Hwy 87 S. on Menger Creek
now 1407 S. Main Street, Boerne
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| OWNERS: John Small, William Kingsbury, Malnor Shumard | DESCRIPTION:One story rock house is the main house with a two-story stone smokehouse, out-buildings | |
HISTORY:"The Kingsbury-Shumard House was built on a ranch that was established in 1841, eight years before Boerne was founded. Then a part of Bexar County, the 1,200 acre tract was given to John Small as compensation from the Republic of Texas for fighting in the Battle of San Jacinto. A surveyor, Mr. Small, did a lot of work locally, as evidenced by the fact his name appears on many early Kendall County plats.
Johann Menger acquired the property from Small and kept it until the early 1850s. Menger Creek, which runs through the property, was named for him. He sold the ranch to Dr. William Kingsbury, a dentist, who named the property "Molar Ranch." Kingsbury was responsible for recruiting many of the Englishmen who settled in the area after the Civil War. He also helped bring the railroad to Boerne in 1887.
Kingsbury expanded the original rock house built by the Small's and added a tower to aid in defending the property against Indian attacks. He lived at the ranch until he died in 1896.
The Shumard family purchased the ranch in 1908 and later built a larger ranch house to accompany the smaller, original home. Malnor Shumard, III was born in the smaller home and lived in it until his death in 1999. The original house is no longer standing.
The property was acquired by Wal-Mart for construction of a new store and the .9 acre home site was donated to the City of Boerne. The main house was renovated and serves as home of the Boerne Convention and Visitor's Bureau and Visitor's Center."
Source: Boerne Public Library files- April, 2007. This article was written by Col. Bettie Edmonds for use in describing the home for the Boerne Historical Homes Tour on May 12, 2007.
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