Herrera Ranch

The Blas Maria Herrera and Maria Antonia Ruiz Herrera Ranch is a rare early-191h century homestead in southern Bexar County, Texas. The ranch has been in continuous ownership by Herrera family members since March 26, 1845. This site represents one of a series of occupations in this area of the Medina River valley by members of the Ruiz and Herrera families for nearly two centuries. The buildings comprising the compound reflect the simple character of central Texas vernacular architecture during the early 19th century and the simple Tejano structures once common in the area. Historic built features throughout the ranch reflect the evolution and changing uses of the land, from active ranching, to one of scaled back ranching activities, to social and community events, to the simple pasturing of horses today. At the heart of the ranch stands a large jacal structure which served as the family residence, a smaller jacal with an attached open-air pavilion and three smaller wood-frame buildings. The Herrera and Ruiz families settled in southern Bexar County and engaged in civic, social, educational, religious, military and agricultural activities in the development of the area, and these buildings also represent the utilization of the property for both agricultural and social activities. The Herrera Ranch is nominated under Criteria A at the local level in the areas of Settlement and Ethnic Heritage/Hispanic as the ranch of early Tejano/Hispanic family settlers. The property has been continuously utilized with either livestock and/or agricultural ranching from 1845 through the present time. The property is also nominated under Criteria C at the state level of significance in the area of Architecture. The two jacales represent unique construction techniques (adobe palasaido with wattle and daub) and early building styles representative of the Tejano culture, and are two of the very few remaining jacales in Bexar County. Set on the banks of the Medina River, the ranch possesses an extraordinary sense of place and retains a good degree of integrity. The period of significance begins in 1838, with the documented ownership by Francisco Antonio Ruiz, and continues to 1960, a period which includes 115 years of continued ownership and occupancy by the Herrera family.