| |
| The
Morris Family>
Morris
Ranch Photos & Forum
>
An easy
drive from Austin and San
Antonio, a visit to Morris Ranch is about as comfortable a ghost town tour
as you're going to get.
Only 12 miles from Fredericksburg,
a trip to Morris Ranch can be extended to include a visit to Harper
with a quick return to Fredericksburg.
Morris Ranch is included in T. Lindsay Baker's Ghost Towns of Texas.
The Ranch is very much as it appeared in 1984 when the author's photos were taken.
The only difference seems to be the recent death of several trees, perhaps due
to the drought.
How Morris Ranch became a ghost town is rather
simple. Francis Morris bought the 23,000 as a place to raise horses, although
not much was done during his lifetime. His son oversaw the ranch during its ascent
into a community that could nearly provide for all its needs. No economic factors
influenced the town's demise, but rather the laws in several states that cut back
on legalized horseracing. |
| | On
the way to Morris Ranch
TE
Photo, 2000 |
| | The
Ranch Headquarters building
TE
Photo, 2000 |
| The
"Ranch" today extends around the intersection of Morris-Tivydale Road and an offshoot
of Hwy 16. The easiest way to get there is to take Hwy 16 out of Fredericksburg
(South) and at 2 miles start looking for the traffic light at FM 2093. Turn right
and go for about 7 miles until you come to Morris-Tivydale Road. Turn left and
continue for about 1.5 miles. A handsome small stone building sits to your left,
beyond a tall wire fence and beyond that is the former two story "Jockey House."
|
| Continue
on and at the next intersection you'll come to a handsome two-story house that
looks like it's been used recently. Across the road is a silo with an observation
deck and some horses that may be descended from the racing stock of the Morris
Ranch. To the right of the large house is a small store overgrown with vegetation.
|
| | The
barn for stallions
TE
Photo, 2000 |
| |
The
1893 schoolhouse
TE
Photo, 2000 |
Head
west from this intersection and you'll see a large stables that once housed the
ranch's breeding stock. Across the street is the former manager's house and behind
a fence (also on the north side of the road) is the beautiful former schoolhouse,
built in 1893.
Morris Ranch reached its zenith in the 1880s. The laws
that broke its back were passed in the early 1890s during an economic depression.
The ranch left the Morris family's hands in 1902, although the community was strong
enough to keep a post office until 1954.
© John Troesser
Book Hotel Here > Fredericksburg
Hotels | More Hotels |
The
Morris Family "Here
are two photos of my ancestors who are connected to Morris Ranch. I don't believe
they are the founders, but they're close. The pictures are of my father's father's
father, Gilbert Morris, and his wife, Bertha Brockman Morris. Her
ancestors settled the German-American region around Fredericksburg,
TX. The proximity of that community to Morris Ranch is how she came to meet
my great-grandfather, who was associated with the operations of Morris Ranch,
as a partner/heir, until his untimely death at an early age in the early 1900s. |
| "My
father's father's father, Gilbert Morris, and his wife, Bertha Brockman Morris."
- Ted Morris |
| Gilbert
Morris
Photo courtesy
Ted Morris |
Bertha came from the Saxony region of present-day Germany.
My father's
father, Gilbert Elliott Morris, was born around 1900. My grandfather grew up in
the Fredericksburg/Morris
Ranch region, and he tells some amazing stories in his memoirs.... Stories include
a place called the Buckhorn Saloon, which had 9-inch-circumference rattlesnake
skins on the wall up to the 1950s; the days of Texas independence and how the
federal government relied on the frontiersmen to hold the line; Indian skirmishes;
the days of the Pony Express, of which my ancestors played a role because of their
intricate knowledge of the terrain and horse-riding; and more." - Ted
Morris, June 09, 2003
Book Hotel Here >
Fredericksburg
Hotels | More Hotels
|
Morris
Ranch Photos
"Morris Ranch is a fascinating site, though now it seems far from abandoned.
The old schoolhouse appears to be a residence complete with imposing fence. To
the west of the school house is a well maintained cemetery. It is not visible
from the road, but you can easily drive the short dirt path up to it. The building
on the southwest corner of Alfred Petsch/Morris Tivydale and Morris Ranch has
a new pool in the rear. The most interesting part of our visit was the silo which
has a memorial plaque attached facing southeast. Why I didn't photograph it, I'll
never know. Also interesting were the ruins east of the silo but barely visible
from the road. Perhaps this was the former "Jockey House", I'm not sure, but there
is very little left of the stone structure. Well worth the drive if you are in
the area. - Garry Taylor, Austin,
Texas, April 05, 2005 |
House
& Store
Photo
courtesy Garry Taylor, March 2005 |
Silo Interior
Photo
courtesy Garry Taylor, March 2005 |
The
silo by the house
Photo
courtesy Garry Taylor, March 2005 |
Store
Photo
courtesy Garry Taylor, March 2005 |
Ruins
Photo
courtesy Garry Taylor, March 2005 |
The
1893 Morris Ranch Schoolhouse
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, June 2005 |
Morris
Ranch ForumSubject:
Morris Ranch & other places
My wife love going to old places......About 2 weeks ago we went to the Austin,
San Marcos area (Hill Country). We found Morris Ranch, no problem with the excellent
directions on your website....we were kind of disappointed that it was all fenced
off......the silo was close enough to the fence to get some good pictures the
large barn was just like on the website but a No Tresspassing sign kept us from
getting closer.......the schoolhouse was incredible but a big gate was in the
way I would have love to look inside.......We went on to San
Marcos, there we found an old hospital that had at one time been converted
into a college fraternity house, but now is abandonded with a somewhat spooky
history of a fraternity ritual that had gone wrong ,maybe true maybe not...( I
read about it in a book called Weird Texas, check it out sometime its a cool book)........Also
we found an abandonded saw mill outside of Luling
it was great, I think it was called Zedlers
Mill it was along side the River you can walk right up to it, of course you
wouldn't have wanted to go inside, the historical marker said it had been abandonded
since 1960......As usual I cant say enough good about your website...who knows
where we will go next.......... Thanks. - Rodney Stegall, November 08, 2005
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us.
Book Hotel Here > Fredericksburg
Hotels | More Hotels
More
Texas | Texas Towns
| Texas Ghost Towns | Texas
Hotels | |
| Book Hotel Here
- Expedia Affiliate
Network |
|
