It happened in 1899, when the president of San Antonio Water Works Company, George W. Brackenridge, has decided to donate around 200 acres to San Antonio City to build a park.

While the park has suffered many different improvements, it was finally opened for tourists around the world in 1901. The owner of Pearl Brewery, Otto Koehler, has donated this land to San Antonio in 1915 to open the Japanese Tea Garden.

The City Parks Commissioner, Ray Lambert added some ideas on the Japanese Tea Garden project. Without so much money, but a lot of plans, Lambert has finally succeeded to build the Japanese Tea Garden.

Between 1917 and 1918 Ray Lambert used the prison labor to make new projects: walkways, stone arch bridges and even an island. This garden has several exotic plants provided by the nursery of San Antonio. The lightning system was also provided by the City Public Service Company. Opened as a garden, it was finished in 1919 spending just 7,000 dollars. The Japanese Tea Garden was considered to be unique in the world.

Few years later, in 1926, a local Japanese-American artist has decided to move the garden and opened the Bamboo Room. But after the death of the artist, in 1930, everything came to normal and the garden was reopened to the public.

The garden will also add a new system through which they could provide a safe habitat for new aquatic plants. This means that around 1,600,000 dollars will be spent for these plans.