SAN ANTONIO — Downtown San Antonio traffic on Thursday involved more than cars. For the first time, the historic King house got a set of wheels.
"It's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing," said Joy McGaugh, president of the Junior League, which owns the home.
"This is an engineering marvel," she said. "When they said they wanted to move the house across the street, I said, 'How in the world are you going to take this 130-plus-year-old house?'"
But Dodson House Moving company figured out a way. The secret: dozens of workers and one mighty remote control, giving the roughly 130-year-old local historic landmark a new location as new apartments get ready to take over its former resting place.
Feet-by-feet, hour-by-hour, the 550-ton house moved across the street to another property the Junior League owns. Though the organizations plans to eventually sell the home, preserving it is huge—not only for the Junior League, but for those who cherish San Antonio's passion for history.
"I mean. how often do you see something like this happen?" McGaugh said.
"That means a lot," spectator Judy Gonzalez added. "Especially moving a historical building the city does not want to demolish; it's just great to see it move."
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