Texan Magazine
By Nancy Foster
We live in a pretty impressive state, one that is known to have the biggest and best in every possible category. A few amazing superlatives may surprise you when it comes to Texas history. Did you know Texas has over 17,000 Official Texas Historical Markers, more than any other state? Or that it also has the largest number of historic county courthouses—perhaps because it has the largest number of counties…254 to be precise. Texas also has more than two dozen Spanish missions, more than any other state. Yes, the Lone Star State claims lots of bragging rights, and thankfully, its preservation is due to many who recognized the need to protect these historic places for generations to come.
Now that we are celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary year, we want to invite readers to see, do, and explore some of the places that tie to our past, specifically in Central Texas. Statistics reveal that many Texans tend to crisscross the state in their travels. Of course we do—we have it all right here…beaches, hills and mountains, lakes and rivers, parks and scenic drives, so why ever would we leave? Many of you who travel tend to look for remnants of our colorful history, so in these next few pages, we’ll entice you to envision the paths that led settlers to come here and the homesteads they established. Maybe those early settlers were your grandparents and great-grandparents. Why did they come here? After all, there was a lot of rough territory to conquer. But conquer it they did, and today you can walk in the paths they took, the places they discovered and the lodgings where they stayed. We’ll gain insights into what began as travel for survival and health and has slowly evolved into recreation, heritage exploration and eventually a robust tourism industry that today lures visitors from around the globe. The best part? Most places mentioned here are less than three hours’ drive from San Antonio and a quick Google search will give you specifics on each. One website we heartily recommend bookmarking https://atlas.thc.texas.gov, the Texas Historical Commission’s Historic Sites Atlas, a comprehensive database of over 300,000 historic sites across the entire state. You’ll be amazed!
To Your Health
We’ll begin our quest for fascinating historic sites with places associated with early health tourism. In the late 1800s, as more people began to have disposable income, many traveled to Texas seeking relief from illnesses such as tuberculosis. Doctors frequently recommended dry air, higher elevations, sunshine and mild winters—conditions that still draw people to this region today.
Mineral springs also attracted visitors, sometimes discovered—or rediscovered — by early settlers. San Pedro Springs Park in Bexar County had been used by Indigenous people for thousands of years before Spanish settlers recorded the site in 1718. The springs supplied water for the original settlement of San Antonio, and the area was later established as an official public park in 1852. Today it is considered among the oldest continuously used public parks in the United States.
San Marcos Springs in Hays County also drew visitors, with spring-fed waters forming the headwaters of the San Marcos River. Another county, Lampasas, was home to Hancock Springs, which was discovered in the 1850s and transformed within twenty years into a very popular resort destination best known for its healing and restorative mineral waters. Comal Springs and Landa Park near New Braunfels, used by indigenous people for thousands of years, were where early German settlers visited in the mid 1800s. Famed as the headwaters of the Comal River, it is now part of the Landa Park Aquatic Complex.
The Lure of the Cave
Beneath the limestone hills of Central Texas lies another natural wonder that has fascinated explorers and travelers for generations: caves. The cool underground chambers and striking mineral formations were not only extraordinary natural phenomena to early travelers, but archaeological evidence indicates that several were used by Indigenous peoples for shelter thousands of years ago. Visitors today can explore the jaw-dropping stalagmites, stalactites and deep wonders of Cascade Caverns and Cave Without a Name near Boerne, as well as Natural Bridge Caverns near San Antonio. Also consider Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet, opened to the public in 1938 and among the earliest state parks in Texas. Here’s a tip–in summertime, those deep, cool caverns are an ideal way to cool off!
Enter the Railroad
By the early 1890s, as travel increased, interest in the Wild West continued and people flocked to see what ranch life, cowboys and cattle trails were really like. High on the list of places to visit were Spanish missions, battle sites and early settlements that saw an increase in domestic as well as international travelers.
As the appeal for the Old West grew, reaching them became easier with the advancement of railways. When the first 20-mile railroad opened in Texas in 1853, few could have predicted the transformation that would follow. By 1900, more than 10,000 miles of track crisscrossed the state—reshaping trade, settlement patterns and entire communities.
When rail lines began pushing into Central Texas in the 1870s, they did more than lay track — they redrew the map. The arrival of the Houston and Texas Central Railway in Austin and the spread of the International and Great Northern Railroad toward San Antonio stitched the Hill Country and Blackland Prairie into an accessible and rapidly growing region. Towns such as Temple and Taylor rose as rail junctions, cotton and cattle moved to distant markets with new efficiency, and communities that once relied on wagons and river routes suddenly found themselves connected to Houston’s port and beyond.
By the late 1800s, railroads had sprung up across Texas, making travel attainable for both the curious public and those seeking business opportunities. One example is Kerrville. In 1887, the railroad reached Kerrville via the San Antonio & Aransas Pass line, transforming it from a frontier settlement into a shipping point for wool and agricultural goods—and eventually opening the Hill Country to visitors drawn by its climate and scenery. Depots became gathering places—part telegraph office, part freight house, and part gateway to opportunity. In many cases, the rhythm of the trains determined whether a town would flourish or fade.
As rail travel increased, hotels, resort towns and depots began to spring up along the routes, welcoming travelers who could now reach Central Texas more easily than ever before. By the late 1800s, a night at a respectable hotel might cost $1 to $1.50 and often included meals. Compared to the average wage—a laborer might earn $1 to $2 a day and a skilled worker $2 to $3—a hotel stay was still considered a luxury. By the 1890s, a room costing $2 a night represented roughly a day’s wages for many Texans, indicating that leisure travel had become both a privilege and a livelihood.
Although many of the old railroad depots have faded away, there are numerous ones you can visit today, although most have been repurposed. Among them are the Llano Railroad Depot built in early 1900s, now a railway museum, the Kerrville train depot is now Rails, A Café at the Depot, and the New Braunfels depot circa 1900 is a museum and visitor space. A fun experience awaits you at the Burnet Depot, circa 1900 and still in rail use through the Austin Steam Train Association’s which operates a1916 steam locomotive that travels through the Hill Country.
Enticing the Traveler:
Hotels cost quite a bit more today, but historic hotels and B&Bs can still be found throughout Central Texas, among them San Antonio’s legendary Menger Hotel, opened in 1859, and The Driskill in Austin, which began welcoming visitors in 1886. In Salado, the Stagecoach Inn, established in 1861 as a stop along the Chisholm Trail, is now a boutique hotel and restaurant. The Kendall in Boerne’s historic district traces its roots to 1859, when owners Erastus and Sarah Reed offered spare rooms to stagecoach riders and horsemen. In New Braunfels’ historic Gruene district, the stately Gruene Mansion Inn, built in 1872, overlooks the Guadalupe River, while the historic Y.O. Ranch Headquarters, established in the 1880s near the tiny Mountain Home in Kerr County, welcomes guests seeking an authentic Texas ranch experience.
As towns emerged and travel increased, eateries popped up to feed hungry travelers, and many of these historic restaurants are still open today. Scholz Garten in Austin dates to 1866 and claims fame as the oldest beer garden in America—and the oldest operating business in Texas. Stop in for authentic German cuisine made from time-proven recipes and, of course, a frosty cold beer. The Buckhorn Saloon & Bar, opened in 1881 in San Antonio, is where Teddy Roosevelt once recruited Rough Riders and is now a popular tourist draw in all its glory, bedecked with many original furnishings and known for its hearty cuisine and crafted cocktails. Also in downtown San Antonio is Schilo’s, opened in 1917, where hungry patrons continue to enjoy hearty German meals made from family recipes. Don’t forget the house-made root beer!
Sweets have been popular through the ages, and if your sweet tooth makes you pause at every bakery, you’ll find numerous places around Central Texas to satisfy that craving, including Naegelin’s Bakery, the oldest continually operating bakery in Texas, opened in 1868 in New Braunfels and still renowned today for its scrumptious kolaches, strudels, cakes and sweet rolls, Here’s a tip: move this up a notch on your “gotta go” list.
Once the basic creature comforts of lodging and dining were established, entrepreneurs saw the need for gathering places where both travelers and residents could socialize. One pastime took hold fast: the dance hall, where the iconic two-step took caught on and never let go. Today you can still experience where generations of music lovers danced the night away. Gruene Hall in Gruene, built in 1878, is the oldest continually operating dance hall in Texas and remains charmingly authentic. Twin Sisters Dance Hall in Blanco County, constructed by German settlers in 1879, continues to host periodic dance nights and community gatherings, as does the Albert Dance Hall in miniscule (13 acres!) Albert, Texas (midway between Fredericksburg and Johnson City), which was founded in 1892. Regional bands still rouse patrons with great toe-tappin’ music–and a really great time.
So Much to See…and Do
The desire to explore the wide open spaces and scenic areas led to the creation of state parks, including Bastrop State Park in 1938, Garner State Park in 1941 and Inks Lake State Park in 1950, giving travelers an opportunity to explore acres of natural flora and fauna. Spanish missions also ranked high on the list of tourist attractions as rail and highway travel increased. Popular sites today include Mission Concepción (1716), Mission San José (1720), Mission San Juan (1731) and Mission Espada (1731), all part of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Of course, the iconic and revered Alamo—completed in its present form around 1755—is considered the No. 1 most visited historic site in Texas. It’s a must-see.
Historic routes are also popular with travelers seeking to follow the paths of earlier generations, including El Camino Real de los Tejas, the Spanish colonial road linking Mexico with early Texas missions; the Chisholm Trail, which carried cattle from South and Central Texas north to Kansas railheads; and the Old Spanish Trail, an early automobile highway that stretched from Florida to California through San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country.
The Lure of the Cowboy
It was the Old West that expanded the interest in cowboy culture. Western comic books, TV shows and movies painted a colorful picture of life on the range. Merchandising of cowboy hats, cap pistols, lunchboxes, figurines and other memorabilia became coveted possessions of youngsters, and by the mid-1950s, visitors wanted to experience what this rough and seemingly glamorous life was all about. Cowboy culture led to dude ranches and provided people with a way to stay on a ranch, ride horses and soak up the atmosphere. In Bandera, dubbed the Cowboy Capital of the World, you can get your cowboy thrills at four historic dude ranches offering a true Texas experience with horseback riding and ranch living. The family-owned Dixie Dude Ranch has been hosting dudes since the 1930s, Twin Elm Guest Ranch since 1939, Flying L Ranch since the mid-1900s and Mayan Dude Ranch since 1951.
The Formalization of Tourism
From the 1920s to the 1950s, cars became more affordable and transformed the appeal of being on the road. Motels, diners and roadside attractions became a lucrative way to make a living and a way for visitors to travel in a more comfortable manner. Tourism became more sophisticated and visitor bureaus sprang up, creating jobs for marketers, ad agencies and suppliers. Big theme parks entered the lucrative travel market. SeaWorld opened in 1988, followed by Six Flags Fiesta Texas in 1992, which was themed around Spanish/Latin heritage, German influences, Tex-Mex culture, 19th-century frontier motifs and the advent of the oil era.
Today, Texas is one of the leading tourist destinations in the country. Visitors from around the globe come here for nature travel, heritage trails, cultural tourism, Texas cuisine, Texas wineries, hunting, fishing, birdwatching and more. Statistics for 2024 indicate that 62 million leisure visitors visited Texas in 2024, generating an economic impact of roughly $199.5 billion.
