Marcelina, Texas, Karnes County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

In the 18th Century, the site was once headquarters of Rancho de la Mora, a supporting ranch of the San Antonio de Valero Mission. Prior to the Civil War, James R. Skiles held title to 1,500 acres of land here and platted a town in 1857 which he named after Marcelina Creek.

Skiles had great plans for the new town and built his plantation home here � with quarters for his slaves and a gristmill on the San Antonio River. The Civil War nipped Skiles� plans of empire in the bud and the gristmill outlasted the town by decades. A post office opened as Skiles, Texas in the late 1880s. It later moved, forming the nucleus for the future Falls City, Texas.

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