The Polley Mansion was erected in 1854 by Colonel Joseph H. Policy. This two-story cut stone house, showing semi-classical influence, was built by slave labor. Robert E. Lee was often entertained here.
The mansion was located outside Sutherland Springs Park, a former health center, now a ghost town, which embraced hundreds of springs which included 27 varieties of hot and cold mineral waters. A gaunt old hotel building was a week-end rendezvous for San Antonians in horse-and-buggy days. The resort declined when automobiles gave access to other more widely advertised places.
