Mo Ranch is a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
conference center
A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...
for
summer camps
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
,
retreats
The meaning of a spiritual retreat can be different for different religious communities. Spiritual retreats are an integral part of many Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Sufi communities.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, meditative retreats are ...
,
family reunions that is located in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Kerr County, Texas. It is in a west-central area in the county, west of
Hunt, Texas
Hunt is an unincorporated community in western Kerr County, Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 2 ...
,
in the
Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Americ ...
at the North Fork of the
Guadalupe River.
History
The Ranch is named for Daniel J. Moran, who was chairman of
Continental Oil Company
Conoco Inc. ( ) was an American oil and gas company that operated from 1875 until 2002, when it merged with Phillips Petroleum to form ConocoPhillips. Founded by Isaac Elder Blake in 1875 as the "Continental Oil and Transportation Company". Curre ...
(later to become
Conoco, Inc.). He owned the ranch from 1935 until his death in 1948; Presbyterians purchased the ranch in 1949, the year after his death,
[ for $562,500; Mrs. Moran then gave a gift back to the church of $50,000. Eventually the State of ]Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
bought of the ranch from the Presbyterians, and later expanded that portion with additional purchase of adjacent land. That land is now the Kerr County Wildlife Management Area, administered by Texas Parks & Wildlife. Now the entire Mo-Ranch covers .
By 2019 the Mo Ranch camp organization began doing off-site camping programs in the Rio Grande Valley
The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. Th ...
region; historically many residents there chose not to travel to Kerr County for the camp as some members of families lacked immigration visas and therefore could be detained at in-country immigration checkpoints set up in the region.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Mo Ranch HomePage
Buildings and structures in Kerr County, Texas
Summer camps in Texas