Camp San Saba, Texas. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

The town took it's name for a camp of Texas Rangers stationed there in the mid 1850s. Settlers had been there previously, but Indian attacks curtailed settlement - hence the need for the Rangers.

During the Civil War, Confederate troops protected the settlers (a benefit not enjoyed by too many Texas towns). The community was McCulloch's main settlement until 1876 when Brady was made the county seat. A post office was granted to the town that same year. The first reported population was 250 in 1884. The town's decreasing role in McCulloch county was hammered home with the arrival of the railroad. Brady waxed as Camp San Saba waned. The post office managed to hang on through the Depression - but closed shortly after. From a population of 180 in 1925, it declined to a mere fifty in 1939. The 1990 figure was 36 - and today it's anyone's guess.

Camp San Saba Today

Site of Camp San Saba Centennial Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2006

Centennial Marker :

Site of Camp San Saba

Here was stationed, 1862-1864, Captian W. G. O'Brien's Company of mounted volunteers a unit of the frontier regiment organized to protect the frontier against Indians. The regiment in 1864 became the Forty-sixth Texas Cavalry in the Confederate Army.

McCulloch County 1907 Postal Map showing Camp San Saba
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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