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History in a Pecan
Shell
In 1852, the town was named after Oscar Brackett who
was a sutler to Fort Clark. The town started around his store around 1852 and
was first called Brackett (as it is today by residents).
In 1875 when
the town was granted a post office - the postal authorities assigned the ville
to avoid confusion with another Brackett, Texas.
When Kinney County came
into being in 1876, Brackettville became the county seat. The Galveston, Harrisburg
and San Antonio Railway was heading toward Del
Rio and bypassed Brackettville. This would've killed any other town, but Brackettville
had Ft. Clark for economic security. Spofford
was the town who benefited from the railroad.
As Fort Clark's population
increased, so did the standard of living in Brackettville. |
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The pool at Fort Clark
(Las Moras Springs)
TE photo |
| | The
Post Theatre in Fort Clark
TE photo |
| | A
Brackettville limestone house
TE photo |
A local quarry supplied
limestone blocks for the building of permanent structures.
The years
of 1878-1882 were particularly prosperous, although there was a flood in 1880
(and other in 1899). Although the railroad bypassed Brackettville, there was daily
stagecoach service to Spofford
- 10 miles South.
In 1896 the town had a population of 1,000 which
doubled by 1926. A good part of the Brackettville population has historically
been made up of the Seminole Indian Scouts. This is a group descended from
an original 150 Black and Seminole Indians who were employed by the U.S. Army
to scout around the border.
The town of Brackettville has a surprising
amount of shade - especially along Hackberry Creek. |
| | The
Kinney County Museum
TE photo |
| | A
doorway in Brackettville
TE photo |
Brackettville
Texas HistoryBrackettville
Chronicles
The
Whirlwind Lt. John Lapham Bullis and the Seminole Negro Scouts by C. F.
Eckhardt
"One of the least-known heroes of the Texas frontier was
a man known to his followers as The Whirlwind and to his enemies as The Thunderbolt.....
John Bullis didn't do it all alone. He had a lot of help. The help, mostly, was
the Seminole Negro scouts. What became of them?..."Johanna
Domodora of South Texas by Linda-Kirkpatrick
Out of the PWA
the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was born. Thanks to the WPA and the monies
paid to writers, we now have a collection of interviews of people whose stories
would have been lost in history. Florence Angermiller's interview with Johanna
July of Brackettville, Texas is a story that I have read over and over...Army
Booze by Mike Cox (From "Texas Tales" Column)
"Living
amid the skyscraper canyons of New York City in the waning days of Prohibition,
Lt. Col. Jasper Ewing Brady Sr. reflected on his days as a young enlisted man
on the Texas border..." | |
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