Landmark Inn
Castroville, Medina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
These limestone structures along the Eagle Pass - San Antonio Road at the Medina River ford were once centers of trade, travel, industry, and domestic life. Alsatian colonist Michel Simon settled here in 1844, followed by Caesar Monod, who built a one-story home and store with a separate kitchen in 1849. Within two decades, John and Rowena Vance had converted Simon's home into a wash house, built a new residence, and enlarged the store to include a two-story hotel. A mill was built on the river in 1854, which Joseph Courand modernized after 1876 and J.T. Lawler used for hydroelectricity after 1925. Ruth Lawler kept the tradition of hospitality at her "Landmark Inn" before deeding it to the state in 1974. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
These weathered limestone buildings rose beside the Medina River ford on the old Eagle Pass–San Antonio road, where Alsatian colonist Michel Simon settled in 1844 as part of Henri Castro's immigrant colony. Later owners turned a home and store into a wash house, residence, and two-story hotel, while a riverside mill built in 1854 was modernized over the years and even generated hydroelectricity by the 1920s. Ruth Lawler kept up the old tradition of hospitality at her "Landmark Inn" before deeding it to the state in 1974.
Why it matters
Castroville's Alsatian settlement and this roadside inn preserve a distinctive strand of European immigration and frontier travel in early Texas.
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Related people
- · Michel Simon
- · Ruth Lawler
- · Joseph Courand
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Vance Hotel and Store
Castroville, TX
Built in 1849 of local limestone and cypress, this thick-walled building shows the Alsatian architecture that immigrant colonists brought to Castroville. It began as the home, store, and post office of Swiss merchant Caesar Monod, and by the 1860s John and Rowena Vance had added a store wing and a second story of guest rooms. With a nearby bath house and kitchen, the Vance Hotel offered rest to travelers on the Eagle Pass–San Antonio Road.
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