Kerr County Stories by Lanza Teague

The Hunt Store in 1946, when it was owned by Whit Zander and Bangs Kellogg In small towns, there is often a place that is considered the heart of the community, a place where you take visitors who want a taste of the local culture or catch up on the latest news and visit with friends. The heart of a place can be in a church, a restaurant or a community center. In Hunt, the heart of the community is an unpretentious general store that has served the community for 80 years — some people say the history goes further back. Until the flood, the Hunt Store was known as a place to meet up with friends, get a bite to eat, listen to live music, stock up on essentials, and it was the last stop for miles where western-bound motorists could fill up their gas tank. Abraham Whitlock “Whit” Zander and his wife, Sophia, came from Houston to Hunt in 1937. In 1938, Zander became the manager of the Hardin Grocery Store in Hunt, owned by A.B. “Bell” Hardin. Hardin’s store was located in a rock bu...

Sandy Hamburg   I was going to write a story about Captain Schreiner and two men — Andrew Fifer and Isaiah Blanks — who worked for him. This February marks the 118th anniversary of Schreiner’s birth and the 99th anniversary of his death. As I was researching Fifer and Blanks, two highly respected men in Kerrville’s black community, I came across the story of Sandy Hamburg, a hard-working man, known for his bright smile and friendly character. The accounts of Hamburg’s life captured my interest, and the original story was put on hold. I also feel that, with this column, I am settling a falsehood that was often told about Hamburg. It was a falsehood that stirred up the temper of a man who was known to be genial and upbeat. In 1861, there were a handful of families in Kerr County that owned slaves. Dr. Charles Ganahl, who settled in Center Point in 1856, had 21 slaves, making him the largest slave owner in Kerr County. There were at least four other slave owners in the county at that ...

Tall tales, Greek mythologies, and even a finely crafted ghost story can tell you a lot about a place in time and the people who wrote the stories.  When I was a kid, I enjoyed the tall tales featuring the giant, Paul Bunyan and his blue ox.  Later I was charmed by the tales of Casey Jones at the bat and railway man John Henry.  O nly a few years ago I learned that Kerrville has its own set of tall tales. After discovering the tales in one book, and then finding the legends repeated in other publications, I became curious about the men who were featured in the tales – most of them involved one of two men, both with the last name of Glenn.   Samuel Donnelly Glenn For example, there’s a story I found in more than one place about a Kerrville cowhand who was traveling home after a long trail ride. The cowboy stopped at a farm for some food, where the farmer’s wife agreed to feed him but said that a terrible storm was coming and that she and her family were going to take ...

Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on January 17, 2026 William Thomas Tarver is shown with his mail hack and team of horses in 1918 in front of the old Kerrville train depot, which is now home to Rails, A Cafe at the Depot.  On the evening of Feb. 21, 1930, the tinkling bell of a telephone woke Kerrville resident Tom Tarver from a deep slumber.  When the call was answered, the telephone operator announced that Seattle, Washington, was calling. Tarver could not figure out who on Earth would be calling him at such an ungodly hour. His “mental gymnastics” while the call was being connected failed to “recall any rich relatives, or what have you, in Seattle.” The call came from a young man named Field Williford. Young Williford had spent his childhood in Kerrville and “an attack of homesickness for the scenes of his boyhood in Kerrville” prompted him to call and ask Tarver about folks in the old hometown. The call cost Williford $10 (a lot of money in 1930), but he sa...

Published in the Kerrville Daily Times On December 26, 2025 Anna Belle Council's first Christmas in 1907. An Ashe Juniper (Cedar Tree) served as the Christmas Tree and presents were hung on the tree. Today’s column is inspired by a photo of my aunt’s first Christmas. My aunt, Anna Belle Council (later Roland), was just a week over nine months old in December of 1907. In studying the photo, it made me wonder what Christmas was like in Kerrville 118 years ago. In 1907, fir trees could not be found in Kerr County, and I don’t think anyone had come up with the idea of an artificial tree yet. The lowly native Ashe juniper, known as the cause of cedar fever during the winter months, served as the holiday tree for most homes. A tree would be selected and brought into the home and decorated. In the case of my aunt’s first Christmas, the tree was decorated with her gifts — a celluloid horn and a number of dolls. Other toys, a stuffed dog, a tin wagon and other items were grou...

Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on December 12, 2025 Bobby Rector Playing the Drums When Bobby Rector was a boy growing up in rural Texas, he loved digging in the dirt, finding arrowheads and other artifacts, never thinking there was a future or a profession in it. It was just something he enjoyed doing.  When I study a person’s life, I am amazed at the way people seem to reinvent themselves, either when the times change or a catastrophic event takes place. Many times, those reinventions will completely change the course of a life. In Bobby’s case, it wasn’t so much a reinvention than it was a layering of interests. He started out as a musician, then became a professional artist and eventually rediscovered his childhood love of archaeology. He never gave up one interest to serve another. He always found a way to add to his professional skills. Bobby Rector was a multi-faceted renaissance man who had a keen interest in the world around him. Robert “Bobby” Rush Rector was born...