Waring, Texas, Kendall County. (original) (raw)

Waring TX Church

History in a Pecan Shell

Originally named Waringford when R. P. M. Waring, an Irishman from Waringford, Ireland sold or donated land to the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway for its Kerrville line in the late 1880s. In 1888 a post office from neighboring Windsor, Texas moved across the Guadalupe River to Waringford.

The town's name was shortened to plain Waring in early 1901. The population hovered between 100-150 until 1914 when it peaked at 300. Waring had most essential businesses as well as a lumberyard and quarry.

The population fell to a mere 80 by the early 1950s and the estimated population remains at just 73.


Looking back at Waring

"Hindsights" by Michael Barr

A visitor to Waring might think the lights are on, but nobody's home. That's because Waring, near Comfort in Kendall County, is 6 miles north of I-10 and doesn't get many tourists. But Waring was once a busy place and a popular destination for travelers... more

Waring, Texas Landmarks & Attractions:

Waring TX City Limit Sign

"Now Entering The Town of Waring"
Photo courtesy Will Beauchamp, June 2010


Waring TX - Waring Schoolhouse

Historical Marker

Waring Schoolhouse

Anglo pioneers in a predominantly German-settled area built the west wing of this building in 1891. Land for this first public school was given by Robert Percival Maxwell Waring, a native of Ireland for whom the town had been named in 1888. Citizens volunteered labor, funds, and materials for the building, and paid their children's tuition of 1to1 to 1to1.50 per month. The east wing was added in 1903, and exterior braces were applied in the 1930s. The school closed in 1954.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986

Waring TX - Waring Schoolhouse historical marker

Waring Schoolhouse Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Will Beauchamp, June 2010

Waring TX - Waring Schoolhouse Water Hand Pump


Waring Texas Depot painting

Waring Depot Sketch by Jacinto Guevara
Photo by John Troesser, October 2007

Waring TX - Waring RR Depot


WaringT X Creek Scene

Waring TX - Turkey Strutters

Waring Texas gas station general store

Waring TX General Store

Waring Nearby Destinations:

Tunnel of The Fredericksburg & Northern Railroad

... Today, if you follow FM 1376 from San Antonio to Sisterdale, then take FM 473 west and go beyond the road to Waring, you'll find where an old but still paved road forms (or used to form) a T intersection with 473. If you turn north and follow the road and the bed of Black Creek, you will be paralleling the route of the F&N, and just about the time you reach the ghost town of Hillingdon you'll see, crossing the creek, the remains of the F&N's longest trestle. Just north of that the road crosses almost directly over the top of it and there is an historical marker you'll find the hill country's only railroad tunnel.

The tunnel is still there, all 920 feet of it inhabited, in the fall, winter, and spring, by millions of bats. The bat flight from the tunnel at dusk resembles rising smoke. During late spring, summer, and early fall, it's home to more rattlesnakes than you'll ever want to meet in one place again.

- From "The Little Engine that Couldn't" by C. F. Eckhardt

Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Tunnel ,Texas today

Tunnel of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Marker

TX Kendall County Closed Railroad Through Truss Bridge


Looking back at Waring

"Hindsights" by Michael Barr

A visitor to Waring might think the lights are on, but nobody's home. That's because Waring, near Comfort in Kendall County, is 6 miles north of I-10 and doesn't get many tourists. But Waring was once a busy place and a popular destination for travelers... more

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