Story of Tunnel From Old Grenet Home to Alamo Intrigues Many.
San Antonio Light Newspaper - September 11, 1929
Mystery lies deep beneath the ancient floors of a house at 313 Crockett street, where tradition says that a tunnel leads underground to the courtyard of the Alamo.
As one of San Antonio's oldest landmarks, tales have accumulated about this stone house, and now none knows how true they are. But since the story of the tunnel has persisted for almost a hundred years, there must be some foundation for it. Several national magazines have shown credence enough to publish stories of the house and of its mysterious past.
Known as the Old Grenet home, the house now belongs to Mrs. M. Seideman. According to A. C. Seideman, her son, there is a huge underground cistern underneath the entire cellar floor of the place, and in order to prevent possible accidents it has been cemented over. Whether this is the beginning of the underground tunnel, Mr. Seideman never determined although many old-timers here believe that this supposed cistern was a camouflaged entrance to the subterranean passage.
Although the exact age of the house is not known, it is said that the Alamo's defenders used this passageway in their efforts to secure aid before the battle, that made escape impossible. Some believe that Rose, the only man to escape just before the battle, used this means of making his way to freedom.
Untrue though these tales may be, the remaining stone portion of the place proves definitely through appearance that it is an ancient house. Next door at 315 Crockett street a more modern cottage stands, said to be an addition to the two-story house. In one of these twin houses, Eduard Grenet, famous artist, who startled Paris with his paintings of local Mexican life, once lived. Grenet is best known now for his "El Jarabe," a dancing scene painted on Maymarket plaza.
