"Secret School" in the Olmos Basin (Houston, San Antonio: schools, camps)

[momof2dfw]

Interesting stuff.

I just went to google maps and pulled up "University of Incarnate San Antonio, Texas" and you can zoom into the area on the ariel view. Someone point out on there where exactly the "blue hole" is if you don't mind. I saw some "blue" that appeared to be water on the closest I could get in the trees but I can not tell.

[momof2dfw]

I'm big into genealogy and here is the rootsweb page for Bexar County. I'm trying to look on there to see what info there is about these families and there are tons of newpaper links so something may be found about this.
Bexar County Home Page (http://www.rootsweb.com/~txbexar/ - broken link)

[momof2dfw]

This is for Henry Drought and Charles Lukin from the 1891 Directory:

Drought, Henry P., attorney at law, notary public and mortgage loan broker (Francis Smith & Co.), 8 Yturri, h 423
Oakland.

And this for Lukin:
Lukin, Charles J., principal public school No. 8, r 15 Howard

[OzzyRules]

Now that the place has been described more, I experienced something (sort of) unusual there last year, twice. On two separate days after work during 2006 I drove from 410 south on 281 (Mcallister Freeway), when I got to area over the souther half of the Olmos Basin, there was a huge downpour of rain, the kind that would have caused a floodwatch if it had been more prominent throughout the county.

Is that weird, or is some kind of natural phenomenon? To experience heavy rain in the same small area at separate times.

(Edit) - What I forgot to mention is that this area is out of my way, and those two days were like the only two days I even drove around there, for several months at least.

[OzzyRules]

Originally Posted by wCat

...The academy or "school" has long since been torn down. It just happens to be within walking distance to the University of Incarnate Word and the "blue hole". Makes me wonder if his memory is playing off a bit of lost SA history and his family heritage.

That's a valid theory.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

This is for Henry Drought and Charles Lukin from the 1891 Directory:

Drought, Henry P., attorney at law, notary public and mortgage loan broker (Francis Smith & Co.), 8 Yturri, h 423
Oakland.

And this for Lukin:
Lukin, Charles J., principal public school No. 8, r 15 Howard

I love this stuff! The Droughts and Lukins are still very much part of SA. One of the Lukin descendants was Mayor of Alamo Heights during the 70's I think.

I have a copy of the 50th anniversary publication of AH and it mentions both families here and there. Charles Lukin was born in England in the 1860's and came to the US in the 1880's. He held a number of positions in SA's public schools. He bought the old Equitable Insurance building on Broadway and turned it into a boarding and day school that became the Lukin Military Academy. This is not connected to TMI or Texas Military Institute that also used to be in Alamo Heights. Charles Lukin died in 1927 and his wife Augustina, ran the Academy until she retired. She was 104 in 1972!

Both families had lived in homes of distinction in AH according to this publication.

As far as spotting the "blue hole" on an arial view.....I'm not sure you can see it. It's basically a spring that bubbles out of the ground. George Brackenridge had it surrounded by a concrete well (which is shown in the pics I posted). It used to be so strong that it would at times shoot up like a geyser when the aquifer level was very high. That never happens anymore....not even during out floods.

Ozzy.....I don't know how to capture an ariel image. If anyone can figure that out, I can copy and edit it to show where the "blue hole" exists.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

I'm big into genealogy and here is the rootsweb page for Bexar County. I'm trying to look on there to see what info there is about these families and there are tons of newpaper links so something may be found about this.
Bexar County Home Page (http://www.rootsweb.com/~txbexar/ - broken link)

Hi Momof2......are you talking about the Drought and Lukin families? I'm also a big genealogist. Are you a member of ancestry.com?

The author we are talking about name is Louis Whitley Strieber. He pens by Whitley.....and I've seen the Strieber name spelled Streiber and even Striever.
His mother was Mary Kathleen Drought Strieber, daughter of Kathleen Lukin Drought.

[wCat]

#1 son to the rescue. Here is a satellite map of the Campus of the University of Incarnate Word. You have to enter the Campus from Hildebrand and turn left as if you are going back to the athletic fields. Stay to the right and drive to the admin offices. They are housed in George Brackenridges original residences (built side by side). Just to the West of these offices is a parking lot. I've indicated it on the map. The yellow line is a paved walking path that is a short walk to the "Blue Hole". Good luck in finding it!

From this map, can you tell from the directions where Whitley said he went to find the "school"?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y14/Simone55/BlueHoleUICW.jpg (broken link)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y14/Simone55/BlueHoleUICW.jpg (broken link)

[OzzyRules]

Cool stuff.

I had my doubts about Strieber. But I just watched his 5 part interview on youtube, and even he admits that he doesn't know whether the whole phenomenon is something from outer space, or something created by man.

Personally, I think he touched upon a major truth when he said there was an "evil of a demonic" level involved in the phenomenon. It's probably more true than he realizes.

[SAnative]

So, what happened to the footage from the documentary he filmed?