Seguin

Description

Seguin's economy is primarily supported by a regional hospital, as well as the Schertz-Seguin Local Government Corporation water utility that supplies the surrounding greater San Antonio areas from nearby aquifers as far as Gonzales County. Several dams in the surrounding area are governed by the main offices of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, headquartered in downtown Seguin.

Seguin, named in honor of Juan Seguín, a Tejano Texian freedom fighter and early supporter of the Republic of Texas, is one of the oldest towns in Texas, founded just 16 months after the Texas Revolution began. The frontier settlement was a cradle of the Texas Rangers and home to celebrated Captain Jack Hays, perhaps the most famous Ranger of all. At that time, the Seguin area was a part of Gonzales County, the remaining portion known as present-day Belmont. The Rangers had found this was a good halfway stop between their patrol points. It had been maintained as a base camp by the Rangers since the early founding of the Dewitt Colony.

History

Seguin was the home of Dr. John E. Park, who experimented in construction using concrete made from local materials. The nearly 100 structures—the courthouse, schools, churches, homes, cisterns, walls, etc.—made up the largest concentration of early 19th-century concrete buildings in the United States. About 20 of them remain standing.

The use of concrete largely ended when the railroad arrived in 1876, bringing cheap lumber and the equipment needed for brickmaking. The town had five brickworks, and the wooden buildings of downtown were completely replaced with brick by the beginning of World War I.

For almost 100 years, the town was dependent on the rich surrounding farmland and ranches. Then, the Texas oil boom came just as the Great Depression was taking down other towns and cities. The town commemorated its centennial by opening Max Starcke Park, with a golf course, a pavilion, picnic tables, and BBQ pits along a scenic river drive, and a curving dam that created a waterfall.

To preserve some of the historic character of the town, Seguin became one of the state's first Main Street cities, and the downtown district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fine homes by leading architects J. Reily Gordon, Solon McAdoo, Leo M.J. Dielman, Atlee B. Ayers, and Marvin Eickenroht dating from the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century can be found on many streets. However, the city does not have any officially designated historic residential districts.

The postwar era had industrial development, including a small mill that turned scrap metal into construction products.

In 1972, Motorola built a plant to manufacture automotive electronics. It was bought by Continental AG in 2006, became Vitesco Technologies in 2021, acquired by Schaeffler in 2024, and is the city's largest employer with 1,750 employees. Caterpillar opened a diesel engine assembly plant in 2008 which is the second largest employer.

Prehistory

The Seguin area was once inhabited by the native hunter-gatherer Native Americans of Texas. An ongoing archeological dig indicates campgrounds dating back 10,000 years or so, with trade items from Mexico and Arizona. The early visitors may have come to gather pecans, because the native trees bearing the nut thrive in the river bottoms of the Guadalupe. By the time the first European explorers passed through, predominantly Tonkawas lived in the area, camping around the Guadalupe and other streams in the area. Eventually, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo settlers started farms and ranches in the location that became Seguin.

Early history

José Antonio Navarro, one of the earliest settlers and an important figure of Texas history, developed a ranch near Seguin. In 1831, land was granted to Umphries Branch by the Mexican government. The Branch and John Newton Sowell Sr. families settled in 1833 in the western part of Green DeWitt's colony. Sowell was a farmer, and in 1833, his brothers and he became the first Anglo-American immigrants to raise corn in future Guadalupe County.

Between 1827 and 1835, 22 families came to the area as part of the DeWitt Colony; by 1833, 40 land titles were in the region, 14 of which received grants directly from the Mexican government. In 1836, John Gladden King lived near Seguin. His farm neighbored the Sowells on the northwest and Branch on the southeast. A son, William Philip King, reportedly was part of a cannon crew and was the youngest defender killed during the Battle of the Alamo. These homesteads were abandoned in the Runaway Scrape.

Old Seguin

The town of Seguin was founded August 12, 1838, 16 months after Texas won its independence at the Battle of San Jacinto, making it one of the oldest towns in Texas. Members of Mathew Caldwell's Gonzales Rangers acquired land originally granted to Umphries Branch, who had departed during the Runaway Scrape and sold his land to Joseph S. Martin.

At this time, the Seguin area was a part of Gonzales County, the remaining portion known as present-day Belmont. The Rangers had found this was a good halfway stop between their patrol points. The grove of live oaks had become a familiar location. It had been maintained as a base camp by the Rangers since the early founding of the Dewitt Colony.

19th-century history

Under an ancient live oak, 33 Rangers signed the charter for the town. Many were surveyors who joined Joseph Martin in laying out the lots for the town. Its original name was Walnut Springs, but was changed just six months later to honor San Jacinto veteran and then a senator of the Republic of Texas, Juan Seguín. The surveyors' plan for the city included a main north–south street that ran straight and flat for a mile and more. The streets form a grid, around a central square of two blocks, today's Courthouse Square and Central Park, formerly known as Market Square.

A tree called the Whipping Oak grows across from the courthouse. In the 19th century, runaway slaves and criminals were bound to an iron ring embedded in the tree, then whipped as a punishment.

Manuel Flores, veteran of San Jacinto and brother-in-law of Juan Seguin, established a ranch just south of Seguin in 1838. It became a safe-haven for San Antonio families and a staging point for counterattack when Bexar was overrun in 1842 by Santa Anna's forces under Ráfael Vásquez and Adrian Woll.

Leading the resistance forces from this location was Texas Ranger John Coffee "Jack" Hays. When duty allowed, Hays was a familiar resident of Seguin. In 1843, Hays set up a gathering point at the Walnut Branch Ranger Station in Seguin, where the classic Ranger character was born. He met Susan Calvert, whose father owned the Magnolia Hotel, where they married in April 1847.

Serving under Hays were two other famous Ranger residents of Seguin: Henry and Ben McCulloch. Their home known as Hardscramble still stands and was designated a Texas State Centennial historic site in 1936. Colonel James Clinton Neill, commander of the Alamo, was known to be buried here. The site was also historically marked during the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition.

Seguin was named the county seat, and Guadalupe County was organized, early in 1845, as Texas became a state. The first county judge was Michael H. Erskine. The town was incorporated in 1853, and a city government was organized under acting Mayor John R. King, until elections were held later that year and John D. Anderson became the first elected mayor.

20th-century history

From before the Civil War until at least World War II, cotton was the money crop of the local farms, and the county had at least a dozen gins, with three in the town of Seguin, but agriculture was more diversified than in many counties where cotton was king, with corn, peanuts, hogs, and cattle, as well as wheat, oats, sugarcane, and most notably, pecans. The tiny native nuts were an early export. The crops improved as the bottomlands were converted to orchards, and eventually bigger varieties of nuts were grafted onto the local trees. This was one of the first counties to have a pecan growers' association, and in 1921, its leader, P.K. DeLaney, helped start the Texas Pecan Growers Association. The county remains one of the state's leading producers. Seguin has been called 'a big orchard with a small town in it' because almost every house is shaded by a pecan tree in the yard. A tribute to the nut's importance is "the World's Largest Pecan" erected on the courthouse lawn.

Small mills were put on the Guadalupe River even before the Civil War. William Saffold established a mill at what is today Max Starcke Park. Later, Henry Troell made major improvements there, and in 1894, used hydroelectric power to light the town. The City of Seguin took over the dam and electric plant in 1907. The supply of cheap and reliable electricity helped to make possible several gins, mills, silos, an ice plant and ice cream maker, a cold meat-storage facility, and other types of agribusiness.

In 1912, citizens of Seguin lured a struggling church school to the city with cash and 15 acres of land donated by Louis Fritz. It grew to a junior college and then into a four-year college to become today's Texas Lutheran University, with some 1,400 students and boasting high rankings on the U.S. News & World Report comparisons of universities.

During this time, Texas State Architect Atlee Ayres designed several commercial, public, and residential buildings in Seguin. In 1912, he designed the Starcke Furniture Company, the Seguin High School building (Mary B. Erskine School, 1914), the Aumont Hotel (1916), Langner Hall at Texas Lutheran University, and the Blumberg and Breustedt mansions.

During the 1920s, the county began to enjoy a foretaste of an oil boom. While the first fields were at the far edge of the county, near Luling, the paperwork of deeds and leases (as well as any resulting lawsuits) passed through the Guadalupe County Courthouse. Then in December 1929, the Darst Creek Field was opened, only 15 miles east of Seguin. (The creek had been named for colonist and landowner Jacob C. Darst. He was one of the original "Old Eighteen", defenders of the Gonzales cannon and then a member of the Gonzales Ranging Company relief force to the Alamo during the siege in 1836.)

Geography

Seguin is located in the center of Guadalupe County. It is 35 miles (56 km) east-by-northeast of downtown San Antonio, on Interstate 10, which serves Seguin with five exits. It is about 50 miles (80 km) south of Austin on Highway 123, via Interstate 35, or 62 miles (100 km) by Highway 130, a toll road.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 40.224 square miles (104.18 km2), of which 0.198 sq mi (0.51 km2, 0.58%, or 125 acres) is covered by water.

The Guadalupe River flows through the southern side of the city, reaching the Gulf of Mexico south of Victoria.

Weather and climate

On the northern edge of the South Texas Plains, Seguin enjoys a mild winter. The sunny days of spring bring on spectacular shows of wildflowers from March into June. Like most of Central Texas, it suffers very hot, humid summers from June into September. Then cold fronts pushing down from the north usually trigger precipitation and make October a rainy month, bringing "a second spring" of wildflowers. At their worst, fall and winter have "northers", fast-moving cold fronts with wind, often rain, and rapid drops of temperature, frequently falling 30 °F (17 °C) or more during one day. Northers give way to warm spells, right through the winter.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, 29,433 people, 10,542 households, and 7,026 families were residing in the city.

The population density was 768.9 inhabitants per square mile (296.9/km2).

The racial makeup of the city was 53.5% White, 6.5% African American, 0.8% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 17.2% from some other races and 20.8% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 53.74% of the population.

The median age was 36.5 years. 23.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.0 males age 18 and over.

There were 10,542 households in Seguin, of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 42.4% were married-couple households, 19.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 11,563 housing units, of which 8.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.4%.

84.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 15.7% lived in rural areas.

Government

The U.S. Air Force's 12th Flying Training Wing operates an airfield for practice approaches and touch-and-go landings, known as Randolph AFB Auxiliary Field/Seguin Field. It was originally constructed with three runways about 12 miles east-northeast of Randolph AFB, in 1941. Today, it has a single active 8350 ft runway. Normally unattended, it is supported by a manned runway supervisor unit and aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles when conducting flight operations.

The main offices of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority are located on East Court St. in Seguin. It manages Canyon Dam, upstream on the Guadalupe, and four small dams in the county and other facilities.

The Schertz-Seguin Local Government Corporation, half owned by each city, was created in 1998 to develop and operate a wholesale water supply system. Using wells in the Carrizo Aquifer in Gonzales County, production began in September 2002. It now also supplies Selma, Universal City, and Converse, as well as Springs Hill Water Supply Corp. and the San Antonio Water System. Its offices are in Starcke Park, near the Seguin waterworks.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates a parole office in Seguin.

The United States Postal Service operates the Seguin Post Office at 531 West Court St. and the Seguin Annex at 1500 East Court, in the mall next to Bealls.

State and federal districts

Seguin was represented in the Texas House of Representatives from 1983 to 2010 by Republican Edmund Kuempel. He was noted for helping to get the State of Texas to restore the 19th-century mansion called Sebastopol and operate it as an historic site for 25 years. A native of Austin, businessman Kuempel died in office two days after being unopposed for reelection. John Kuempel, Edmund Kuempel's son, won the special election on December 14 of that year to succeed his father in the District 44 seat in the Texas House. He was reelected in 2012 and 2014.

Democrat Vicente Gonzalez has represented Guadalupe County in the U.S. House of Representatives as part of Texas' 15th Congressional District, since 2017. One of the "fajita" districts, the 15th runs in a narrow strip from Seguin down to McAllen in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Education

The city is served by the Seguin Independent School District, with about 8,000 students in 14 schools. Under the 2013 accountability ratings released by the Texas Education Agency, Seguin ISD and each of its campuses received "Met Standard" ratings based upon the new performance standards. The performance index-based rating system applies one of two labels to districts and public schools across the state: Met Standard or Improvement Required. The public schools include:

Joe F. Saegert Sixth Grade Center (received the Distinction Designation for Academic Achievement in Reading, as did Koennecke Elementary School)

A.J. Briesmeister Middle School

Jim Barnes Middle School

Seguin High School

Lizzie M. Burges Alternate School

Mercer-Blumberg Learning Center

On May 4, 2019, Seguin ISD voters approved a $64.7 million bond package with 1,569 (66.23%) votes for and 799 (33.73%) against.

Bond 2019 was passed by voters and passed renovations for AJ Briesemeister Middle School, Matador Stadium rebuild, Jefferson Elementary, play areas and shade canopies for all Seguin ISD elementary schools, Land purchase to replace McQueeney Elementary, and various campus improvements.

Navarro Independent School District Serves students in northern Seguin and rural areas beyond.

Private schools

St. James Catholic School A Historical Marker notes original concrete portion from 1854 makes this the oldest continuously occupied school building in Texas.

First Baptist Christian Academy

Emanuel's Lutheran Day School, for students 18 months through four years

Seguin Lifegate Christian School

Higher education

Texas Lutheran University, with about 1,400 students, is located in Seguin and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It has a diverse student body, with 27% Hispanic, 10% African-American, and only 20% describing themselves as Lutheran. Texas Lutheran recently joined the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, NCAA Division III, so its teams play Austin College, Colorado College, Centenary College in Shreveport, Schreiner University, Southwestern University, Trinity University, and the University of Dallas.

Central Texas Technology Center, one of the Alamo Colleges, is located north of Seguin. It offers specialized education and workforce skill development to meet the needs of existing and prospective employers. Seguin's Economic Development Corp. also funds its Manufacturing Technology Academy, which offers dual credit courses and internships for high-school juniors and seniors.

Libraries

The city operates the Seguin Public Library free of charge for residents of Seguin and Guadalupe County at 313 W Nolte St. The Blumberg Library at TLU is also open to for use by adults who pay an annual membership.

Health and hospitals

The Guadalupe Regional Medical Center (GMRC) doubled in size following a $100 million expansion, with 750 employees supporting 65 physician specialists. GRMC's services include an Emergency Department, a Wellness Center, and an orthopedic surgery department.

Transportation

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is about an hour away via I-35 or the Hwy 130 toll road.

San Antonio International Airport is 45 minutes to an hour away via I-10 and I-410 or Hwy 281.

Huber Airpark, 2475 Rudeloff Rd, is a privately owned field for general aviation.

Greyhound offers daily service to Houston and San Antonio. Tri City Taxi Service is based in Seguin.

Highways and scenic routes

Interstate 10, Jacksonville-Houston-Seguin-San Antonio-Fort Stockton-El Paso-L.A.

US Highway 90, Columbus-Luling-Seguin-San Antonio-Del Rio-Alpine-El Paso-L.A.

Alt. US 90, Houston-Sugar Land-Rosenburg-Eagle Lake-Halletsville-Shiner-Gonzales-Seguin.

State Highway 46, Seguin-New Braunfels-Boerne.

State Highway 123, San Marcos-Seguin-Stockdale-Karnes City.

State Highway 130 (Toll Road), off I-35 Georgetown-Austin-Lockhart to I-10 at Seguin.

FM 78, Kirby-I 35-Randolph AFB-Schertz-Cibilo-Marion-McQueeney-Seguin.

FM 20, Seguin-Fentress-Lockhart.

FM 466, Seguin-Monthalia-Cost-Gonzales.

Culture

Newspapers and radio

Seguin is one of the very few cities in the country with competing daily papers. The Gazette, a broadsheet, has been publishing for more than 125 years, since 1888. It is now part of the Southern Newspapers chain. The Daily News is part of the news operation of the locally owned and independently programmed radio station KWED.

Seguin Gazette

Seguin Daily News

KWED 1580 AM

Attractions

The Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center, the "Big Red Barn", helps kids and others learn the mechanics and history of farming in Central Texas, with sample crops and gardens, barnyard animals and poultry, and displays of vintage equipment and tools. A collected village has houses, barns, a one-room schoolhouse, a pharmacy, a blacksmith shop, a gas station, a church, and other relics from the rural past. Many events are held on weekends, and tours are given by appointment.

Sebastopol House Historic Site is perhaps the finest surviving 19th-century concrete building west of the Mississippi. Here on the frontier, settlers began experimenting with concrete construction years before the Civil War, and built 100 or so structures of "lime-crete", as it was called. A team of slaves built this mansion, mixing local gravel, sand, lime, and some organic materials, then pouring the mix into wooden forms. When the concrete was solid, they raised the forms and repeated the process. A journalist declared Seguin "the Mother of Concrete Cities". Sebastopol House, a well-preserved architectural masterpiece, built in 1856 in Greek Revival style, is now a museum offering free tours.

The Fiedler Museum displays geological examples, with various types of rocks from across the state in a small garden at Langner Hall on the TLU campus.

The "World's Largest Pecan" is a 5-ft-long, two-and-a-half-ft-wide concrete nut erected in 1962; it sits in front of the county courthouse. This county is a large producer of pecans and often claims the nickname "Pecan Capital of Texas". Seguin has been described as "a big pecan orchard with a small town in it". A new pecan-shaped sculpture, 4 ft longer than the previous record holder, was unveiled on July 4, 2011, to ensure its place as the "World's Largest". It can be seen at the Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center. The original and still photogenic "big pecan" remains at its downtown location.

True Women – Seguin is one of the settings of the 1994 Janice Woods Windle historical novel True Women. The author grew up here, learning the women's side of history from family members. A self-drive tour of sites in the book is available at the Chamber of Commerce or at [1]. The best-selling novel was the basis for the 1997 CBS miniseries adaptation, True Women, starring Dana Delany, Annabeth Gish, and Angelina Jolie.

Performing arts

The Mid-Texas Symphony is the area's only professional orchestra. Performances occur in venues in both Comal and Guadalupe counties. In addition to a subscription series of six classical and pops concerts, MTS produces four free children's concerts each season: two in Seguin and two in New Braunfels. More than 3600 fourth- and fifth-grade students attend a free symphonic concert each season. As of 2021, the music director is Akiko Fujimoto.

Teatro De Artes De Juan Seguin

Teatro De Artes De Juan Seguin (Teatro) is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2022–2023. Teatro is a non-profit organization that promotes a better understanding of the Mexican American culture by the study, teaching, practice, and performance of the arts and has called Seguin, Texas home all 40 years. It is through their deliberate teachings that youth and adults are able to reclaim, maintain, and celebrate their Mexican American roots, customs, knowledge, and celebrations through community education. Teatro is home to the famous Ballet Folklórico De La Rosa, Mariachi Juan Seguin, Conjunto Juan Seguin, Dia de los Muertos events, Noche De Gala Vocalista Competition, Summer Agriculture, Culinary, and Visual Arts Camp and many other family friendly events including humanities events. The Teatro De Artes De Juan Seguin Cultural Arts Center is located on the westside of Seguin and has called the former Our Lady of Guadalupe Church/Church Hall home since 1996.

Public art

"The World's Largest Pecan", on the courthouse lawn, a popular folk art piece, plaster over concrete, created by a local dentist and master plasterer Monroe J. Engbrock, 1978

Eagle, atop the Guadalupe County Veterans Memorial on the courthouse lawn, by Erik Christianson, 2006

"Stagecoach Road", a 90-foot wide mural by Brent McCarthy, on the route where stagecoaches passed from the Magnolia Hotel, 2008

Statue of Juan N. Seguín, a hero-on-horseback in Central Park, by Erik Christianson, 2000

Art Deco fountain in Central Park, designed by an unknown architect, 1930s

Bas-reliefs of Justice and Wisdom, on the courthouse high above the entryways, sculpted by Harold Calhoun, 1936

Bas-relief of the town seal high above the Municipal Building (City Hall) entrance, carved by Harold Calhoun, 1935

Bird sculptures in Walnut Springs Park, eight wood and metal works by Marika Bordes and a team of her students, Barry Duncan, Howard Crunk, and Jimmy Schmidt, 2012

Statue of Martin Luther, in front of Beck College Center, near entrance to Texas Lutheran campus off Court at Prexy Dr., by Elmer P. Peterson, 1976

Three Graces Sculpture, on TLU campus, south of the Schuech Fine Arts Center

Sculpture Garden, on TLU campus north of the Schuech Fine Arts Center, works by various artists, faculty and students

National Register sites

Guadalupe County has about a dozen sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, most of them in Seguin:

Sebastopol House (added 1970)

Erskine-Holloman House (1970)

Los Nogales (1972)

Wilson Utility Pottery Kilns Archeological Dist. (1975), on Capote Road

Joseph E. Johnson House (1978)

Robert Hall House (1979)

Saffold Dam (1979)

Park Hotel, or Plaza Hotel (1980)

Commercial Historic District (1983), with a boundary increase (2003)

Edward and Texana Tewes House, on Linne Road (1997)

Sweet Home Vocational and Agricultural High School (1998)

In addition, the county boasts 80 Texas State Historical Markers, with about 25 of those within Seguin's city limits.

Sister cities

Seguin has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc (SCI):

Millicent, South Australia, Australia

Vechta, Lower Saxony, Germany

San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico

Notable people

Jacob De Cordova, land agent, Member, Texas House of Representatives, 1808–1868

Manuel N. Flores, rancher, served with Juan Seguin (his brother-in-law), in the Texas Revolution, 1801–1868

Sam Flores, educator, political activist, 1925–2007

Drew French, current bullpen coach for the Atlanta Braves, 1984-

Maud A. B. Fuller, Baptist leader and educator 1868–1972

Nanci Griffith, Grammy Award-winning singer, guitarist and songwriter, 1953–2021

P.J. Hall, NFL defensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders, 1995–

Chuck Hartenstein, Texas Longhorns baseball pitching star, MLB relief pitcher, and MLB coach, 1942–2021

John Coffee "Jack" Hays, Texas Ranger, 1817–1883

John Ireland, Governor of Texas, 1827–1896

Ron Jones, MLB player for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1964–2006

J. R. E. Lee, born a slave, 20 years president historically black Florida A&M, 1864–1944

Joel Nestali Martinez, elected 1992, bishop of the United Methodist Church, 1940 –

Shelley Mayfield, pro golfer and course designer, 1924–2010

Ben McCulloch, Confederate general, killed in action, 1819–1862