Von Ormy

Von Ormy is in southwest Bexar County along Interstate 35 and the Medina River. The community is named for Count Norbert von Ormay, an Austrian nobleman who lived in the area in the mid-1880s. The town was previously known as Medina Crossing and was renamed “Von Ormy” by postmaster Branson Bywater in 1886.

The community was originally founded one mile east at Garza’s Crossing sometime after Texas declared its independence. In 1861 San Antonio merchant Enoch Jones moved to the area and retired to his “Castle on the Medina,” a large limestone Pennsylvania-style home overlooking the south bank of the Medina River. The house was reported to be the first in Texas to have indoor plumbing.