Medina County

The European settlers of Medina County leaned toward the Union. There were only twenty-eight enslaved people in 1850 and 108 in 1860; the county's nearness to Mexico offered refuge to people escaping slavery, and Unionist feeling ran wide among the immigrants. In February 1861 voters rejected secession, 140 to 207. August Santleben was one of many residents who fled to Mexico to escape reprisals, while Charles DeMontel, as provost marshal, hunted those who tried to avoid Confederate service. Land values fell by almost half during the war, but Castroville, on the routes to Mexico, prospered.

What the plaque says

Medina County, Formed from Bexar County. Created Februaru 12, 1848, organized August 7, 1848. Named for the river which traverses the county. County Seat, Castroville, 1848-1892, Hondo since. Primarily a farming and ranching area.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Landmark Inn State Historic Site — 16 mi
  A store and stage stop at the Medina River ford in Henri Castro's Alsatian town, with a mill race under the ground and rooms you can still rent for the night.

More markers nearby

• Hondo — 0.6 mi
• Southern Pacific Depot of Hondo — 1.2 mi
• Vandenburg — 5.1 mi
• New Fountain United Methodist Church — 5.5 mi