Historical Markers in Brackettville, Texas

Catholic Church · 1962

(RTHL medallion)

Fort Clark Guardhouse · 1962

Established in 1852, Fort Clark was manned by varying troop strengths over the years. This guardhouse was built in the 1870s during a period of fort expansion. A new stockade was built in 1942 to relieve overcrowding,…

Ross Home · 1962

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Fort Clark, U.S.A. · 1963

1852-1946 Founded June, 1852. Guarded California road, rebuffed Indians, outlaws. Named for Maj. J. B. Clark, killed in Mexican War. Companies of infantry, artillery, cavalry stationed here. Clothing issued proved too…

Palisado Kitchen/Mess Room · 1963

This structure was built by the U. S. Army in 1869-70 and is an example of vertical post or jacal construction, used due to the absence of trees tall enough for traditional horizontal log construction. African American…

Military Roads in Texas · 1968

The routes that moved troops in early Texas often followed old Indian trails, usually were little more than deep wagon ruts. This one, the Chihuahua Road joining Ft. Clark with other southwest posts -- was widely used,…

Dolores Townsite · 1970

Only settlement founded in John Charles Beales' ill-fated Rio Grande colony of 1834-1836. Beales (1804-1878) -- empresario of 70,000,000 acres in present Southern and Western Texas and New Mexico -- was Texas' largest…

Seminole Indian Scouts' Cemetery · 1971

(Founded on Fort Clark Reservation, Sept. 1, 1872) Burial site of heroic U.S. Army men, families, and heirs. These Seminoles came mainly from Florida about 1850; lived in northern Mexico or Texas; joined Lt. (later a…

Montalvo House · 1979

Yldefonso Montalvo (1855-1941), also known by the name Obed Woods, built this dwelling about 1887. He used cedar pickets, caliche plaster, and other materials available in the area. Originally the kitchen and several…

Commanding Officer's Quarters · 1988

Fort Clark was established as a U.S. Army garrison in June 1852. Nine structures designed by U.S. Army engineers were built in 1873-1874 to house the fort's officers. This house served the fort's commanding officers,…

Las Moras Masonic Lodge Building · 1990

Built in 1878-1879 to serve as the first County-owned Courthouse for Kinney County. This structure served that purpose for thirty-two years. In 1911 it became the headquarters of the Las Moras Masonic Lodge, which was…

Staff Officers' Quarters · 1990

The U.S. Army built nine stone officers' quarters at Fort Clark beginning in 1873. The need soon arose for additional housing for senior staff officers, and this building was constructed in 1888. Built in a T-plan, the…

8 Medallions on Officers' Row Quarters · 1991

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Fort Clark · 1993

A strategic installation in the U.S. Army's line of forts along the military road stretching from San Antonio to El Paso, Fort Clark was established in June 1852. Located near natural springs and Las Moras Creek, its…

Fort Clark Post Theater · 1997

Constructed in 1932, this building replaced an earlier Fort Clark Post Hall that served as a church, courtroom, theater, and recreational center. A utilitarian military design of clear span construction, brick walls,…

Adjutant's Quarters (Quarters # 20) · 1999

Erected during the 1873-1875 expansion of Fort Clark to accommodate and support an entire regiment, this structure differs from other quarters on the line in that it is a single dwelling rather than a duplex. The Fifth…

Filippone Building · 2001

Italian stonemasons Giovanni B. Filippone (1845-1917) and Giovanni Cassinelli purchased property here in 1883-85 and in 1885 built the six-sided portion of this limestone block building. Filippone became sole owner in…

Seminole Scout Camp on Fort Clark · 2002

Seminole Scout Camp on Fort Clark Under Spanish rule, Florida was a haven for freed or escaped slaves in the 1700s. Once there, many integrated into the Seminole tribe, intermarrying and adapting to the culture. Florida…

Kinney County Courthouse · 2003

Kinney County Courthouse Human inhabitation of Kinney County began thousands of years ago. Spanish expeditions through the area began in 1535 and continued throughout subsequent centuries. An attempt at establishing a…

Married Officers' Quarters 8-9 · 2006

This single-story duplex once served as housing for married officers and their families at Fort Clark. The U.S. Army fort, established in 1852 to defend the western frontier of Texas and the border with Mexico, saw…

Officers Quarters 2-3 and 4 · 2007

These two buildings date from 1854-55, soon after the U.S. Army established Fort Clark. The antebellum fort then included officers quarters and barracks for enlisted men, as well as a two-story quartermaster storehouse,…

Partrick Building · 2008

In 1885 Dr. William Partrick commissioned adjoining commercial spaces at this site, operating a drug store in the single story and a dry goods store and hotel in the two-story section. Later outbuildings included a beer…

U.S. Army Signal Corps Building · 2008

This building served as the communications center for Fort Clark from 1932-1944. The Building is of tile brick construction with a veneer of irregular cut field stone. The original footprint was enlarged c. 1940 to…

2nd Cavalry Division at Fort Clark · 2009

In response to the U.S. experience during World War I, the army organized the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions in 1921. However, the 2nd Cavalry Division was not activated until 1941 at Fort Riley, Kansas. Among the units…

Army Service Club · 2009

Occupying the site of Fort Clark’s first guardhouse, this 1938 structure served as a morale and welfare facility until 1944, when the U.S. Army closed the fort. The building was a recreation center for soldiers, and…

Carver School Grounds · 2009

When Fort Clark’s Seminole-Negro Indian Scout Detachment was disbanded by the U.S. Army on September 30, 1914, the Seminoles were required to relocate to Brackettville. They held school in their church until new grounds…

New Cavalry Barracks · 2009

NEW CAVALRY BARRACKS The earliest quarters for soldiers at Fort Clark were tents along Las Moras Creek near the spring. During the forts 1870s building boom, stone cavalry barracks were constructed, but by the late…

1873 Infantry Barracks · 2010

FORT CLARK BY 1873 HAD GROWN TO REGIMENTAL SIZE, COMPELLING CONSTRUCTION OF SIX SINGLE-STORY INFANTRY BARRACKS AND THREE TWO-STORY CAVALRY BARRACKS BY THE U. S. ARMY QUARTERMASTER DEPARTMENT. THIS ONE-STORY RECTANGULAR…

Officers' Club Open Mess · 2010

Site of Original Post Cemetery · 2011

This ground was Fort Clark’s Military Cemetery from 1856 to the 1880s. One of the first burials was 2nd Lt. Brayton C. Ives, 1st inf., a West Point graduate who died here on June 27, 1857. Succeeding burials included…

Las Moras Spring · 2013

As the ninth largest springs in Texas and the largest springs in Kinney County, Las Moras Spring is significant due to its location and invaluable natural resources. Moras, meaning “mulberries” in one Spanish…

John Horse · 2014

Born in Spanish Florida of a black mother and Seminole father in 1812, John Horse (also known as Juan Caballo, Juan Cavallo, or Gopher John) was a prominent leader of Seminole blacks during the 2nd Seminole War. After a…

1886 Kitchen/Mess Hall · 2015

The earliest mess arrangements for soldiers at Fort Clark were around open fires along Las Moras Creek near the spring. This building is one of Fort Clark’s eight remaining kitchens and mess halls out of nine built in…