What is Kerrville's Story?

The Myrta and A. C. Schreiner house, June 17, 2025.

As a museum is being built for our community, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the Heart of the Hills Heritage Center will tell our story. Though many of us are working on the project, and many voices will tell the story, it’s been on my mind a lot, lately.

What’s the basic outline of our history here?

Kerrville’s story begins long before streets were paved or buildings raised. For over 10,000 years, people have lived along the banks of the Guadalupe. Many different early Americans called this valley home, drinking from the same river we still cherish today. Most of those peoples are completely lost to history, aside from the few stone tools they left behind, and a few rough images they painted on the limestone bluffs of the North Fork of the Guadalupe River.

The town we know now got its start in the late 1840s when a group of shingle-makers, led by Joshua D. Brown, built their camp on a bluff above the river. They informally called their community “Brownsborough.” 

When the Texas Legislature created Kerr County in 1856, it decided the county seat would be named Kerrsville, in honor of James Kerr, a key figure in Texas independence. The very first commissioners court session accepted a gift of land from Joshua D. Brown as the site of the county seat.

Early progress here was derived from the power of water. In 1857, Christian Dietert built a grist and sawmill powered by the river. Its stone remnants still rest below Water Street, a whisper of the town's industrious beginnings. That mill aided in the building of the town – and helped process the agricultural products of local farms.

After the Civil War, a young Charles Schreiner moved into town from Turtle Creek, opened a general store, and over time built a commercial empire spanning cattle, banking, and retail. He didn’t just sell goods—he helped build a town. In 1917, he founded Schreiner Institute, planting the seeds of what is now Schreiner University, which first opened in 1923.

By the late 1800s, Kerrville had grown into a small but bustling trade center. Cattle ranching took off, with Schreiner and his partners sending hundreds of thousands of cattle up the trails to Kansas railheads. The arrival of the railroad in 1887 marked a turning point—suddenly, goods and people could arrive with more ease than ever before. Schreiner was also instrumental in getting the railroad to come to Kerrville.

Kerrville officially incorporated in 1889; Joseph A. Tivy was Kerrville’s first mayor. 

Starting in the late 19th century, Kerrville’s clean air and mild climate drew a different kind of visitor—those seeking a cure. Tuberculosis patients arrived by wagon, and later by train, and soon sanatoriums sprang up around the valley. The most notable was the Thompson Sanatorium, later operated by the State of Texas for African-American TB patients. Though that chapter closed by 1949, its story lingers in the bricks and memories of today’s Kerrville State Hospital.

Sheep and goats may not seem glamorous, but by the 1930s, they made Kerrville famous. The wool and mohair industry, thanks to tough little Angoras, and hearty sheep, turned our region into the “Mohair Capital of the World.” Our area was a center for wool production, too. Ranchers clipped and shipped fleeces by the ton, by oxen-drawn wagons, and later trucks, and Kerrville prospered from the natural fibers of wool and mohair. Hundreds, even thousands, of people worked in this industry – and made it a success. The work was very hard, and the days were very long.

The Depression brought struggle, but also grit. The Civilian Conservation Corps built Kerrville-Schreiner Park, still a local jewel, while the community later pulled together in 1950 to build Louise Hays Park in a single day—a testament to what neighbors can do when they roll up their sleeves.

Over the years, the same Guadalupe River that powered mills and irrigated farms also drew children. Religious and summer camps flourished in the hills—Camp Stewart, Camp Mystic, Heart of the Hills Camp for Girls, Camp Waldemar, Mo-Ranch, and the Texas Lions Camp, just to name a few. For generations, kids from across the world spent a special part of their summers here, catching fireflies and memories under Hill Country skies. Many of those campers, years later, moved here, making Kerr County their home.

There are so many people who’ve made a big impact here – business leaders, civic leaders, church leaders, and even an artist or two. We have distinct neighborhoods which have rich histories. There are so many stories to tell, and surprisingly little room in the old Myrta and A. C. Schreiner House to tell them all.

Today’s Kerrville is a blend of all its yesterdays, of course. It’s a city with deep roots and a bright future, where history is more than something you might walk past – history is something each of us make, every time we work to make our community better.

It is my hope, when visitors are finally able to explore the Heart of the Hills Heritage Center, they will not discover someone else’s story – but that each visitor will see a little bit of themselves in the stories told there. We all made this community, together.

Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who enjoys learning about our community’s history. This column originally appeared in the Kerr County Lead June 19, 2025.

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