Bandera County Courthouse
Bandera, Bandera County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First permanent courthouse for county, which was organized in 1856, but used makeshift quarters for offices and courtrooms until this building was erected 1890-91. Style is local version of the Second Renaissance Revival. White limestone for the structure was quarried locally. B.F. Trester of San Antonio drew the plans--for $5. Contractors: Ed Braden & Sons. Interior was remodeled and a wing added in 1966. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1972.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Though Bandera County was organized in 1856, its officials made do with makeshift quarters until this courthouse was built in 1890-91. Designed in a local version of the Second Renaissance Revival style by B.F. Trester of San Antonio, for the princely fee of five dollars, it was constructed of white limestone quarried nearby by contractors Ed Braden & Sons. Remodeled with an added wing in 1966, it remains the county's first permanent seat of government.
Why it matters
The courthouse marks the maturation of a frontier county from improvised beginnings into permanent civic order, built from the very stone of the Hill Country it governs.
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Related people
- · B.F. Trester
- · Ed Braden
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Camp Montel, C.S.A.
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Established in 1862, Camp Montel was one link in the Confederate defense line stretching from the Red River to the Rio Grande, named for surveyor and Bandera colonizer Captain Charles DeMontel. Its troops of the Texas Frontier Regiment furnished their own guns and mounts but often went short of food, clothing, and supplies as they guarded settlements against raids. With most local men away at war—Bandera County counted just 399 people in 1860—these scouting parties managed to curb frontier attacks until the war's end.
Mormon Settlers in Bandera County
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In March 1854 a band of Latter-day Saints led by church elder Lyman Wight settled near the year-old town of Bandera on the Medina River. Wight had broken with Brigham Young and brought a colony of 250 to Texas in 1846, moving from Austin to Fredericksburg—where they ran grist and saw mills—before founding "Mormon Camp." Here they raised houses with gardens between them, milled grain, and crafted native-wood furniture to sell back East. When Wight died in 1858 the colony scattered, though a remnant stayed on in Bandera.
Old Texas Ranger Trail
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This winding hundred-mile road from San Antonio to Kerrville served through the 19th century as a strategic patrol route for the Texas Rangers guarding the frontier. Bandera sat midway along the trail near Bandera Pass, a notorious ambush spot, making the town a focal point for Ranger activity. The route's most famous clash came in 1841, when Captain 'Jack' Hays and forty Rangers were ambushed by a large Comanche force in the pass and fought a desperate, close-quarters battle.
Captain Jack Phillips
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On December 29, 1876, Bandera County Deputy Sheriff Capt. Jack Phillips rode alone toward Sabinal Canyon and was ambushed by Indians at Seco Canyon Pass. After his horse was shot out from under him, he ran half a mile on foot before being killed; a passing couple bound for their own wedding found his body. Tragically, Texas Rangers had trailed the same raiders for miles but turned back exhausted just before the attack.