BRACKEN, TEXAS

Comal County, Texas Hill Country

29°36'36"N 98°19'16"W
near Garden Ridge
14 Miles SW of New Braunfels the county seat
Population: 76 (2000) 75 (1990)

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Arrangement in Wood, Stone and Tin
Photo courtesy Stephen Michaels, January 2008

History in a Pecan Shell

Named for early settler William Bracken, who had purchased land here in 1849, the town was first known as Davenport for a settler who had arrived after the Civil War. The town grew as a result of its railroad connection and would be known as Davenport today if the name hadn’t already been in use by another post office. The name was officially changed in 1883. After 1940, when the town reported only 50 residents, the post office was closed and mail was rerouted.

The Davenport school merged with two others after WWII to form the Comal Elem. School. The population reached seventy-five in the 1970s and this figure was used for years until either a baby was born or a stranger came to town, boosting the number to seventy-six for the 2000 Census.

Bracken, Texas Landmarks

Bracken Texas sotre and royal crown cola

Rooftop Tricycle
Photo courtesy Stephen Michaels, January 2008

Bracken Store cafe and coca-Cola sign, Texas

Privilege Sign
Photo courtesy Stephen Michaels, January 2008
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Bracken Texas blacksmith shop, wheel and windmill

Winter Scene
Photo courtesy Stephen Michaels, January 2008

Contrails over Bracken
Photo courtesy Stephen Michaels, January 2008
More Windmills

The second largest bat colony in the world west of Bracken

Saltpeter and Bat Bombs by Clay Coppedge

Texas has millions and millions of bats and hundreds of bat caves. Bracken Cave, near San Antonio, is home to 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats every summer. It's the largest Mexican free-tailed bat colony in the world that's open to the public. The second largest such bat colony in the world is west of Bracken, near Concan in Uvalde County, where the Frio Cave is home to another 10 million or so bats.

These two caves and as many as a couple of dozen others in Texas became defacto ammunition plants during the Civil War because 30 million bats produce an awful lot of guano, which produces a lot of gunpowder, which the Confederacy needed in the worst way after a Union blockade cut off supplies of gunpowder and everything else... more

Take a road trip

Bracken, Texas Nearby Towns:
New Braunfels the county seat
See Comal County

Texas Hill Country

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