History

After Texas gained independence from Mexico in 1836, the government of the new republic authorized large land grants to land agents willing to settle colonists in Texas. Tax paying citizens were needed in the new republic. Henri Castro, a French entrepreneur, received a colonization contract in 1842. Castroville, the first settlement of the colony, was built on land outside of the land grant, which was purchased through agreement by Castro and was once the Spanish Rancho San Lucas of Mission San Jose. The beautiful and clear Medina River, wooded river bottom, and nearby open plains made the area an excellent site for a town and agriculture. After the Payaya Indians entered the missions, Lipan Apaches, and roving bands of Comanches were found in the area, and were an intimidating threat to the first colonists.

Henri Castro - French citizen and naturalized American, this visionary man risked and lost his family fortune establishing frontier Castroville.

In February of 1836, the vanguard of the Mexican Army of General Santa Anna was stopped at the Medina because of rising water. This brief delay caused the Mexican forces to abandon their planned surprise attack on the Texians in San Antonio, and resulted in the famous siege of the Alamo. The Mexican army crossed the Medina about five miles southeast of the park. In 1842, a second Mexican force under General Adrian Woll crossed the Medina three miles north of the park and briefly occupied San Antonio. Forays such as this also greatly complicated efforts by Castro to recruit immigrants to come to Texas, which he frequently shared in his letters to the Texas Republic's new President, Sam Houston.

In 1843 near Washington and Mexico streets, a small Tejano settlement of cypress shingle makers was destroyed in a devastating flood. Hendrick Arnold, hero of the siege of Bexar and San Jacinto scout was living there, along with his Tejano wife, a stepdaughter of Deaf Smith, Sam Houston's chief scout. After the flood, these now homeless settlers, picked up their shingles along the river and moved to a new location. South of the Medina, Tejano ranchers occupied remote ranches, and some, like the Rodriguez Family, later assisted the struggling, newly-arrived colonists.

In September of 1844, a group of French and German colonists, accompanied by Tejano workmen from San Antonio, crossed the Medina and camped in the river bottom, on and nearby the park. A week later Bishop Odin, from San Antonio, dedicated the cornerstone to the first church under a huge pecan tree, the Castroville pecan, which once stood in the park but was struck by lightening and died. Shortly thereafter, construction was started on the village, with one of the first buildings constructed on what is now September Square. This 80 foot structure served as a communal shelter for the settlers while their homes were being built. Castro's colonists were mostly from the Haut Rhin region of the French-German province of Alsace, other parts of France, also from Germany and Switzerland. Many who came were young, about half practiced trades, the other half farmers. Many had little property and sought prosperity and land in Texas. Only about half of the colonists actually settled in Castro's Colony: some settled along the immigrant road; some stayed in San Antonio and others moved to competing German settlements; a number died of disease waiting on the coast for wagon transportation to their new home, some were shipwrecked, some died of starvation and others returned to Europe with tales of adventure and great hardship. Those who stayed, initially suffered from drought, sickness and later Indian attack, but they bravely persevered and eventually prospered.

A short distance from the Castroville, a Lipan Apache village peacefully lived and traded with the colonists till Texas Rangers massacred many in the village, to the horror of the settlers. The artist Gentliz, a Castro colonist, painted this village.

Robert E. Lee, engineer at the time, helped improve the Medina River crossing.

In 1846, The US Army of the Center under the command of General John Wool passed through Castroville and the park on their way to Mexico. Delaware Indians living along the Medina north of town were recruited as scouts and men from the area enlisted in Connor's Mounted Volunteers and served in the Mexican War. Engineers including Robert E. Lee improved the ford, and helped establish what would later become the San Antonio/El Paso Road. This road was used by immigrants as one of the southern routes to the California Gold Fields. By the 1850's the road, a section of which passes through the park, became one of the chief southern routes west, connecting the US Army headquarters in San Antonio with its forts along the Texas frontier. Many famous travelers passed by the Landmark Inn or stopped in Castroville including James Longstreet, Fredrick Olmstead, Abner Doubleday and Robert E. Lee. US troops evacuating Texas in May 1861 camped just opposite the Landmark Inn, and Confederate forces marching to conquer New Mexico marched by the Inn in 1862. At the end of the Civil War, General Joe Shelby and his Missouri Cavalry also passed through the park on their way to a self- imposed exile in Mexico.

About 1849, Cesar Monod a Swiss merchant from Lavaca, purchased town lots in Castroville and built what was to become the first floor of the present Landmark Inn. With hundreds headed to the gold fields of California, the store was a welcome stop for weary travelers. The building contained a store and family residence. The river ford being only 100 yards away and San Antonio-El Paso Road passing by the front of the store with increasing wagon traffic made the store a highly desirable business location.

In 1853, John Vance, an Irish immigrant by way of New York and Arkansas with mercantile connections in San Antonio, and his wife Rowena bought the property and opened his own general store. Vance expanded the store by adding a wing and then later added the first and second galleries and the second floor. Vance also served as postmaster, and stagecoaches and riders delivered and picked up mail at the store. The Vance House was built in 1859, and the basement was used as a wool press and storage area. Vance bought many local products such as hides, meat, tallow, pecans, and honey and sold manufactured goods and supplies of all kinds. Because the store was located on the heavily-traveled road from San Antonio to Mexico and El Paso, Vance started providing rooms occasionally to travelers and outfitting them with supplies. During the Civil War, the store prospered with much of the South's cotton passing by the front door on the way to Eagle Pass and eventually Mexican ports to avoid the Union blockade. The place became known as the Vance Hotel in the 1870s when the second floor was constructed.

In 1853, Vance sold the land along the river to Haass and Quintle, who within a year built a dam, mill race, water gate, mill stream, and mill. Starting out as a custom grist mill and cotton gin, the mill grew larger and more prosperous as an agricultural market economy developed in the community. No longer was the mill processing single bags of corn brought in on foot, but wagon loads of grain and cotton by the 1860s. When Joseph Courand purchased the property, modernizing the mill equipment, a turbine replaced the water wheel, and a steam engine was added to supplement the water power. Eventually, a lumber mill was also in operation to supply fuel wood for the steam engine. In the early 1900s, the cotton gin burned, and by the 1920s, J. T. Lawler, from New Orleans bought the property, converting the mill to generate electricity, bringing the first electric lights to Castroville. This plant operated until 1935 when the business was sold and shut down.

Ruth Lawler, J. T. Lawler's sister restored the main building during the 1940s, renaming it Landmark Inn. It was reopened as accommodations for the military couples stationed at nearby air force bases. Miss Ruth, as she was known, was an outstanding teacher in literature, music and drama, a persistent and dedicated social reformer, and was a mentor to many children interested in the arts. Later Ruth served as city judge. Landmark Inn became a restful gathering place and inspiration for many outstanding Texans. The Inn continues to operate in order to give visitors a chance to experience an Inn from a bygone year as part of the museum experience.