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KYLE, TEXAS

Hays County, Texas Hill Country

29°59'21"N 97°52'33"W (29.989080, –97.875947)

I-35 and FM 150
Just N of San Marcos the county seat
26 miles N of New Braunfels
58 miles NE of San Antonio
7 miles S of Buda
21 miles SW of downtown Austin
ZIP Code 78640
Area code 512 & 737
Population: 45,697 (2020)
28,016 (2010) 5,314 (2000) 2,225 (1990)

Book Hotel Here > Kyle Hotels


Klye Texas water tower
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2009
Kyle's distinctive red, white and blue water tower can be seen from any part of the town and has a way of including itself in nearly every photograph of Kyle.
More Texas Water Towers

Kyle is Hays County's second city.

History in a Pecan Shell

Jay Gould, the 19th Century railroad magnate decided that his International-Great Northern Railroad needed a station between Austin and San Marcos. He made a deal with property owners David Moore and Fergus Kyle and 200 acres of their former land was auctioned off in 1880 under the Kyle Auction Oak.

By 1881, Kyle had four saloons and a newspaper (The Kyle Nutshell) so that the saloon patrons had something to read between drinks. Many anecdotal stories of Kyle's first years are included in Richard Zelade's Hill County, Lone Star Books (Gulf Publishing) 1999.


A Town so Nice - They Incorporated Twice

In 1895 the city incorporated the first time. Two years later they decided it was a bad idea. The second incorporation in 1906 held.

Kyle suffered several fires in its history, which accounts for the missing buildings. Surviving buildings date back to the 1890s.

See Kyle Historical Marker

Kyle tombstone
The Tombstone of Fergus Kyle.
TE photo

Historical Marker: City Hall Square, 106 S. Main

Kyle

Two antebellum settlements, the Blanco or Nance community (7 mi. W) and Mountain City (3 mi. W), provided the early population and business for Kyle after the city was founded in 1880. Fergus Kyle, for whom the town was named, and the family of David Moore donated 200 acres of land for a townsite when the International & Great Northern Railroad built a line from Austin to San Antonio. Lots were first sold in October 1880 as an auction held beneath a liveoak at 204 S. sledge Street. The first business was a saloon and meat market owned by Tom Martin.

An 1895 election incorporated the town but voters discontinued the status two years later. Kyle was incorporated again in 1906 and J. W. Tompkins served as the first mayor.

In the 1940s Kyle residents elected an all-woman municipal government. The mayor, who won using a write-in campaign, was Mary Kyle Hartson (1865-1956), daughter of Fergus Kyle. Her brother Edwin Jackson Kyle (b. 1876) was dean of the Texas A&M School of Agriculture. He later served in the administrations of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman as the ambassador to Guatemala (1944-48). Kyle Football Field at Texas A&M University is named in his honor.
1980

"My family had farming interests in Kyle and Buda and my great grandfather founded Science Hall when he migrated to Texas from North Carolina after the Civil War. Here is an old photo of the original Science Hall"
- David J. Andrews


Kyle, Texas Landmarks / Attractions


Historic Trees in Kyle

Kyle has two famous trees: The Auction Oak and The Kyle Hanging Tree ( Click on the names for their images and short histories. )

  • Kyle Auction Oak is located inside Kyle on Sledge Street, about two blocks south of Center Street. Since there seem to be two distinct trunks, it is sometimes referred to as The Auction Oaks.

  • Kyle Hanging Tree is a few miles down Old Post Road on your left.

  • The Kyle hanging tree
    TE photo, 2001
    Kyle Hanging Tree


    Kyle Auction Oak, Kyle Texas
    Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2009
    The Kyle Auction Oak


    Kyle Tx Pecan Tree
    Kyle Pecan Tree
    Photo courtesy Sarah Reveley, 2008
    See Texas Historic Trees


    Kyle Tx Pecan Tree plaque
    Kyle Pecan Tree plaque
    Photo courtesy Sarah Reveley, 2008

    More Kyle Landmarks / Attractions:

  • Kyle City Jail

  • The Katherine Ann Porter Museum

  • Kyle Cemetery

  • The Historic International-Great Northern Railroad depot

  • Kyle: Growing with Thought
    "With all that's going wrong in the world of development - it's nice to know that something is going right."

  • The Claiborne Kyle Log Cabin
    CR 136 SW of Kyle (just S. of the Kyle Cemetery) When John Claiborne and Lucy Kyle built their home on the banks of the Blanco River they had 9 children with them. This large cedar-built dog trot cabin is an excellent example of its type - and the only surviving one in Texas. The Cemetery has many stones inscribed with the Kyle name.

  • Kyle Hotels

  • Kyle TX City Hall
    "The New City Hall is where the Bon Ton building stood till it burned down in 2002. See Historical Marker for info. The marker stands at the front of City Hall."
    - William Beauchamp, June 2009


    Kyle, Tx, Old D.A. Young Bldg
    Old D.A. Young Building
    Photo courtesy Sarah Reveley, 2008


    Old D. A. Young Building hisorical marker, Kyle Texas
    Old D. A. Young Building historical marker
    Photo courtesy Sarah Reveley, 2008


    The old Kyle Creamery rock building, Kyle Texas
    The Old Kyle Creamery
    Photo courtesy Sarah Reveley, 2008

    Kyle's oldest stone building was recently razed by its owner. Across the street from the bare spot is another stone building next to the Kyle Police Station. This is the former Creamery, where we met The Kyle Creamery Cat


    Kyle Texas railroad depot
    The historic International-Great Northern Railroad Depot
    Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2009
    More Texas Depots | Texas Railroads


    Kyle Texas railroad depot and water tower
    The historic International-Great Northern Railroad
    Photo courtesy Sarah Reveley, 2008


    Kyle Tx Church
    A church in Kyle
    Photo courtesy Sarah Reveley, 2008


    Kyle TX Live Oak Lodge
    Kyle Masonic Lodge
    Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2009
    More Texas Lodges


    Kyle Texas historical marker
    Kyle historical marker
    City Hall Square, 106 S. Main

    Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2009


    Kyle, Texas - Lex Word and the Bon Ton historical marker
    Lex Word and the Bon Ton historical marker
    Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2009

    People

  • Helen Hall by Mike Cox
    Helen Hall Michaelis - one of the founders of the American Quarter Horse Association

  • Katherine Ann Porter

  • The Kyle Creamery Cat - Cats are people too


  • Kyle City Offices
    512 268-5341 Website: www.cityofkyle.com
    Kyle, Texas Forum
  • Here are two pictures of the Kyle City Jail. This was moved from Kyle some years ago and added to the western town attractions at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos. They have since closed that part of the park and offered the City of Kyle the opportunity to come get their jail. The structure was in bad shape and the City did not have a good place to put it so they declined. But we have pictures none-the-less.

    Also, the old Kyle train depot has been donated to the City and moved from private property back to a location fronting the UP line in downtown Kyle. It is currently sitting on a flatbed waiting to be put into place. Once it is in position I will send along some pictures of that as well.- Peter French, President, Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce, January 30, 2004

  • "I was amused to see that good old Jay Gould had participated in the founding of Sierra Blanca, as he also participated in the founding the town in which I live, Kyle. Thank you for your work, I enjoy your site very much." - Peter French



  • Take a road trip
    Texas Hill Country

    Kyle, Texas Nearby Cities & Towns:
    Buda | Austin | San Marcos | New Braunfels | San Antonio
    See Hays County

    Book Hotel Here:
    Kyle Hotels | More Hotels
    Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact us.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


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