Kerrville, Texas
Encyclopedia
Kerrville is a city in Kerr County
Kerr County, Texas
Kerr County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 49,625. Its county seat is Kerrville. Kerr County was named by Joshua D. Brown for his fellow Kentucky native, James Kerr, a congressman of the Republic of Texas...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 20,425 at the 2000 census. In 2009, the population was 22,826. Kerrville is named after James Kerr
James Kerr (Texas)
James Kerr was a politician in Missouri and Texas who was active in the establishment of the Republic of Texas.-Early life and family:...

, a major in the Texas Revolution
Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...

, and friend of settler-founder Joshua Brown
Joshua Brown (Texas pioneer)
Joshua D. Brown was a Texas pioneer who in the 1850s became the first settler of Kerrville, the seat of Kerr County in the Texas Hill Country west of San Antonio....

, who settled in the area to start a shingle-making camp.

Being nestled in the hills of Texas Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...

, Kerrville is best known for its beautiful parks that line the Guadalupe River
Guadalupe River (Texas)
The Guadalupe River runs from Kerr County, Texas to San Antonio Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. The river is a popular destination for rafters and canoers. Larger cities along the river include New Braunfels, Kerrville, Seguin, Gonzales, Cuero, and Victoria...

 - which runs directly through the city, its nearby youth summer camps, hunting ranches, and RV parks. It's also the home of Texas' Official State Arts & Crafts Fair, the Kerrville Folk Festival
Kerrville Folk Festival
The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The event has run on a yearly basis since 1972. In November 2008, the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kerrville Wine & Music Festival were acquired...

, H-E-B
H-E-B
HEB Grocery Company, LP is a privately held San Antonio, Texas-based supermarket chain with more than 315 stores throughout Texas and northern Mexico. The company also operates Central Market, an upscale organic and fine foods retailer.H-E-B ranked No...

 Grocery Stores, Mooney Airplane Company, James Avery Jewelry, Kerrville Bus Company, and Schreiner University
Schreiner University
Schreiner University is a private liberal arts institution located in Kerrville, Texas. The University enrolls an estimated 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers 27 four-year undergraduate programs, an MBA and a master of education. Its religious affiliation is to the Presbyterian...

. The Museum of Western Art
Museum of Western Art (Kerrville, Texas)
The Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, is a museum dedicated to the painting and sculpture of living artists of the American West who follow in the tradition of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell...

 (founded 1983) features the work of living artists specializing in the themes of the American West.

History

Archeological evidence suggests that humans dwelled in the area known as Kerrville as early as 10,000 years ago. The early modern residents were successful shinglemakers whose mercantile business became a hub that served the middle and upper Hill Country area in the late 1840s. One of the earliest shinglemakers was Joshua D. Brown. With his family, Joshua Brown had led several other families on an exploration of the Guadalupe Valley. These early pioneers organized their settlements near a bluff just north of the Guadalupe River in the eastern half today's county line. The settlement was referred to as "Brownsborough," but after the area was formally platted in 1856 by James Kerr
James Kerr (Texas)
James Kerr was a politician in Missouri and Texas who was active in the establishment of the Republic of Texas.-Early life and family:...

, a major in the Texas Revolution, the settlement was formally known as "Kerrville" and maintained a county seat with Texas.

Starting in 1857, a German master-miller named Christian Dietert and millwright Balthasar Lich started a large grist and saw mill on the bluff. This mill established a permanent source of power and protection from floods, and became the most extensive operation of its kind in the Hill Country area west of New Braunfels and San Antonio. Soon afterwards, Charles A. Schreiner rode Kerrville's newly-found popularity, by serving Kerrville's mercantile needs. Schreiner established a family-run empire that helped build Kerrville's early prosperity by owning almost all of Kerrville's business sectors, including freighting enterprises, retail, wholesale, banking, ranching, marketing, and brokering operations. Schreiner's elegant downtown home, a Romaneque stone structure at 226 Earl Garrett Street, is the site of the Hill Country Museum in downtown Kerrville.

The Civil War slowed Kerrville's development, but with the start of The Reconstruction Era, Kerrville's economic boom and ethnic diversification continued anew as demand grew in San Antonio for lumber, produce, and craftsmen. Kerrville's boom was also catalyzed by the combination the cessation of Indian raids and the expansion into the business of cattle, sheep, and goat ranching. Cattle drives punctuated the boom-years of the late 1880s and the 1890s. In 1887, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway reached Kerrville, and in 1889 the town incorporated, with an "Aldermanic" form of city government.

The Kerrville Water Works Company began to provide water for town dwellers in 1894. Telephone service was introduced in 1896, and the city began to pave streets in 1912. Kerrville adopted a "commission" form of city government in 1917, then changed to the "city-manager" form in 1928. In 1942 the town adopted a home-rule charter, while continuing with a city manager. Kerrville has displayed steady population growth throughout the twentieth century, increasing from 1,423 residents in 1900 to 2,353 in 1920, 5,572 in 1940, 8,901 in 1960, and 15,276 in 1980. Its economic base has diversified and broadened through business, agriculture, light manufacturing, health care, transportation, services, education, the arts, and tourism. By the mid-1990s the Wall Street Journal described Kerrville as one of the wealthiest small towns in America. By 1995 the city's official population was still under 18,000, with another 20,000 people in relatively affluent residential areas south of the river and in the rest of the county. In 2000 the population reached 20,425. Much of the growth in population included retirees and young professionals and semiprofessionals; for many years Kerrville also experienced significant out-migration of young adults raised in the area.

Geography

Kerrville is located at 30°02′47"N 99°8′26"W. This is 58 miles (93.3 km) northwest of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

 and 85 miles (136.8 km) west of Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 67 km km2 (16.9 sq mi). 16.7 square miles (43.3 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) of it (1.36%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 20,425 people, 8,563 households, and 5,411 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,222.5 people per square mile (471.9/km2). There were 9,477 housing units at an average density of 567.2 per square mile (219.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 85.89% White, 2.99% African American, 0.55% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 8.20% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.73% of the population.

There were 8,563 households out of which 8.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.8% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 29.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 87 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,085, and the median income for a family was $38,979. Males had a median income of $27,555 versus $19,923 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $20,193. About 11.7% of families and 15.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

State Highways

  • SH 16 (Medina Highway, Sidney Baker Highway, Fredericksburg Road)
  • SH 27 (Junction Highway, Main Street, Broadway Avenue)
  • SH 173
    Texas State Highway 173
    State Highway 173 or SH 173 is a state highway that runs from Kerrville to Jourdanton in south Texas. The highway was originally designated by 1933 from Hondo southeast to Jourdanton. By 1939, the designated route was extended south from Jourdanton through Freer, absorbing State Highway 241, with...

     (Bandera Highway)

Events

Kerrville is home to the annual Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair which features artisans and entertainers from around the state. Kerrville also plays host to the Kerrville Folk Festival
Kerrville Folk Festival
The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The event has run on a yearly basis since 1972. In November 2008, the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kerrville Wine & Music Festival were acquired...

, an annual summer festival which features folk musicians from around the country. The Texas Lions Camp and Echo Hill Ranch
Echo Hill Ranch
Echo Hill Ranch is a summer ranch camp of about 400 acres in the Texas Hill Country. The ranch was founded in 1953 by Dr. S. Thomas Friedman and Minnie Samet Friedman. It is located south of Kerrville near Medina. Echo Hill was founded as a noncompetitive, child-centered ranch camp for boys and...

 Summer Camp are also located in Kerrville.

Education

Kerrville is served by the Kerrville Independent School District
Kerrville Independent School District
Kerrville Independent School District is a public school district based in Kerrville, Texas .The superintendent of the District is Dr. Dan Troxell...

, which maintains four elementary schools (Tally, Nimitz, Starkey, and Daniels), two middle schools (BT Wilson 6th Grade & Peterson), and two high schools (Hill Country High School and Tivy High School"). Our Lady of the Hills Catholic High School and Notre Dame Catholic School are also located in Kerrville, serving as the primary alternative to the public school system.

Kerrville is home to Schreiner University
Schreiner University
Schreiner University is a private liberal arts institution located in Kerrville, Texas. The University enrolls an estimated 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers 27 four-year undergraduate programs, an MBA and a master of education. Its religious affiliation is to the Presbyterian...

, a private 4-year college university which was established in 1923 by an ex-Texas Ranger, Captain Charles Schreiner. The school is consistently listed as one of the top regional liberal arts colleges in the Western U.S. by U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...

s America's Best Colleges Guide. Schreiner University is also home to Greystone Preparatory School
Greystone Preparatory School
Greystone is a one year prep course to prepare candidates for nomination, appointment and success at a U.S. Service Academy . The program was started by Commander Bailey, USN a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Greystone is situated on the campus of Schreiner University in the Texas Hill Country....

. Greystone offers a one year preparatory course to help individuals prepare for an appointment to one of the five federal service academies.

Notable residents

Sports
  • Mike Dyal - Former pro-football player for the Oakland Raiders
    Oakland Raiders
    The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

     from 1989 to 1990.
  • William Fifer - Former pro-football player for the Detroit Lions
    Detroit Lions
    The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

     in 1978.
  • Harvey Hilderbran
    Harvey Hilderbran
    Harvey Ray Hilderbran is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 53, which includes fifteen central Texas counties. Hilderbran resides in Kerrville west of San Antonio.-Legislative matters:Rep...

     - Republican
    Republican Party (United States)
    The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

     state representative
    Texas House of Representatives
    The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

     from Kerr County since 1989
  • John Mahaffey
    John Mahaffey
    John Drayton Mahaffey, Jr. is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments including 10 PGA Tour events....

     - Pro-golfer who won the 1978 PGA Championship
    PGA Championship
    The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...

    .
  • Jesse Stokes - Former pro-football player for the Denver Broncos
    Denver Broncos
    The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

     in 1968.
  • John Teltschik
    John Teltschik
    John Teltschik is a former punter in the National Football League who spent his entire career playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. He led the NFL in punts in 1986, 1987, and 1988 and punting yards in 1986....

     - Former pro-football player for the Philadelphia Eagles
    Philadelphia Eagles
    The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

     from 1986 to 1990.
  • Gary Phillips - former NBA player for the Boston Celtics (won NBA championship 1960) and Golden State Warriors. Played with Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. NCAA 1st team All American, University Of Houston.


Entertainment
  • Alexandra Underwood
    America's Next Top Model, Cycle 14
    America's Next Top Model, Cycle 14 is the fourteenth cycle of America's Next Top Model and the eighth season to be aired on The CW network. The original premiere date was March 3, 2010, but had been postponed to March 10. This cycle's catch phrase is "Work It Out"...

     - Wihelmina Model and contestant of America's Next Top Model
    America's Next Top Model
    America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....

  • Thomas Hayden Church - Actor (George of the Jungle
    George of the Jungle (film)
    George of the Jungle is a 1997 live-action, family-oriented, romantic-adventure-comedy film based on the characters from the original cartoon of the same name. The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures with Mandeville Films and originally released to movie theatres on July 16, 1997...

    , Sideways
    Sideways
    Sideways is a 2004 comedy-drama film written by Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne and directed by Payne. Adapted from Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, Sideways follows two forty-something year old men, portrayed by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, who take a week-long road trip to...

    , Spider-Man 3
    Spider-Man 3
    Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...

    ).
  • Robert Earl Keen
    Robert Earl Keen
    Robert Earl Keen, Junior is an American Texas Country singer-songwriter. He is popular with fans of traditional country music, folk music, college radio, and alt-country. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.-Early life:Growing up in Houston, Texas,...

     - Singer and song writer.
  • Jimmie Rodgers
    Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
    James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...

     - "The Father of Country Music" called Kerrville home for his family when he moved them here in 1929.
  • Stacy Sutherland - Guitarist for the 13th Floor Elevators
    13th Floor Elevators
    The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969...

    . Buried in Center Point Cemetery.
  • John Ike Walton - Drummer for the 13th Floor Elevators.
  • Ace Reid
    Ace Reid
    Ace Reid was the creator of the cartoon Cowpokes and Western humorist. Cowpokes, at one time, ran in over 400 weekly newspapers across the United States. He produced many popular cartoon books and calendars during his lifetime.He was born on March 10, 1925 at Lelia Lake, Donley County, Texas ....

     - Cowpokes Cartoons. Artist and humorist. Lived in Kerrville from the early 1950s until his death in 1991.


Business
  • James Avery - Jeweler and owner of James Avery Jewelers (founded in 1954).
  • Florence Butt - Founder of H-E-B
    H-E-B
    HEB Grocery Company, LP is a privately held San Antonio, Texas-based supermarket chain with more than 315 stores throughout Texas and northern Mexico. The company also operates Central Market, an upscale organic and fine foods retailer.H-E-B ranked No...

     Grocery Stores in 1905.
  • Hossein "Hagi" Hagigholam - Owner and founder of Mamacita's Mexican Food Restaurants (founded in 1985).


Others
  • Lou Halsell Rodenberger
    Lou Halsell Rodenberger
    Molcie Lou Halsell Rodenberger was a Texas author, educator, professor, and journalist.-Early years:Rodenberger was born in the rural Eastland County, Texas, community of Okra to educators, Austin Carl Halsell and the former Mabel Falls...

     - Texas author; lived in Kerrville in the 1940s when she was a journalist for the Kerrville Times.
  • Jefferson W. Speck
    Jefferson W. Speck
    Jefferson W. Speck was a planter and businessman from Mississippi County, Arkansas, who was the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1950 and again in 1952. He was a leader in the Dwight D...

    , Arkansas
    Arkansas
    Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

     politician
    Politician
    A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...


Points of interest

  • Riverside Nature Center
    Riverside Nature Center
    The Riverside Nature Center is a non-profit arboretum with wildlife and native plant sanctuary located on the Guadalupe River at 150 Francisco Lemos Street, Kerrville, Texas. The gardens are open daily without charge....

  • Kerrville Folk Festival
    Kerrville Folk Festival
    The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The event has run on a yearly basis since 1972. In November 2008, the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kerrville Wine & Music Festival were acquired...

  • Museum of Western Art
    Museum of Western Art (Kerrville, Texas)
    The Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, is a museum dedicated to the painting and sculpture of living artists of the American West who follow in the tradition of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell...

  • Kerrville Kroc Center
    Kroc Center
    A Kroc Center is one of many community centers run by the Salvation Army.-Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers:...

  • Capt. Charles Schreiner Mansion
    Capt. Charles Schreiner Mansion
    The Capt. Charles Schreiner Mansion is located in Kerrville in the U.S. state of Texas. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Kerr County, Texas in 1975. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1962. The mansion is currently the home of the Hill...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK