Von Ormy, Texas, Bexar County. (original) (raw)

Bexar County, South Texas

29� 16' 39" N, 98� 39' 27" W (29.2775, -98.6575)

I-35 at the Medina River
15 Miles SW of Downtown San Antonio
Population: 1,287 Est. (2019)
1,085 (2010)
Part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area

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History in a Pecan Shell

First named Medina Crossing (for obvious reasons), the community was settled sometime after the Civil War. It was granted a post office in 1879 with the name Mann's Crossing - after the surname of the ferry operator.

In 1886 the name of the town was changed to Von Ormy. This was to curry favor with an Austrian Count. Adolph von Ormy brought his wife and servants here and placed them on 2,300 acres of land. But the new locale didn't please the Countess and she returned to the old country.

Grief-stricken, lovelorn, or perhaps enjoying a new found freedom, the Count left the following year and didn't leave a forwarding address. Some say he left under a dark cloud, some speculate an untoward demise. We may never know.

Without their local nobleman, the townsfolk returned to being just another small town on a river. By 1914 Van Ormy (the name didn't revert to Mann's Crossing) had a population of 350. Amenities included two grocers and a general store. Opening a business in Von Ormy didn't make sense with San Antonio such a short distance away.

Either Von Ormites loved their town, or the census people got lazy, for the population remained at exactly 350 through 1946.

But the post-war search for greener pastures reduced the town to just 100 by the mid 1960s. The 1990 census counted 264 people and the 2010 census counted 1,085.

Bexar County 1907 Postal Map showing Von Ormy (SW of San Antonio)
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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