Brackettville

Brackettville, the county seat of Kinney County, is on U.S. Highway 90 twenty-two miles northeast of the Rio Grande and 125 miles west of San Antonio, near the geographic center of the county. It is named after Oscar B. Brackett, who established the first general dry goods store near the site of Fort Clark in 1852. Brackett, as it was called originally, was established on the San Antonio-El Paso Road, and by 1857 its Sargent Hotel and small restaurant run by Mr. Sheedy were a regular stop for the San Antonio-San Diego stage line. The settlement was six miles south of Las Moras Mountain near the prolific Las Moras Springs. Roving bands of Indians, who had historically hunted and camped at Las Moras Springs, harassed early settlers.

The community experienced a period of steady growth after the Civil War, attracting cattle rustlers, buffalo hunters, gamblers, and businessmen. In 1868 Brackett had ten homes and a population of fifty. Kinney County's school was started by Mrs. Margaret Martin Ballantyne around 1870 and housed in Brackett's home. Rev. Egglington Barr, a chaplain at Fort Clark, held Protestant services. The community was known as Brackett or Brackett City when it received a post office in 1873; another Texas community was named Brackett, however, so the postal service changed the community's name to Brackettville. It was designated the county seat of Kinney County when the county was established in 1876.