Texas Hill Country San Saba - San Saba Texas reference and information guide
 

San Saba, Texas, the county seat of San Saba County is located in the Texas Hill Country and is known as "the Pecan Capital of the World."

The Spaniards came to San Saba, Texas 1732 and the Anglo-Americans discovered San Saba around 1839. The San Saba County was created in 1856. It is bordered on the north and east by the Colorado River, and the San Saba River runs through the county. San Saba County has over 500 miles of running rivers and streams, more than any other Texas County.

Numerous orchards of pecan trees can be found in San Saba County. Pecans are delivered all around the world from the numerous Pecan Producers in San Saba. San Saba is a major agricultural area providing wool, mohair, cattle, hogs and poultry. San Saba, Texas has many Downtown Businesses, Retail Shops, Historic Sites, Exotic Wildlife and Wildflowers!

San Saba has three public parks, an eighteen-hole golf course and rv park, an historic downtown shopping district, and excellent fishing and hunting areas surrounding the city.

Located in east central San Saba County, San Saba, Texas was not settled until 1854 and it became the county seat in 1856. In 1884, the town had four churches, two schools, a sawmill, a gristmill, a bank, a paper, and 800 citizens. A post office was established in 1857. There were one hundred businesses and 2,240 citizens in 1933. San Saba, Texas became shipping point for cattle, sheep, wool, mohair, pecans, cotton, and turkeys, San Saba was incorporated in 1940 with a population of 2,927, 3,390 in 1950 and 2847 in 1980 .

Prehistoric man lived in the San Saba area, evidenced by the numerous artifacts discovered during the past century along the San Saba River, the Colorado River, and other area streams.

The San Saba, Texas area was inhabited by the Comanches, the Lipans, Cherokees, Wacos, Caddoes, and Kickapoos. It is thought that they used the streams of San Saba County as camping grounds before the coming of the white man.

The first Spaniard in the area of San Saba County was Juan Antonio Bustillo y Zevallos, who marched an expedition along the San Saba River to head off the Apache in what is now Menard County. In 1755, a small band of Spaniards, a priest and a group of soldiers, discovered a clear, spring-fed stream near the site of the present city of Menard in Central Texas. They established a mission there in 1757, and named it the San Saba Mission in memory of the day on which the site was discovered. The San Saba River, San Saba County, and the City of San Saba were named after the mission. The area remained Indian country until the first Anglo Americans came in 1839 to survey the land.

The first county election, held in May, 1856 named Rowe’s Lane as the county seat, but a special election in July changed the county seat to the present site of San Saba, which was opened for settlement on October, 1856. The first courthouse was built in 1857 and it was replaced by a stone structure in 1871. The post office in the county was also established in 1857, and San Saba, Texas was incorporated in 1910.

Numerous cattle drives from Texas to Kansas, began in the mid 1800s, and raising cattle in Texas began to flourish, causing ranchers to move West to find suitable grazing land. Many prospectors visited the San Saba area during 1853 and 1854 and many of them filed claims at that time and then returned in 1855 and 1856 to work their claims. Numerous herds of cattle were brought into the area and the first cattle brand was recorded in 1856 in San Saba County. After the Civil War the cattle industry grew rapidly and became important to the economy of San Saba County and the City of San Saba, Texas.

In the early l870s, Edmond E. Risien, a horticulturist from England came to San Saba, Texas. He discovered a light colored, thin shelled pecan which he named San Saba. Using this pecan as seed he planted an orchard of 600 trees at the junction of the Colorado River and San Saba River. He then cross-pollinated the trees and created varieties such as Onliwon, Squirrels Delight, San Saba Improved, and Western Schley. One large pecan orchard of several thousand acres in an adjoining state has 607 of this Western Schley planted. Thus, San Saba claims the title “Pecan Capital of the World”.

Pecans are indigenous to the county and have been a cash crop since as early as 1857. Possibly some of the trees were growing here when Columbus came to America. In 1919 the county produced 3.5 million pounds. Some 60 carloads were shipped out. No other state in the union produced one-half that many in 1919. Normal production for the county is two to five million pounds. Possibly 75% are natives.

Sheep were first brought into the area about 1870. Austin provided a market for both wool and mutton, and the sheep industry thrived and developed rapidly.

On March 11, 1875, with the chartering of the Fleming San Saba Irrigation Company, a system of first class canals, beginning opposite the mouth of Brady’s Creek on the south side of the San Saba River and extending east to the town of San Saba, opened up an era of farm irrigation in the county. About 1,400 acres were under irrigation in 1940.

Cultivation of the soil began during the early settlement of the county. The soils in the low grounds along the stream valleys are generally fertile. However, rainfall frequently is insufficient during the growing season to produce satisfactory crops consistently, and the bad drought of 1953-1956, along with the general drift of population from farms to cities, a1most obliterated growing of certain hitherto important crops in the San Saba area, except where water for irrigation was available. The principal crops that have been grown in San Saba County are hay, wheat, oats, grain sorghums, peanuts, pecans, and fruits.

Remaining definitely agricultural, the county is predominantly a ranching area with wool and mohair the chief sources of farm income. Beef cattle, horses, hogs, mules, and poultry are raised as well as sheep and goats.

Three major setbacks occurred in the development of San Saba and San Saba County. They were the “Mob Rule” that prevailed in San Saba County during the latter part of the nineteenth century; the devastating flood of July, 1938, and the disastrous drought of 1953 to 1956.

The “Mob Rule” was an unusual development, according to a report carried in the San Saba County Centennial Souvenir Program of 1956. Lawlessness began to get out of hand in the San Saba area in the 1880’s and an anti-mob organization was formed by citizens to combat it. After a while, factions developed in this organization and by 1896, the factions had lost sight of the original purpose of the organization, and were almost at open war with each other. The Texas Rangers were sent into the area to quell the trouble. Later, one of the rangers reported that the “Mob Rule” in San Saba County cost the lives of forty-three men.

The great flood on the San Saba River in July 1938 was the greatest flood on record of this river. The highest crest was 45 feet above flood stage on Saturday, July 23. A second crest came the following day, but was two or three feet lower than Saturday’s crest. Reports and pictures in the Dallas Morning News, The Saba News and Star, and the Wichita Falls Record News show that in the City of San Saba, flood waters from the river spread through a great part of the business district and around the courthouse and spread over more than one-third of the City. At least thirty homes were washed away, and more than 300 residents were cared for by other residents and by the Red Cross when they were driven from their homes. The highway bridge across the river on the road to Brownwood was washed away, and residents of the area north of the river were cut off from the City. The communities of Harkeyville, Richland Springs, Pecan Grove, and Bend were also heavy sufferers. Damage was heavy along the larger streams all across San Saba County. Many homes were destroyed and residents of many others were driven out by the rising water. The heroic efforts by more fortunate citizens averted the drowning of many persons trapped in their homes. Crops were destroyed, livestock and poultry drowned, floors of homes and business establishments were covered with mud; furniture, equipment, and household goods were washed away or ruined. Estimate of damage ran from $100,000 to $500,000 in San Saba and from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 in San Saba County.

Perhaps the worst economic disaster ever suffered in the City of San Saba, San Saba County, and the surrounding area was the prolonged drought of 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1956. The total rainfall recorded at the San Saba weather station for that four-year period was 63.08 inches, or an average of 15.77 inches per year, and of that 63.08 inches, 10.12 inches occurred during May and June of 1955.