{"nrhp_refnum":"79002990","name":"Fort Clark Historic District","other_names":["Fort Clark Springs"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Off U.S. 90","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brackettville","county":"Kinney County","state":"TX","lat":29.308088754500034,"lon":-100.42092199934393,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A military post district on a plateau above Las Moras Creek at Brackettville, Kinney County, Texas, established in 1852 as Fort Clark and built out mainly from 1857 into the 1930s by enlisted men using local limestone.","why_significant":"The fort is presented as representative of the frontier forts set along the old El Paso Road during westward expansion. Ninety-four years of continuous use as a military post produced buildings that show changing construction techniques and materials, from palisade walls to dressed and rusticated limestone to stone-veneered frame. The complex still conveys the character of a 19th century cavalry station despite changes in ownership and use.","narrative":"Fort Clark is a former frontier army post on a mesa above Las Moras Creek at Brackettville, Texas. Founded in June 1852 to protect travelers along the old El Paso Road, it began as a cantonment of tents and temporary shelters. In 1857 orders were given to build permanent structures, and enlisted men working under skilled craftsmen from the San Antonio area raised most of the surviving buildings from local limestone. Officers' quarters, barracks, a commissary, a hospital and administrative buildings were arranged around a large parade ground. The earliest surviving building, the Lee Building, uses cedar picket palisade walls, while later structures show dressed, rough and rusticated stonework. Twentieth century additions include stone-veneered frame buildings from 1915 to 1930. After the fort closed in 1946 it became a hunting resort and then a residential resort community. Some alterations have been intrusive, but the district keeps the look of a 19th century cavalry station and reflects the Army's changing needs over ninety-four years.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1855-1930","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Deactivated in 1946 and later converted to a resort/retirement community; structures were sold individually. Some buildings are residences, some are vacant, and the Old Headquarters and Lee Building are ruins or vacant. Some have been altered by inappropriate repairs.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.314013-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/86/9727/40972786/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/79002990.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002990/ef6330495e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002990/ef6330495e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pi3.124","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Clark_5.png\" rel=\"noopener\">Pi3.124</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Clark_5.png"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972786","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Clark,_Texas","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5470929"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/kinney-county/fort-clark-historic-district-79002990/"}