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Frijole Ranch is historic site located within the boundaries of Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas. It sits just off US 62 about a mile and a half from the Pine Springs Visitor Center.
Origins
Frijole Ranch was built around 1876 by the Rader brothers. It consists of seven buildings: a ranch house, barn, bunkhouse, double outhouse, springhouse, shed, and school house. It was built next to Frijole Spring and in the proximity of four other natural springs.
The Rader brothers moved out in the late 1880s and the Herring family of North Carolina moved in, staying until 1895. Frijole Ranch sat unoccupied until the Smith family arrived in 1906. They called it Spring Hill Ranch.
Smith Family
The Smiths expanded the ranch by building the bunkhouse and school house. They purchased a hydraulic ram to pump water and later installed electric lights powered by a wind generator. They also operated a post office at the site from 1916 to 1942.
The one-room school house, built in 1925, was used to educated up to eight local children well into the 1930s. The Smiths hired a teacher for US$30 a month plus room and board.
National Park
The Smiths moved out in 1942 after selling the ranch to Judge Jesse Coleman Hunter of Van Horn, Texas, for US$55,000. Hunter had been buying land in the Guadalupe Mountains since 1923 and accumulated 43,000 acres. He had also been advocating for the region to be turned into a national park since 1925.
Hunter’s son, J.C. Hunter Jr. inherited the ranch in 1945. He purchased more land, eventually expanding the ranch to 67,213 acres. Hunter sold the ranch to the National Park Service in 1966 for US$1.5 million. Guadalupe Mountains National Park was established on September 30, 1972, with Hunter’s land making up almost 78% of the park property.
From 1969 to 1980, the buildings at Frijole Ranch were used as employee housing and utility buildings. The ranch house served as a National Park Service operations center from 1983 to 1991. Finally, in 1992, the house was restored and opened as the Frijole Ranch Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed for the season when we passed through and the house was boarded up.
Surroundings
Frijole Ranch has some spectacular views of the surrounding landscape as well as El Capitan, the 10th tallest peak in Texas and a landmark on the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line. It also sits next to the trailhead for the Smith Spring Trail, which is covered in another entry.
