The Fort McKavett State Historic Site is a former
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
installation located in
Menard County, Texas
Menard County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,962. The county seat is Menard. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1871. It is named for Michel ...
. The fort was first established in 1852 as part of a line of
forts in Texas
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
intended to protect migrants traveling to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The fort was deemed unnecessary and abandoned in 1859 and was occupied by settlers. From 1861 to 1863, during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, the fort became an outpost of
Confederate forces on the Texas frontier until they left for other theaters of the war. When the US Army returned to Texas in the later 1860s, the fort was reoccupied and rebuilt, and became a base for the "
Buffalo Soldier
Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in th ...
", or
all-African American,
24th Infantry and
9th Cavalry Regiments.
Fort McKavett was abandoned permanently in June 1883 and was once again occupied by civilian settlers who converted its buildings into residences and businesses. The town of
Fort McKavett, Texas
Fort McKavett is a ghost town in Menard County, Texas, United States that was occupied for a while by local Hispanics after its decommissioning as a fort until the 1970s. It lies at the intersections of Farm to Market Road 864 and Farm to Market ...
, grew within and beyond the fort's grounds until the late 1920s. Thereafter it began a long decline until it became a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
by the end of the 20th century. Preservation of the fort began in 1968 and on July 14, 1971, it was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Use as military outpost
Fort McKavett was established during the
American colonization of Texas, a process that began in the 1820s with the immigration of Anglo-Americans into
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, later
Mexican, Texas. Europeans first reached the
San Saba River
The San Saba River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. It is an undeveloped and scenic waterway located on the northern boundary of the Edwards Plateau.
Course
The river begins in two primary branches. The North Valley Prong runs east throu ...
valley, in central Texas, in the 17th century, when the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
established contact with the
Jumano people Jumanos were a tribe or several tribes, who inhabited a large area of western Texas, New Mexico, and northern Mexico, especially near the Junta de los Rios region with its large settled Indigenous population. They lived in the Big Bend area in th ...
. In the mid-18th century, the
Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
peoples migrated into central Texas, displacing the Jumano and then themselves being displaced by the
Comanche
The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
people. From 1757 to 1768, the Spanish briefly maintained
a presidio in the San Saba valley, but with the closure of the
presidio
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...
abandoned the area. In 1849, the valley regained strategic significance when
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
William H.C. Whiting
William Henry Chase Whiting (March 22, 1824 – March 10, 1865) was a United States Army officer who resigned after 16 years of service in the Army Corps of Engineers to serve in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He ...
scouted a trail through central Texas that traveled through the valleys of the San Saba and
Concho River
The Concho River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas.
''Concho'' is Spanish for "shell"; the river was so named due to its abundance of freshwater mussels, such as the Tampico pearly mussel ('' Cyrtonaias tampicoensis'').
Geography
The Con ...
s.
After existing as an
independent republic for a decade, Texas was annexed by the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
in 1845, which led to the start of the
Mexican-American War
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexicans, Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% ...
the next year. The United States defeated Mexico, and in the
treaty that ended the war in 1848
annexed
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
what is presently the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
. The next year,
gold was discovered in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, enticing an unprecedented number of white migrants to go west, across Texas. To protect them, the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
established a line of
forts in Texas
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
long from
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
to
Fort Duncan
Fort Duncan was a United States Army base, set up to protect the first U.S. settlement on the Rio Grande near the current town of Eagle Pass, Texas.
History
A line of seven army posts were established in 1848–49 after the Mexican War to protect ...
in 1848–49. In 1851, General
Persifor Frazer Smith
Persifor Frazer Smith (November 16, 1798May 17, 1858) was a United States Army officer during the Seminole Wars and Mexican–American War. As commander of U.S. forces in California, he was one of the last military governors of the occupied terr ...
, commander of the
Department of Texas
The Department of Texas was a military department of the United States Army that existed from 1850 to 1861, and again from 1865 to 1866, from 1870 to 1913 and during the First World War. It was subordinate to the Military Division of the Missouri. ...
, inspected those posts and ordered that a second line of forts be established farther west. The forts of that line –
Belknap,
Chadbourne,
Clark
Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
,
Mason
Mason may refer to:
Occupations
* Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces
* Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...
, McKavett,
Phantom Hill, and
Terrett – were established between June 24, 1851, and November 18, 1852, along the trails through Texas.
First occupation by the US Army, 1852–59
On November 16, 1851, General Smith ordered the
8th Infantry Regiment
The 8th Infantry Regiment of the United States, also known as the "Fighting Eagles," is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. The 8th Infantry participated in the Mexican War, American Civil War, Philippine Insurrection, Moro Rebel ...
to establish a post on the San Saba, near the
San Antonio–El Paso Road The San Antonio–El Paso Road, also known as the Lower Emigrant Road or Military Road, was an economically important trade route between the Texas cities of San Antonio and El Paso between 1849 and 1882. Mail, freight, and passengers traveled by h ...
. The unit arrived on March 14, 1852, and encamped next to a pond until it grew stagnant in May. The camp was then moved downriver, onto a high bluff on the south bank of the river, two miles from its source. As the camp was west of Fort Mason, it was first known as the "Camp near Fort Mason", then as "Camp San Saba". In October 1852, the camp was named Camp McKavett, after an officer of the 8th Infantry who had died in the
Battle of Monterrey
In the Battle of Monterrey (September 21–24, 1846) during the Mexican–American War, General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexican Army of the North was defeated by the Army of Occupation, a force of United States Regulars, Volunteers and ...
in 1846, and retained that name when the post was designated a fort in 1853. In 1855, the US Army signed a 20-year lease of the land the fort occupied – at that time – for $600 ($, adjusted for inflation) a year.
![Fort Mckavett 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Fort_Mckavett_3.png)
Construction of the post began immediately and saw rapid progress as though there were no local civilian professionals to assist construction, there was a local abundance of useable stone and timber. By the end of the fort's first year of operation, it had five barracks, a hospital, and several kitchens that doubled as temporary officer's housing. Most of these buildings were wood and earth constructions, but by 1856, the fort had 21 stone buildings.
The 8th Infantry was replaced at Fort McKavett on January 26, 1854, by the
2nd Dragoons Regiment. On August 15, 1855, the 2nd Dragoons were themselves replaced at McKavett by the
1st Infantry Regiment, and then on March 22, 1859, the US Army ordered the fort to be abandoned. Fort McKavett was at that time in a remote location, which complicated supply and communications, despite its being connected by road to San Antonio by April 1853. In addition, the garrisons of Fort McKavett and of the Texas forts generally, composed mostly of infantry, had been unable to arrest the raiding of the horse-riding indigenous peoples.
Use by Confederate Texas, 1861–65
Over the first two months of 1861,
Texas decided to secede from the United States, and on 4 February demanded the surrender of all Federal garrisons and property in Texas. Brevet
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
David E. Twiggs
David Emanuel Twiggs (February 14, 1790 – July 15, 1862), born in Georgia, was a career army officer, serving during the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and Mexican–American War.
As commander of the U.S. Army's Department of Texas when the ...
, commander of the Department of Texas since 1857, complied on February 18, 1861, with an order for all Federal troops in Texas to evacuate the state. In March 1861, the
Confederate government placed the defense of Texas's frontier upon career soldier
Benjamin McCulloch
Brigadier-General Benjamin McCulloch (November 11, 1811 – March 7, 1862) was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, a major-general in the Texas militia and thereafter a major in the United States Army (United States Volunteers) ...
. McCulloch passed the task onto his brother,
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, who assembled a force of ten
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
and garrisoned them in the abandoned US Army forts, establishing a line long. After a relative calm on the frontier from 1861, Confederate forces were unable to defend the Texas frontier and throughout the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
white settlement receded to the east. In November 1863, all Confederate troops on the frontier were sent east to fight the United States, which left civilian militias as the only defense for Texas settlements.
Second occupation by the US Army, 1868–83
Following the surrender of Confederate Texas on June 2, 1865, and the return of the US Army to Texas as on June 19, 1865, frontier settlers made numerous petitions for protection from the US Army. These requests went unanswered until November 1866, when Federal forces began returning to the frontier. In December 1866, the
4th Cavalry Regiment
The 4th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment, whose lineage is traced back to the mid-19th century. It was one of the most effective units of the Army against American Indians on the Texas frontier. Today, the regiment exis ...
, which arrived in Texas the previous August, was ordered to occupy the pre-war Forts Clark,
Inge
Inge is a given name in various Germanic language, Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Est ...
, Mason, and McKavett, and
Camp Verde
Camp Verde ( yuf-x-yav, ʼMatthi:wa; Western Apache: Gambúdih) is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 10,873.
The town hosts an annual corn festival in July, sponsored and orga ...
.
On April 1, 1868, the 4th Cavalry's A Company, led by Brevet
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Eugene B. Beaumont, arrived at Fort McKavett. They were joined later in the month by Company F of the 4th Cavalry and Companies D, E, and I of the
38th Colored Infantry Regiment. With the exception of the original commanding officer's residence, every building on Fort McKavett's grounds had by April 1868 been reduced to ruins, obliging its new garrison to live out of tents and temporary wooden structures. On March 15, 1869,
Brevet
Brevet may refer to:
Military
* Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay
* Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college
* Aircre ...
Major General
Ranald S. Mackenzie
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, also called Bad Hand, (July 27, 1840 – January 19, 1889) was a career United States Army officer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was described by General Ulysses S. Grant as its ...
arrived at Fort McKavett with F and M Companies of the
9th Cavalry Regiment
The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. It is not related to the 9th Kansas Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army. Historically, it was one of the Army's four segregated African-American regiments and was pa ...
, which replaced the 4th Cavalry companies, to take command of the 38th Infantry. The 9th Cavalry and 38th Infantry, which became the
24th Infantry Regiment when it merged with the
41st Infantry Regiment on November 1, 1869, were two of the four post-war all-black "
Buffalo Soldier
Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in th ...
" regiments of the US Army. From 1869 to 1871, this garrison rebuilt Fort McKavett's permanent structures and began regular patrols for and pursuit of raiding indigenous peoples, but rarely encountered any belligerents.
In October 1870, Mackenzie departed Fort McKavett for an assignment in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, leaving Lieutenant Colonel
William Rufus Shafter
William Rufus Shafter (October 16, 1835 – November 12, 1906) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who received America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Fair Oaks. Shafter ...
in command of the fort. Mackenzie would not return to Fort McKavett, as on February 25, 1871, he was assigned to command the 4th Cavalry. In May 1871,
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...
,
Commanding General of the United States Army
The Commanding General of the United States Army was the title given to the service chief and highest-ranking officer of the United States Army (and its predecessor the Continental Army), prior to the establishment of the Chief of Staff of the ...
from 1869, inspected the Texas frontier and its garrisons, including Fort McKavett. Near the end of that tour, Sherman
narrowly missed being killed by a party of Kiowa and subsequently issued orders for more aggressive measures against the Plains Nations. Mackenzie immediately began campaigns to drive the South Plains Nations from the
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...
and
Llano Estacado
The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North A ...
, for which he summoned troops from the frontier forts. By mid-1875, the Comanche, Kiowa, and southern
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
peoples, who had been defeated in the
Red River War
The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains, and forcibly relocate the tribes to reservatio ...
of 1874–75, were moved fully onto reservations. Fort McKavett's garrison participated in the conflict and subsequent expeditions to keep the Panhandle open to white settlement, but by 1878, with the defeat of the
Lipan Apache people
Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...
of far-west Texas, the fort lost its strategic importance. In 1880, the US Army once more decided to close Fort McKavett, and on June 30, 1883, it was closed and abandoned by the
16th Infantry Regiment.
Relationship with Fort McKavett, Texas
![Fort McKavett Commander's house](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Fort_McKavett_Commander%27s_house.jpg)
Shortly after the establishment of Fort McKavett in the 1850s, a town was established a to its north. Its name was to be Lehnesburg, after a German merchant, but wound up with the name Scabtown. When the fort was abandoned in 1859, most of Scabtown's residents left and those that remained, such as the Robinson family, who owned the land the fort stood on, moved into the fort's buildings. The return of the US Army to Fort McKavett also meant the return of Scabtown, which was reestablished across the river from the fort as a collection of
saloons
Saloon may refer to:
Buildings and businesses
* One of the bars in a traditional British pub
* An alternative name for a bar (establishment)
* Western saloon, a historical style of American bar
* The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...
and
brothels
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub pa ...
catering to the fort's garrison. That garrison, composed mostly of
African American soldiers faced sometimes violent discrimination from local whites, whom the soldiers were charged with policing during
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
.
When Fort McKavett was permanently closed in 1883, it was once again occupied by civilians. The fort's buildings were converted into residences and businesses, which found stability by catering to the needs of local cattle and sheep ranchers, and the civilian populace abandoned the name Scabtown for that of the fort. Fort McKavett, Texas, began a slow growth until it reached a peak of 150 residents in the late 1920s. Thereafter it began to decline until 2000, when only 15 people resided in Fort McKavett.
Preservation
![Fort McKavett HQ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Fort_McKavett_HQ.jpg)
Restoration of the fort began in 1967 with the purchasing of several of its buildings by the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage ...
, which established the Fort McKavett State Historic Site. Archaeological digs were carried out on the site in June and July 1969 to locate lost features of the fort, the restoration of which continued for the rest the 20th century; by 1990, 17 buildings had been restored. Fort McKavett was nominated for inclusion on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on June 18, 1969, and was included on July 6, 1971. On January 1, 2008, Fort McKavett was transferred from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to the
Texas Historical Commission
The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas.
The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Historic La ...
.
The fort received three
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the sta ...
s: In 1936, marker number 4795 for the site of Fort McKavett; in 1963, marker number 1998 for Fort McKavett C.S.A.; and in 1968, marker number 4642 for the Sentry Building.
Grounds and architecture
As of October 1, 2016, the Fort McKavett State Historic Site covers .
The materials used for the construction, reconstruction, and expansion of the fort during its military operated were mostly sourced locally. Limestone was quarried from at least three sites in the vicinity of the fort.
For its first year of existence, none of the completed buildings at the fort had any floors, doors, or glass windows, and materials for these things had to be brought from Fredericksburg, away.
See also
*
Texas Forts Trail
The Texas Forts Trail is a nonprofit organization chartered in 1999 which promotes heritage tourism, economic development, and historic preservation. It is one of 10 driving trail regions which make up the award-winning Texas Heritage Trails Prog ...
*
List of Texas state historic sites
Official historic sites of the state of Texas may be under the supervision of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) or the Texas Historical Commission (THC).
;Key
Sites with multiple historic designations are colored according to their ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Menard County, Texas
References
Sources
*
*
Books and articles
*
*
*
*
*
*
Texas State Historical Association
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Official website
{{authority control
Texas state historic sites
State parks of Texas
Forts in Texas
Museums in Menard County, Texas
Open-air museums in Texas
Military and war museums in Texas
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks
Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
Protected areas of Menard County, Texas
1852 establishments in Texas
Houses in Menard County, Texas
National Register of Historic Places in Menard County, Texas