Historical Markers in Kerrville, Texas

Kerr County · 1936

Formed from Bexar County - Created January 26, 1856 - Organized March 22, 1856. Named in honor of James Kerr, 1790-1850; the first American settler on the Guadalupe River; general manager of DeWitt's Colony; signer of…

Site of Camp Verde · 1936

Established as a frontier post by the United States Army, July 8, 1855; headquarters in 1856 for 40 camels, sent by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, to be used in a system of overland communication with the west, which…

Captain Charles Schreiner Home · 1962

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Captain Charles Schreiner · 1970

(1838 - 1927) Enterprising businessman. Born in France. Moved (1852) to U.S. with parents. Served with distinction in Texas Rangers, 1854-1857. Fought with Confederacy in Civil War. In 1869 began general store in…

Early Settlers of Kerr County · 1971

(The Shingle Makers) The earliest permanent settler at this point on the Guadalupe was Joshua D. Brown (1816-74), a native of Kentucky who came to Texas in 1830 and settled at Gonzales near a fellow Kentuckian, James…

Site of Animal Health Discovery · 1972

In this building (at Menard) during late 1930s, Dr. Edward F. Knipling (b. 1909) advanced theory screwworms might be eradicated by releasing sterile male flies to break chain of reproduction and save livestock from role…

Saint Peter's Episcopal Church · 1977

Pioneer Episcopalians worshiped at the Kerr County Courthouse in 1881. In 1884-88, they erected a small frame Gothic church. The Rev. J. E. Hole served 1890-91 as first resident rector; the Rev. Richard Galbraith,…

The Original Building of Tivy School · 1978

Captain Joseph A. Tivy, a Canadian born in 1818, settled in Kerr County about 1870. He served as Kerrville's first mayor and as a Texas legislator. He surveyed most of the Kerrville area and gave land for a city park.…

Gus F. Schreiner Home · 1979

In 1883 wealthy rancher and banker Charles Schreiner bought this land. His son Gus F. (1866-1962) later acquired the property. In 1901 Gus and his wife Huldah (Rummel) (1872-1943) erected the first floor of this house,…

Sunset Cemetery · 1979

The earliest marked graves in this cemetery are those of James and Susan Dowdy's four children. They were killed by Indians in 1878, soon after the family migrated from Goliad. However, local tradition says the first…

The Comparette Home · 1979

This Victorian house was built in the Tivy Addition by S. W. and Laura Smith in 1890. After several other ownerships, Dr. R. H. P. Wright, a prominent Kerrville physician, occupied the property from 1896 to 1905. One of…

Captain Joseph A. Tivy · 1980

In 1837 Joseph A. Tivy (1818-92) and his two sisters came to Texas from Canada. After serving as a Texas Ranger, Tivy joined his sisters in the California Gold Rush of 1849. There they operated a hotel and he later…

Turtle Creek School and Cemetery · 1980

This schoolhouse and nearby burial ground originally served the pioneer settlers of the Turtle Creek area. The oldest marked grave is that of Miles L. Denton (1856-75). Also buried in the cemetery is Susan Elizabeth…

A. C. Schreiner, Jr. Home · 1981

Prominent Kerrville rancher, businessman, philanthropist, and civic leader Charles A. Schreiner built the original part of this house in 1897 as a wedding gift for his son C. A., Jr. In 1912 it became the home of…

Christian Dietert Mill · 1981

German millwright Christian Dietert built mills at Comfort and Fredericksburg before moving here in 1857. With the assistance of a young German miller named Balthasar Lich, he constructed a mill and dam near this site…

The Pampell Opera House · 1981

Originally a frame structure, this building was completed about 1895. It housed the M. V. Gregory Hotel and Store when local merchant John L. Pampell (1871-1958) bought the site in 1901. He converted the second floor…

Nichols Cemetery · 1982

Born about 1805, Rowland Nichols settled in Kerr County where he served as county commissioner. Upon his death at the hands of Indians, Nichols was buried, as he wished, under a live oak tree on his farm on April 11,…

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Kerrville · 1985

In the early 1880s a small group of pioneer Kerrville women collected funds to build a Union church, and a small sanctuary was completed in 1885. Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and other congregations shared the…

Brown Cemetery · 1986

During the late 1840s, Joshua D. Brown (1816-1876) traveled from Gonzales and established a cypress shingle mill on the site of what is now Kerrville. This cemetery dates from 1872, when Brown's nephew, Thomas Goss was…

Kerrville Mountain Sun · 1986

The "Kerrville Mountain Sun" can trace its history to an 1870s publication known as "The Frontiersman." Later called "The News," "The Eye," and "The Paper," the "Mountain Sun" was given its current name by J. E.…

First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville (sanctuary) · 1987

First Baptist Church of Kerrville · 1988

Kerrville Baptist Church was organized in June 1887 with eleven charter members. Seven years later the name was changed to First Baptist Church of Kerrville. Originally meeting in a Union church with other denominations…

Kerrville · 1989

Kerr County was formally created on January 26, 1856, and named for Republic of Texas soldier and pioneer James Kerr. Among the first settlers in the area was Joshua D. Brown, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto.…

Kerrville Lodge No. 697, A.F. & A.M. · 1990

Organized by Masons affiliated with Rising Star Lodge in nearby Center Point, Kerrville Lodge No. 697 was chartered on December 11, 1890. The 21 charter members elected Ed Smallwood as their first Worshipful Master. A…

First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville · 1995

Presbyterians in Kerrville shared a Union Church with other denominations before a congregation was formally organized in 1888. A small wooden church built that year was replaced by this structure in 1923. Prominent…

Kerrville Telephone Company · 1996

A.C. Schriner and D.H. Comparette, Sr., started the Kerrville telephone exchange in 1896 with a handshake and $1,000. The first connection was between two Schreiner wool warehouses, and other businesses soon applied for…

Order of the Eastern Star, Kerrville Chapter #24 · 1996

James Kerr · 2000

(1790-1850) Kentucky native James Kerr, the son of a Baptist minister, was reared in Missouri. Kerr fought in the War of 1812 and was later sheriff of St. Charles County, Missouri. He married Angeline Caldwell in 1818…

Zion Lutheran Church · 2001

Zion Lutheran Church This congregation has roots in worship services conducted in family homes as early as 1898 and was organized in 1901 with seven charter families. The Rev. Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Hans Ernst Ermisch,…

Kerrville First United Methodist Church · 2003

Texas Lions Camp · 2004

Located on land once owned by Kerrville founder Joshua Brown, this has been the site of rehabilitative facilities since the 1920s, when the American Legion established a sanitorium here, followed by a United States…

Guthrie Building · 2007

In continuous use since 1887, this building is one of the oldest in Kerr County. It is named for newspaper publisher Robert Guthrie, who was born in Scotland where generations of his family ran the same newspaper.…

Kerrville Daily Times · 2008

Several newspapers have served the residents of Kerr County since its organization. Most of these have ceased to publish but one, the Kerrville Daily Times, has served area readers as the only daily newspaper published…

Mary Ann Kent Byas Chambers Morriss · 2008

Early Texas pioneer Mary Ann Kent was born in Missouri (Calloway Co.) in 1827 to Andrew and Elizabeth (Zumwalt) Kent. Their family moved to Texas in 1830, settling in Gonzales. Andrew was a carpenter, farmer and rancher…

Masonic Building · 2008

This locally quarried limestone building is a good example of late Italianate-style architecture. The façade features rough and smooth-dressed stone, arched windows and doorways, stone quoins and a projecting pressed…

Great Western Cattle Trail · 2009

In 1874, rancher John T. Lytle founded the Great Western Cattle Trail, which became the primary route through which cattle came to northern U.S. markets. The route, also known as the Western Trail, the Dodge City Trail…

Old Spanish Trail · 2009

The Old Spanish Trail was a significant route from San Antonio through Bandera Pass, Camp Verde, Kerrville, Ingram and Mountain Home. For centuries, it was used by Native Americans, including Comanches and Lipan…

Starkey Cemetery · 2009

This burial ground began as a family plot for the James Monroe and Martha Adeline (Rees) Starkey family. The first burial was for their son, Jones Starkey (d. 1868). J.M. Starkey, who came here in 1854, was Kerr…

Notre Dame Catholic Church · 2010

Originally organized in 1892 as a mission named St. Mary of the Assumption, it became a parish church in 1911 under Father Henry Michael Kemper. He moved the church to its permanent location soon after and established a…

Mount Olive Baptist Church · 2012

ORGANIZED IN SEPTEMBER 1902 BY REVEREND G. W. MERRIWEATHER OF SAN ANTONIO, THE MOUNT OLIVE BAPTIST CHURCH CONGREGATION FIRST MET IN A SMALL SCHOOLHOUSE LOCATED ON PASCHALL STREET. THE FIRST STRUCTURE WAS A SMALL, WHITE…

The Famous Door Café · 2012

The Famous Door served the African American community in Kerrville for seventy years as a café, grocery store, and most prominently, as a dance hall. Henry Kelley established his café and grocery in the 1920s, at a time…

Gatlin Site · 2013

The construction of the new Spur 98 bridge across the Guadalupe River in Kerrville in 2004 was the catalyst for an archeological investigation yielding an extensive ancient Native American site near this location. The…

H-E-B · 2013

Charles C. Butt, his wife, Florence (Thornton), and their children moved to San Antonio from Memphis, Tennessee, in 1904. The following year they moved to Kerrville, where Florence invested $60 to open the C. C. Butt…

Notre Dame Catholic School · 2013

NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC SCHOOL Fourteen visiting priests served St. Mary’s Catholic Mission Church until 1911, when it became a parish church and Father Henry Kemper of Chicago became its resident priest. Father Kemper was…

Scott and Josephine Carr Schreiner · 2014

Whitfield Scott Schreiner (1888-1969) and Josephine Carr Schreiner (1893-1984) lived on Water Street in a home designed by Atlee B. Ayres. Scott was involved in many civic groups and businesses, including president of…

Doyle Colored School · 2015

The Doyle School began as an African American school in 1909. The African American community raised $53 to move the frame building of the former school for white students after a new one was built. The land where the…

Barnett Chapel Methodist Church · 2017

This is the oldest African American church in Kerr county. In 1896, Jim and Josephine Barnett were instrumental in organizing the first religious services for African Americans in Kerrville. The congregation was named…

Beitel Lumberyard · 2017

When the SA&AP Railroad made Kerrville the last stop on their line, Frank J. Beitel, owner of several lumberyards in San Antonio, bought land in Kerrville in 1889 to open a lumberyard. With Kerr County’s variety of…

Kennedy-Peterson House · 2017

This home was built in 1914 for seven-term Texas State Representative and Speaker of the House Austin Milton Kennedy (1866-1914), who moved here to assist with his struggles with tuberculosis. Kennedy lived here only…

San Antonio & Aransas Pass Passenger Train Depot · 2017

In 1887, Kerrville was chosen as the last stop on the SA&AP Railroad. A wood depot was erected four blocks west of here to accommodate the large influx of travelers and trade. The original depot burned in 1913.…

Glen Rest Cemetery · 2019

ON OCTOBER 15, 1894, A GROUP OF KERRVILLE CITIZENS ESTABLISHED GLEN REST AS A COMMUNITY CEMETERY NEAR THE GUADALUPE RIVER. S.H. REMSCHEL SOLD A TEN-ACRE TRACT TO DIRECTORS A.C. SCHREINER, H. REMSCHEL, W.G. GARRETT, B.H.…

Methodist Encampment Community · 2019

northeast corner, McAllen & Methodist Encampment Road

Garrett Insurance Agency · 2020

marker pending