{"nrhp_refnum":"71000955","name":"Fort McKavett Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"S bank of the San Saba River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fort McKavett","county":"Menard County","state":"TX","lat":30.828782151500064,"lon":-100.10786205026814,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-07-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district in and around the town of Fort McKavett, Menard County, Texas, on the south bank of the San Saba River. It covers a frontier U.S. Army post established in 1852 and occupied 1852-1859 and 1868-1883.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the post as a link in the chain of forts that protected frontier settlers and the Upper Road to California. After the Civil War, Black troops of the 41st Infantry and 9th Cavalry rebuilt it, and soldiers based there helped remove Plains Indians and fought in the Victorio War. It is also unusual because its buildings form the core of the present-day town.","narrative":"Fort McKavett is a former frontier army post on a limestone promontory above the San Saba River in Menard County, Texas. Founded in 1852 as Camp San Saba, it protected settlers from raids and guarded the Upper Road to California. Soldiers built its stone buildings during two periods of occupation, 1852-1859 and 1868-1883. After the Civil War, the fort was rebuilt from 1869 by men of the 41st Infantry and the 9th Cavalry, Black regiments including the Buffalo soldiers, under Ranald MacKenzie. Troops from the post helped remove Indians from the southern plains and took part in the Victorio War of 1878-81. When the army left in 1883, the land returned to private owners, and the fort buildings became the heart of today's town. The hospital compound and schoolhouse are well preserved, several barracks and other structures survive as roofed buildings or ruins, and many buildings remain in use as homes.","period_of_significance":"1852-1859, 1868-1883","architect_builder":"Built by the soldiers stationed at the post; the rebuilding from 1869 was done by men of the 41st Infantry and 9th Cavalry under Ranald MacKenzie.","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is mixed: maintained buildings are in good condition, while neglected ones are ruins. Many fort buildings are still lived in, and some are state-owned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.239625-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/37/9730/40973037/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/71000955.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000955/2f5693c655-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000955/2f5693c655-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_McKavett_State_Historic_Site.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_McKavett_State_Historic_Site.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973037","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_McKavett_State_Historic_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5471634"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/menard-county/fort-mckavett-historic-district-71000955/"}