Kinney County, Texas

Kinney County, located west of San Antonio on Highway 90 in the Rio Grande Plain region, is bordered by Edwards County in the north, Uvalde County on the east, Maverick County on the south, and Val Verde County and Mexico on the west. The county seat and largest town is Brackettville.

Cities, Towns & Communities

Amanda | Anacacho | Brackettville | Dolores | Fort Clark | Hillcoat | Las Moras (Kinney) | Live Oak | Macie (Fehlis) | Mud Creek | Pinto (Newell) | Standart (Buckner) | Spofford | Sycamore | Tularosa (Whistler) | Waldo | Weaver

History

Kinney County, formed from Bexar County created January 28, 1850 recreated February 2, 1856 organized December 3, 1869 named in honor of Henry L. Kinney 1813-1861 founder of Corpus Christi member of the First State Constitutional Convention. Brackettville, county seat a leading wool and mohair producing county. – Historical Marker Text.

Despite the region’s sparse population, the state legislature authorized the formation of the county from Bexar County in 1850 and named it for early settler and adventurer Henry Lawrence Kinney. In June 1852 the United States Army established a fort on Las Moras Creek, which it named Fort Riley; the name was changed a month later to Fort Clark, after John B. Clark, who had died in the Mexican War. Brackett (now Brackettville) was established nearby the same year and named for Oscar B. Brackett, who came to set up a stage stop and opened the town’s first dry-goods store. Brackett became a stop on a stage line from San Antonio to El Paso, but the settlement grew very slowly because of continuous Indian attacks. Between 1850 and 1860 most Kinney County settlers were persons of Mexican descent or families of men stationed at Fort Clark. In 1860 the total population of the county was only sixty-one-forty-six whites and fifteen free blacks. As was typical on the frontier, men outnumbered women, thirty-seven to twenty-four.

On February 18, 1861, on orders from Gen. David E. Twiggs, Fort Clark was surrendered to the Texas Commission. The fort was evacuated by federal troops on March 19 and occupied by Confederate troops under the command of Col. John R. Baylor. It remained in the hands of the Confederates until the end of the war, but was not garrisoned. In December 1866 it was reestablished as a federal fort. 

Courthouses

Kinney County has had three courthouses; the current courthouse has been in service for over 100 years. Kinney County Courthouses

Location

Brackettville, TX 29° 18′ 37.8468″ N, 100° 25′ 4.2816″ W

See map: Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, MapQuest