The California-inspired Mission Revival reached San Antonio with the construction of this building, the style having been adopted by Southern Pacific for its public buildings. The roughcast stucco exterior features the obvious local reference to the Alamo in the main facade parapet. A huge round stained glass window is inserted where religious statuary would be placed on a real mission. The interior, with its Beaux-Arts coffered barrel vault and grand staircase leading to bracketed balconies, was also restored.

Across the street at 122 Heimann Street, the Italianate, towered Heimann Building (1906) by Atlee B. Ayres is an interesting local response to the depot. The 1100 block of E. Commerce Street across from the station, now known as St. Paul Square, is a collection of early-twentieth-century brick commercial buildings that rose in response to the railroad's presence. Midblock courtyards are lush retreats surrounded by two-story wooden porches. Renovation of these buildings in 1979 included the installation of an overhead pedestrian bridge linking the north and south sides of the street.