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 Kingsland
Where the rivers flow, and the bluebonnets grow..
12 Miles NW of Marble Falls
97 Miles N of San Antonio
64 Miles NW of Austin
223 Miles SW of Dallas
223 Miles NW of Houston
The area where the Llano and Colorado Rivers meet has long been a gathering place and resort area. It was first used by the Indians, then the settlers, including Martin King for whom Kingsland is named. In 1892 the Austin and Northwestern Railroad built a bridge across the Colorado River, and a depot in Kingsland. Kingsland is fifteen miles southeast of Llano in east central Llano County. It was originally called Kingsville, for Martin D. King, who with J. M. Trussell had purchased the land on which it is located in 1877. The town was the site of a cotton gin and a small trading center in the 1880s. Activity increased with the extension of the Austin and Northwestern Railroad to Llano through Kingsville in 1892. By 1901 the community was known as Kingsland and had become the location of a growing number of businesses, including the Antlers Hotel, built by railroad interests. Kingsland had a reported population of 750 in 1907 but suffered a temporary decline, aggravated by a fire in 1922; in 1925 the population was reported as 150. The opportunities afforded by the Highland Lakes for retirement and recreational businesses had revived Kingsland by the mid-1960s as an regional commercial center, and in 1986 it had numerous businesses, including a national bank.
The Antlers Hotel was begun in 1900 and opened May 1, 1901. Newspapers hanging around the hotel show events on that date including the cross-country trip by President William McKinley who toured Austin on May 3, 1901.
The Antlers Hotel was named in part for the Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs, a new and fashionable railroad resort that opened a few years earlier. The name also takes meaning from the fact that Llano County was then and continues to be a major deer hunting area.
The hotel had all the modern conveniences of the day, including gas lights and a telephone in the lobby. They believed electricity was a passing fad. The hotel had 11 rooms with expansion capability for additional guests by placing hammocks on the wide porches. The hotel was in the center of a campground known as Campa Pajama that stretched down to Crescent Lake, formed by a 1,000 foot lock across the Colorado River. Lake LBJ was created in 1951 when Wirtz Dam was built. All the camps had telephones and could call in orders to the hotel kitchen.
To the west of the hotel is a bunkhouse that was used by hotel staff and train crews. Just north of the bunkhouse is a small three-room cabin that was typical of several cabins spaced around the property. The architectural details of the hotel, bunkhouse, and cabin indicate that all were built at the same time. Across the road from the bunkhouse is the house of the Section Master who presided over a section of the railroad. This house is now owned by Jerry Kelly of Houston, whose father worked for, and bought the house from the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1940’s. The Kingsland Depot was directly in front of the hotel, between the main line and the sidetrack that still exist. In the field in front of the hotel, which is now the parking lot of the Old Town Grill, was a large wooden pavilion used for dances and community gatherings. Pictures of these structures are in the second floor lobby.
1900 and 1901 were a time of consolidations in the railroad industry. The Austin and Northwestern Railroad began construction of the hotel and by the time it opened in 1901, the railroad and its hotel had been acquired by the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. The cast iron pot-bellied stove in the dining room carries the H&TCR logo or the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, which was itself acquired by the Texas and New Orleans Railroad and then the Southern Pacific Railroad.
The hotel was a fashionable resort and on weekends the railroad ran excursion trains out from Austin. The hotel also served traveling salesmen or "drummers" and cattlemen. The hotel operated successfully until the 20’s when automobile travel eroded the reliance on train excursions. The novelty of the lake by the rails faded as a vacation destination and the hotel closed in 1923.
A fire destroyed much of Kingsland in 1922 and the town was in decline. The property was purchased in 1923 by the Barrow family, who used it as a family retreat for 70 years until 1993. The hotel was then purchased by an Austin investor and went through over two years of renovation under the direction of Anthony Mayfield. It reopened on September 1, 1996 with Lori and Anthony Mayfield as managers. Today the property features the restored hotel, several restored cabins, and a few additions like the brightly colored cabooses, a new country store and conference center, and other turn-of-the-century buildings that keep being brought in from neighboring towns for restoration. The history of the Antlers is still being made, and each visit brings a new surprise, as the hotel has become a center of restoration and growth for the area
Packsaddle Mountain is an area land mark that stands five miles southwest of Kingsland in eastern Llano County and is of interest to both historians and geologists. Its twin-peaked silhouette resembles a saddle from some perspectives. Intriguing traces of gold, silver and other minerals have been reported in the sands of Honey Creek and the mountainside. It is said to be the location of the Los Almagres mine, the object of Jim Bowie's searches for several years; records indicate that the Spanish operated a mine in the region. Prospecting on Packsaddle Mountain renewed interest in gold mining in Llano County in the 1920s, but with no lasting result. At an elevation of 1,628 feet, the higher of the two summits rises 650 feet above U.S. Highway 71. Local topography ranges from flat to rolling to steep, with local escarpments, covered with soils ranging from shallow and stony to deep, fine, sandy loams. Vegetation consists primarily of open stands of live oak and Ashe juniper.
The mountain was the site of the Packsaddle Mountain Fight with Apache Indians on August 5, 1873, the last major Indian battle in the area.
Horseshoe Bay South is in the The Marble Falls School District . The district encompasses a very large area (268 Square Miles) and serves the communities of Marble Falls, Meadowlakes, Granite Shoals, Highland Haven, Cottonwood, Fairland, Smithwick, Horseshoe Bay South, and Spicewood."The mission of MFISD as the learning center of this community is to shape future generations to be productive citizens through the pursuit of excellence and equity in education."
The Kingsland area east of Lake LBJ is in the Llano Independent School District. Llano ISD is a AAA district with approximately 1900 students K-12. The town and community still generate the work ethic of its German American founders and Llano ISD is therefore a blending of the old and the new.
East of lake LBJ is in the Marble Falls Independent School District. MFISD is a 4-A disdtrct and has an enrollment exceeding 3,800 students. The district has four elementary schools, all of which have pre-kindergarten through 5th grades:
Colt Elementary
;
Marble Falls Elementary
;
Highland Lakes Elementary
; and our newest campus,
Spicewood Elementary
. Attendance zones for the elementary schools may be accessed on the district website under "public info." The district has three secondary campuses:
Marble Falls Middle School
(grades 6-8);
Falls Career High School
(a non-traditional alternative high school); and
Marble Falls High School
(grades 9-12).
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