by Barbara J. Wood
CAMP RANCH
The significance of the Camp Ranch community
[Camp Ranch was significant for its inclusion of Rancho de la Cabras as the rich fertile meadow lands of now Camp Ranch provided ranching operations for Mission Espada.]
CAMP RANCH COMMUNITY by Wilson County Historian Mark Cameron
Camp Ranch, a German settlement community, is located near Floresville, Texas west of the San Antonio River. It centers on the present intersection of Farm to Market 1344 and County Road 132. Camp Ranch encompassed about 10,000 acres with its boundaries being from the Ferry Crossing on the San Antonio River, west to the present roads of Farm to Market 2505, north to County Road 101, and south to County Road 134, which was the edge of the Dewees brother's ranch.
This area was prime cattle ranching land during the 1700's and dominated the Pre-Wilson County economy. This area also served as a gathering point of small herds to create larger herds up to 2500 head to trail up north. Through this period, from the Civil War until the arrival of the railroad in Floresville in 1886 and barbed wire fencing, Camp Ranch was very active in creating large cattle herds for trailing to northern markets.
In 1731, the meadow land of future Camp Ranch along the San Antonio River was owned by Mission Espada. After secularization of the missions in 1794, the lands here were owned by one of the descendants of Spain's colonist from the Canary Islands, Ignacio Calvillo. In turn, the ranch was inherited by Calvillo's daughter, Dona Maria del Carmen. She immediately set up headquarters, and for the care of the souls of her herdsmen, a chapel was built known as Mission Las Cabras (The Goat Ranch, also known as Rancho de las Cabras).
In 1874, John Camp began developing the prairie ranch land he purchased from Joseph Dwyer. By 1904, John Camp's Ranch had grown to a size large enough to start selling off land to developers, which in turn was sold to the German settlers coming from DeWitt, Lavaca, Columbus, Guadalupe and Gonzales counties.
John F. Camp started developing his ranch in 1874 when he purchased 4428 acres or one league of land from Joseph Dwyer. Later in 1875, he purchased another additional 1181 acres from Mr. Dwyer.
By 1904, the Camp Ranch having increased in size to 7839 acres through the years and was sold to S.V. Houston, H.S. Tom and William Green. The new owners being land developers, started dividing the ranch into smaller acreage tracts which they sold to individuals for farming or smaller ranching operations.
Twenty families came to settle in this area at this time. The small prosperous community of Camp Ranch started developing. The families were mostly of German descent. To encourage community development, the new landowners participated in building a dance platform, started the Evergreen Shooting Club, built a one room school house, cleared land for a baseball field, and started a cemetery called Evergreen Cemetery. They also participated in building homes for each other. The pioneer spirit prevailed.
Some of the family names that settled in Camp Ranch were Albert, Boening, Coldewey, Haverlah, Key, Klein, Pfeil, Pundt, Striebeck and Zook, along with others. Many of the original land owner's families still own the ranch and farm land.
Most of the activity of Camp Ranch was centrally located near the intersection of Farm to Market 1344 and County Road 132 (Old Campbellton Road).
The Evergreen Cemetery is located at this intersection and according to deed records, Evergreen Cemetery is officially recorded as Green School Cemetery . On October 8, 1906, William Striebeck sold one acre of land out of his 324 acre survey to the trustees of the cemetery for twenty five dollars. Henry Boening, Henry Albert and William Striebeck were assigned as trustees. Deed records state ownership of the cemetery would be passed on to the successors the original trustees forever more.
On July 31, 1950, .015 acre of unused land at the south east corner of Green School Cemetery was sold to the State of Texas for one dollar as a Right-of-Way .
A one room school was a couple hundred yards north of the cemetery and was called Green School, named after William Green who donated the land for the school which was taken out of the original Striebeck tract in 1904.
The school was later tore down in 1929 and a larger two room school was built with chalk boards and maps. Playground equipment was added, particularly swings and seesaws. The new school was then called Camp Ranch School named after original landowner, John Camp.
The story goes, the school teacher at the time, Hattie Barnes, didn't like people telling others that she was just teaching a bunch of green kids. She was instrumental in getting the name changed. The school was for students through the eighth grade. Most of the students in the early years did not get a high school education. If students went to high school, they went to Floresville High School.
Cora Lyons was the first teacher at the Green School. Some of the later teachers included three of Henry Albert's daughters, Evelyn Boening, Helen Fisbeck and Alyce Maeckel. Other teachers through the years included Martha Bartek, Laura Atkins, Agnes Steinberg, Hattie Fuller, Myrtle O'Neill, Robert Schlortt, Allen Herring, Elsie Morgenroth and Hattie Barnes.
The Camp Ranch School was also the location of the Precinct Voting Box #25 with Henry Albert and Charley Boening as election judges.
Dances and other activities were held at the school. Family get-togethers of Camp Ranch would be at the school on the third Friday of each month. The community beef club members met at the school once a month to distribute the butchered calf meat since there was no refrigeration. During and after World War II, the residents set up a schedule for two persons at a time to be at the school to be spotters for suspicious planes flying by and would notify the civil defense. The school was the principal location for many different community uses.
On County Road 132 in 1913, Charley Boening opened a filling station as well as a garage, general repair shop, and grocery store called Camp Ranch Inn. The baseball field was across the road from the Evergreen Cemetery and the shooting range was farther south down Farm to Market 1344 which was a county dirt road at that time. The shooting range was behind the dance platform and was where the shooting club met. A dance hall was later built in 1911 at the site of the dance platform.
In later years, a government cattle dipping vat was also constructed near the dance hall. The cattle dipping vat, which was obsolete by this time, was close to the county road and was removed when construction began to widen the county road to 60 feet.
The new tenants of Camp Ranch were interested in this area because it was on high rolling hills from which had fine views of the surrounding countryside. Also, the soil was mainly a rich mellow sandy loam varying in color from gray to reddish brown, good soil for their gardens and farm crops. Many of the Camp Ranch residents attended the German Lutheran Church in Waldheim before the Lutheran churches in Floresville and Poth were built.
Today, there is little evidence of what was once the thriving community of Camp Ranch. The school was torn down in the 1950's and the children then attended the Floresville Independent School District.
After U.S. Highway 97 West out of Floresville was completed in the 1940's, land was purchased by and for Charley Boening's businesses to be moved near the new paved highway. Dances stopped being held at the Camp Ranch Dance Hall after a young man was stabbed to death at the dance hall. The Camp Ranch Dance Hall was later torn down since it was no longer used. The baseball field is now grown over with brush. The cattle dipping vat is gone and the shooting club was dissolved. The only evidence of Camp Ranch's existence is the Evergreen Cemetery which is still in use to this day.
The history of Camp Ranch Community is significant because of its rich cattle history in the late 1800's when it was owned by John Camp and was used for a staging area for cattle drives up north. Camp Ranch is also significant because it serves as a background for its prime farming and ranching land which attracted German settlers to the area thereby creating the community of Camp Ranch. It is also significant for its inclusion of Rancho de la Cabras as the rich fertile meadow lands of now Camp Ranch provided ranching operations for Mission Espada. The missions of San Antonio, to include Mission Espada and Rancho de la Cabras have been identified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Rural communities were once common in South Texas and served its inhabitants with educational needs and social activities. The educational and social needs of Camp Ranch were no exception. The residents of Camp Ranch joined together with a pioneer spirit to lend a helping hand to build homes, businesses, a community school, dance hall, baseball field, shooting range, and local cemetery. It is by this spirit that bound the community for all to prosper and enjoy and makes Camp Ranch Community a historical landmark of German heritage.
Camp Ranch Community ....
This area located west of Floresville was one of the largest ranches in the cattle-driving era. During the 1700s and 1800s, the area, being prime cattle ranch land, dominated the pre-Wilson County economy and served as a gathering point of small herds creating larger herds to trail up north. In 1731, the meadowland west of the San Antonio River was owned by Mission Espada with the ranch headquarters being the compound of Rancho de Las Cabras. In 1874, *John F. Camp purchased and began developing the prairie ranch land. By 1904, Camp's ranch, having increased size to approximately 10,000 acres, was sold to S.V. Houston, H.S. Tom and William Green. The new owners were land developers and began dividing the ranch into smaller acreage tracts to settlers from surrounding counties. Then the small, prosperous Camp Ranch community, named after John F. Camp, began to develop as twenty families moved to the area. To encourage additional development, the new landowners built a one-room school house known as Green School. Later, a larger school was built named Camp Ranch School. Other additions were the Evergreen Cemetery, dance platform, Evergreen Shooting Club and baseball field. Around 1912, resident Charley Boening added a filling station, garage, general repair shop and grocery store. Although many of these tangible reminders of the town have been lost to time, the Evergreen Cemetery remains as a connection to the Camp Ranch community heritage. (2017)
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*John Camp was a cattle rancher. He owned 10,000 acres west of Floresville which included later Camp Ranch and Rancho de las Cabras. His daughter married a Polley and lived in the Polley Mansion.
An amusing moment
.... from the old Boening Photo Album. Herbert Boening is proudly showing off his big catch while two cats are interested in his fish too! 😀 The undated moment was captured in the Camp Ranch Community in Wilson County Texas & shared by Viola Henke .
Camp Ranch 1920
CAMP RANCH 1920 Jerome Weinstrom adds," Cotton gins and wagons full with cotton".
Recalling the community that once was Camp Ranch
November 30, 2016
Special to the Wilson County News
By Mark Cameron
Some younger readers may be unfamiliar with it, but many longtime Wilson County residents fondly remember Camp Ranch, a German settlement community located near Floresville, west of the San Antonio River.
Special to the Wilson County News
By Mark Cameron
Some younger readers may be unfamiliar with it, but many longtime Wilson County residents fondly remember Camp Ranch, a German settlement community located near Floresville, west of the San Antonio River.
It centers on the present intersection of F.M. 1344 and C.R. 132. Camp Ranch encompassed about 10,000 acres, with boundaries from the Ferry Crossing on the San Antonio River, west to the present F.M. 2505, north to C.R. 101, and south to C.R. 134, which was the edge of the Dewees brothers' ranch.
This area, prime ranching land, also served as a gathering point of small cattle herds to create larger herds up to 2,500 head to trail up north. From the Civil War until the railroad's arrival in Floresville in 1886 and barbed-wire fencing, Camp Ranch was very active in creating large cattle herds for trailing to northern markets.
In 1731, the meadowland that would become Camp Ranch along the San Antonio River was owned by Mission Espada. After 1794, the lands here were owned by a Canary Islands descendant, Ignacio Calvillo. The ranch was inherited by Calvillo's daughter, Doña Maria del Carmen, who set up headquarters and established a chapel for the care of the souls of her herdsmen, known as Mission Las Cabras (The Goat Ranch, or Rancho de las Cabras).
John F. Camp started developing his ranch in 1874 when he purchased 4,428 acres from Joseph Dwyer. Later in 1875, he purchased another additional 1,181 acres from Mr. Dwyer.
By 1904, John Camp's ranch had grown large enough that he began selling land to developers, who in turn sold to the German settlers coming from DeWitt, Lavaca, Columbus, Guadalupe, and Gonzales counties.
By 1904, Camp Ranch — having increased in size to 7,839 acres through the years — was sold to S.V. Houston, H.S. Tom, and William Green. The new owners were land developers, who divided the ranch into smaller tracts to sell to individuals for farming or smaller ranching operations.
Twenty families, mostly of German descent, came to settle in this area. The new landowners built a dance platform, started the Evergreen Shooting Club, built a one-room schoolhouse, cleared land for a baseball field, and started the Evergreen Cemetery. They also helped each other build homes.
Camp Ranch included the Albert, Boening, Coldewey, Haverlah, Key, Klein, Pfeil, Pundt, Striebeck, and Zook families, along with others. Many of these families still own the ranch and farm land.
Activity in Camp Ranch was centered around the intersection of F.M. 1344 and C.R. 132 (Old Campbellton Road). The Evergreen Cemetery, officially recorded as the Green School Cemetery, is located here.
Green School, a one-room school named for William Green, who donated the land for it, was a couple hundred yards north of the cemetery. It was torn down in 1929 to make way for a larger, two-room school. Playground equipment was added. It was called Camp Ranch School, named after original landowner John Camp. The school was for students through the eighth grade. If students went to high school, they went to Floresville High School.
Cora Lyons was the first teacher at the Green School. Later teachers included three of Henry Albert's daughters — Evelyn Boening, Helen Fisbeck, and Alyce Maeckel — and others, including Martha Bartek, Laura Atkins, Agnes Steinberg, Hattie Fuller, Myrtle O'Neill, Robert Schlortt, Allen Herring, Elsie Morgenroth, and Hattie Barnes.
Dances and other activities were held at the school. Family get-togethers of Camp Ranch would be at the school on the third Friday of each month. Community beef club members met at the school once a month to distribute the butchered calf meat, since there was no refrigeration. The school was the principal location for many different community uses.
On C.R. 132 in 1913, Charley Boening opened a filling station and a garage, general repair shop, and grocery store, called Camp Ranch Inn.
A dance hall was built in 1911 at the site of the dance platform.
The soil was mainly a rich mellow sandy loam, good for their gardens and farm crops. Many of the Camp Ranch residents attended the German Lutheran Church in Waldheim before the Lutheran churches in Floresville and Poth were built.
Today, there is little evidence of what was once the thriving Camp Ranch community. The school was torn down in the 1950s and children then attended the Floresville Independent School District. After S.H. 97 West out of Floresville was completed in the 1940s, land was purchased by and for Charley Boening's businesses to be moved near the new paved highway.
The dances stopped at the Camp Ranch Dance Hall after a young man was stabbed to death there. The dance hall was later torn down. The baseball field is now grown over with brush and the shooting club was dissolved.
Once significant as a staging area for cattle drives, and then a bustling community, Camp Ranch is now a memory.
The only evidence of Camp Ranch's existence is the Evergreen Cemetery, which is still in use to this day.
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Marker Text This area located west of Floresville was one of the largest ranches in the cattle-driving era. During the 1700s and 1800s, the area, being prime cattle ranch land, dominated the pre-Wilson County economy and served as a gathering point of small herds creating larger herds to trail up north. In 1731, the meadowland west of the San Antonio River was owned by Mission Espada with the ranch headquarters being the compound of Rancho de Las Cabras. In 1874, John F. Camp purchased and began developing the prairie ranch land. By 1904, Camp's ranch, having increased size to approximately 10,000 acres, was sold to S.V. Houston, H.S. Tom and William Green. The new owners were land developers and began dividing the ranch into smaller acreage tracts to settlers from surrounding counties. Then the small, prosperous Camp Ranch community, named after John F. Camp, began to develop as twenty families moved to the area. To encourage additional development, the new landowners built a one-room school house known as Green School. Later, a larger school was built named Camp Ranch School. Other additions were the Evergreen Cemetery, dance platform, Evergreen Shooting Club and baseball field. Around 1912, resident Charley Boening added a filling station, garage, general repair shop and grocery store. Although many of these tangible reminders of the town have been lost to time, the Evergreen Cemetery remains as a connection to the Camp Ranch community heritage. (2017)
Remembering the community that was Camp Ranch
May 28, 2019
By Mark Cameron
Special to the Wilson County News
By Mark Cameron
Special to the Wilson County News
Little remains today of the once-thriving Camp Ranch community in Wilson County, other than memories and a cemetery.
And now a Texas Historical Marker.
Members of the Wilson County Historical Society gathered in the Evergreen Cemetery near F.M. 1344 and C.R. 132 west of Floresville May 18 for a marker dedication ceremony, honoring the historical significance of the small German settlement.
In 1731, the meadowland west of the San Antonio River was owned by Mission San Francisco de la Espada, with the ranch headquarters being Rancho de las Cabras. In 1874, John F. Camp purchased and began developing the prairie ranch land. By 1904, "Camp's Ranch," having grown to approximately 10,000 acres, was sold to land developers S.V. Houston, H.S. Tom, and William Green. They divided the ranch into smaller tracts, selling these for small farming or ranching operations.
To the area, 20 families — mostly of German descent — came to settle; the community of Camp Ranch started developing.
The landowners built a dance platform, started the Evergreen Shooting Club, built a one-room schoolhouse, cleared land for a baseball field, and established the Evergreen Cemetery. They helped each other build homes. The pioneer spirit prevailed.
Most activity in Camp Ranch was located near the intersection of F.M. 1344 and C.R. 132 (Old Campbellton Road), where the cemetery remains.
The one-room Green School, named after William Green, who donated the land, was a couple hundred yards north of the cemetery. Cora Lyons was its first teacher. In 1929, it was replaced by the two-room Camp Ranch School, named in honor of the original landowner, John Camp. It served students through eighth grade. Teachers through the years included Evelyn Boening, Helen Fisbeck, and Alyce Maeckel, as well as Martha Bartek, Laura Atkins, Agnes Steinberg, Hattie Fuller, Myrtle O'Neill, Robert Schlortt, Allen Herring, Elsie Morgenroth, and Hattie Barnes.
The school served many purposes, from dances to Camp Ranch family get-togethers, and beef club meat distribution in the days before refrigeration.
On C.R. 132 in 1913, Charley Boening opened a filling station, garage, general repair shop, and grocery store, called Camp Ranch Inn. The baseball field was across the road from the Evergreen Cemetery and a shooting range was down F.M. 1344, a dirt road at that time. The shooting range was behind the dance platform; a dance hall replaced the platform in 1911.
Today, there is little evidence of what was once the thriving Camp Ranch community. The school was torn down in the 1950s and the children then attended school in Floresville. After S.H. 97 from Floresville was completed in the 1940s, Charley Boening's businesses moved near the new paved highway. The Camp Ranch Dance Hall closed after a fatal stabbing, and was later torn down. The baseball field is now overgrown. The shooting club was dissolved. The only evidence of Camp Ranch's existence is the Evergreen Cemetery, which is still in use.
The residents of Camp Ranch joined together with a pioneer spirit to lend a helping hand to build homes, businesses, a community school, dance hall, baseball field, shooting range, and local cemetery. This spirit bound the community for all to prosper and makes the Camp Ranch community a historical landmark of German heritage in Wilson County.
Camp Ranch families
Some of the families who settled in Camp Ranch included:
Albert
Boening
Cleveland
Coldewey
Frank
Gunther
Haverlah
Key
Klein
Pfeil
Pundt
Striebeck
Zook.
Many of the original landowners' families still own land here.
Mark Cameron who grew up in the Camp Ranch community. He is a member of the Wilson County Historical Society.
The Green School Thanksgiving Play
The Green School Thanksgiving Play .... would be considered insensitive nowaday. The date is not given for the photograph yet in those days it was natural for a Cowboy & Indian portrayal.
Green School was a one room schoolhouse that was located on Farm Road 1344, which is west of Floresville in the Camp Ranch community. It started out as a one-room schoolhouse. Martha Bartek was one of the first teachers. Theo Boenning told me more about the school than anyone else when I talked to him one time. They first built it on a sandy hill, but when the wind blew it was so much sand, the kids could not go out for recess. So they moved down the hill close to road.
When it was time for "books", the teacher would always come out and ring and bell and they knew it was time for "books". Recess was over! He loved recess, but he really loved learning too.
His fondest memories of the school were the plays they used to have there. He called them "talent plays", and they would give them the booklets and give them parts and characters to play, and they would have to memorize the parts.
Then the teachers would advertise about the play and when they put the play on, the school house would be packed full of people. It would be on a night, and they would light the schoolhouse with gasoline lamps, something called an Aladdin Lamp. It had two little wicks to light and put out a pretty good light. You had to pump a little air in them once in awhile for it to work. He said they always enjoyed the practicing as much as going on the night they put the play on! The name of one play was "The Absent Minded Professor." Theo had a part in that play and he said he still remembered some of his lines.
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COURTESY/ Lois Wauson
CAMP RANCH 1920's
...... a farm truck used at the Camp Ranch community during the 1920's. (Photo Courtesy/ Viola Henke )
DID YOU EVER TWO-STEP
... at the Camp Ranch dance platform? Many families, couples, individuals did so with much delight! Long after the dances ended the swooshing, sliding of the schottische & the waltz reverberated from the old boards.
COURTESY / Viola Henke
COURTESY / Viola Henke
Camp Ranch Trio
..... is showing off their vehicle in their community. Humm.... wonder what kind of car this is?
COURTESY / Viola Henke
COURTESY / Viola Henke
Camp Ranch, February 1949
The Camp Ranch community... in Wilson County Texas was freezing during this vintage photo. Viola Henke's mother, Ella Guenther, poses in February 1949 beside the frozen overflow from the old wooden cistern.
Camp Ranch 1920s
CAMP RANCH ... Wilson County Texas 1920's (Viola Henke Photo)
Camp Ranch 1924
CAMP RANCH... Wilson County Texas (Viola Henke photo)
Camp Ranch - 1930
CAMP RANCH .... Charley and Ella Boening with daughter Edna in the 1930's Camp Ranch Community. ( Viola Henke's grandparents)
Charlie Boening
Charlie Boening is the grandfather of reader Viola Henke ...
The Mares family
Henry Mares and wife Wilimine of Camp Ranch Community, Wilson County Texas. The Mares are the great great grandparents of Viola Henke . (Thank you Viola for sharing)
Gerhardt Boening House
CAMP RANCH WILSON COUNTY TEXAS : Gerhardt Boening House (Photo shared by his great granddaughter, Viola Henke )
CAMP RANCH, WILSON COUNTY TEXAS 1924
.... a delivery truck to the Camp Ranch Repair Shop owned by Charley Boening. Viola Henke shares this stunning vintage photo of her grandfather's truck.