grill and picnic tables, and the view west to downtown
- Berkley V. and Vincent M. Dawson Park, 803 N. Cherry Street, next to the Hays Street Bridge: a skate park, pavilion, picnic tables and restrooms
- Pershing Park, 500 Sandmeyer Street in Government Hill: a playground, a basketball goal and an open field
History and culture
- Carver Community Cultural Center at 226 N. Hackberry Street, a performing arts venue the City owns, inside the Dignowity Hill district
- The Pearl, about 1.5 driving miles from Government Hill
More about utilities in Government Hill and Dignowity Hill
Both neighborhoods are inside the city. Power and gas come from CPS Energy, the City of San Antonio's own utility, and water for most homes comes from SAWS. CPS Energy may waive the deposit for a military move, so ask about it when you start service.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: San Antonio Conservation Society, Hays Street Bridge · H-E-B, New Braunfels and Houston · City of San Antonio, A Guide to San Antonio's Historic Resources · City of San Antonio Parks, Lockwood-Dignowity Park · City of San Antonio Parks, Berkley V. and Vincent M. Dawson Park · City of San Antonio Parks, Pershing Park · City of San Antonio, Carver Community Cultural Center · CPS Energy · SAWS
Before you tour Government Hill and Dignowity Hill
A hundred-year-old house raises different questions than a new one. Settle these first.
- The payment you're comfortable with, taxes included. Your approval amount and a monthly payment you're happy with aren't the same number. On a $300,000 homestead here, property tax alone is about $425 a month, before insurance.
- What you'd change on the outside, and whether the house is in the district. If new windows, a taller fence, a carport or an addition is part of the plan, check the address on the City's historic properties map, then ask OHP what the work would take before you write an offer. Kitchens and baths inside the house aren't part of the historic review.
- Which campus, if that's part of your decision. Run the address through San Antonio ISD's school finder rather than going by the neighborhood name.
- Your must-haves and your deal-breakers. A garage, a driveway instead of street parking, a second bathroom, central air, one story: on houses this old, none of it is a given. Decide which ones you'd walk away over.
- Whether you'd keep it as a rental after your next PCS. Run the numbers with the rental line in the tax table, since the homestead exemption ends once it's rented, and remember that exterior repairs still go through the City while you're stationed somewhere else.
- The commute, timed the way you'd live it. Once you know which gate or office you'll head to, make that drive from the block you like at your usual departure time and on the way home.
What working with me looks like
in Government Hill and Dignowity Hill
I'm Tiffany Reed. I sell homes as a REALTOR® with Real Broker and hold the MRP, the Military Relocation Professional certification. A lot of my clients reach closing without having toured San Antonio in person, so with a 1920s house, the homework starts early.
- Before you see it. I ask for the seller's disclosure and copies of any earlier inspection reports, and I track down when the roof, HVAC and water heater were installed.
- From wherever you are. If you can't be here, I'll take you through the house on a live video tour.
- Inspections. On every purchase, my minimum recommendation is two inspections: a full general inspection and a sewer scope, which runs a camera through the sewer line from the house to the street. On my clients' purchases, the general inspection has cost about $400 to $900, more on a larger house, and the sewer scope about $99 to $150. I coordinate both, plus anything else the inspector's report calls for.
- Financing. You'll get lender introductions from me, VA lenders included.
- Planning to rent it out later? For a house you're seriously considering, I'll pull rental comps and show you where the likely rent lands against your mortgage payment.
- Offer to closing. I draft the offer, negotiate the terms, line up the inspections and meet you at the house for the final walkthrough.
What do people ask before buying in
Government Hill or Dignowity Hill?
Where are Government Hill and Dignowity Hill in San Antonio?
Government Hill is northeast of downtown, directly south of Fort Sam Houston, in ZIP code 78208. I-35 runs through it, and its historic district is the part between the highway and the fort. Dignowity Hill is just east of downtown, in 78202, which covers every single-family house in its historic district and nearly all the rest of the neighborhood. Both are in the City of San Antonio and San Antonio ISD.
How close is Government Hill to Fort Sam Houston?
About 1.5 driving miles to Walters Gate and about 4 miles to the BAMC/I-35 Gate. From Dignowity Hill, Walters Gate is about 2.5 miles. Drive times vary by time of day, traffic, and gate. Check current conditions for your route before deciding.
Is Dignowity Hill or Government Hill in a flood zone?
Not inside the historic districts. As of October 2026, FEMA maps both districts entirely in Zone X, an area of minimal flood hazard, with no high-risk flood zone in either one. Outside the district lines the answer can differ, and maps get revised, so look up the specific address on FEMA's flood map before you make an offer.
Do I need a certificate of appropriateness to replace windows in Dignowity Hill?
Yes, if the house is inside the historic district. Window replacement goes to the City's Compliance and Technical Advisory Board, and the City favors repairing original wood windows. If replacement is approved, the new windows need a primed and painted wood exterior unless the commission explicitly approves something else.
Can you build a new house in Dignowity Hill?
Yes. About 155 houses inside the district were built in 2010 or later. Each new house needs a certificate from the Historic and Design Review Commission, which reviews the design at a public hearing before construction starts.
What are property taxes in Dignowity Hill and Government Hill?
The 2026 rate is $2.511964 per $100 of value in both. For a $300,000 homestead with the exemption on file, that comes to about $5,120 a year. A substantial rehabilitation inside a historic district can also qualify for a break on the City line of the bill.
Does a VA loan work on a historic house in Government Hill?
Yes. Being in a historic district doesn't change how a VA loan works. The VA appraiser reviews the house for VA's minimum property requirements, the same as on any other home, and with full entitlement VA sets no cap on the loan amount; your lender decides what you can borrow.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: City of San Antonio OHP, Before Getting Started · OHP, Which commission will review my project? · OHP windows policy guide · Bexar Appraisal District · Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA loan limits and entitlement · FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (panels 48029C0403H and 0404H, effective June 19, 2020; 48029C0415G, effective September 29, 2010)
Want to walk through a house
in Government Hill or Dignowity Hill?
Tell me which houses you'd like to see and when you'll be in town, or that you'd rather see them on video. I'll set up the showings, and when one is the right house, I'll write your offer. Still looking? Browse homes for sale in both neighborhoods.
Let's Talk About Your Next MoveMRP · Licensed since 2022 · 35+ closed transactions · $12M+ in sales volume
Tiffany Reed, REALTOR® | MRP | Real Broker LLC
(919) 800-9870 | tiffany@tiffanyreedtx.com | tiffanyreedtx.com
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Government Hill and Dignowity Hill Homes for Sale
