County Seat: Kinney * County Population: 3,447(Texas Almanac 2004-05)
The current Kinney County capitol displays a Beaux-Arts style, as designed by architect L.L. Thurman of Dallas. The courthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has received several distinctions including Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and State Archeological Landmark.
Kinney County, created from Bexar County in 1850, originally occupied a school building until renting quarters above a store in 1873. The first official courthouse was built in 1879 and designed by Jeff W. Paulson.
The present temple of justice, built in 1910, had an original price tag of $44,500 and was remodeled in 1972.
Bill Morgan, author of “Old Friends: Great Texas Courthouses,” offers the following description of the courthouse: “…L.L. Thurman wrapped lively yellows and earth tones around surprising exterior lines and breaks, added unusual brick trim and topped it with an elegant dome.”
Kinney County is named for H.L. Kinney, founder of Corpus Christi; the county seat of Brackettville honors Oscar B. Brackett, a supplier to Fort Clark. The fort was established in 1852 “to see that no harm came to the Army’s horses,” writes Morgan, “its greatest asset in that wide and wild country.”
Fort Clark was home to the famous Buffalo Soldiers. When those soldiers departed, the fort remained a cavalry post. In fact, almost every cavalry unit in the U.S. Army eventually was stationed or trained at Fort Clark. Before its final closure, the fort was used as a German prisoner-of-war camp.
In 1971, Fort Clark was converted into a resort/retirement center now known as Fort Clark Springs. The historic district of the fort is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fort Clark’s supply depot was in the neighboring town of Brackett, later called Brackett City and then Brackettville, which became the county seat of Kinney County. Cowboys, cavalrymen, and the likes of Wyatt Earp were drawn to the town that was known for its social atmosphere.
Just north of Brackettville is Alamo Village, a popular tourist attraction built in the 1950s as the set of “The Alamo.” Alamo Village is the state’s first permanent outdoor movie location. The set is one of the largest and most complete sets in the country, boasting a full-scale period town and a replica of the 1836 Alamo mission.
Visitors to the set will note a prize herd of registered Texas longhorns roaming the surrounding ranch along with quarter horses, goats and sheep. The Alamo Village encompasses 18,000 acres of diversified scenery, including rugged hills, canyons and creeks.
Another popular tourist attraction is Kickapoo Cavern State Park, formerly the Seargeant Ranch, which straddles the Kinney/Edwards county line approximately 22 miles north of Brackettville. Guided tours take visitors on bird walks, wild cave tours, and evening bat flights on specified tour dates throughout the spring and summer.
Finally, Kinney County offers great hunting, including white-tailed deer, upland game birds, wild turkey and javelina.