Brackettville, Texas
| Brackettville, Texas | |
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| City | |
 Location of Brackettville, Texas |
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| Coordinates: 29°18′55″N 100°24′54″W / 29.31528°N 100.41500°WCoordinates: 29°18′55″N 100°24′54″W / 29.31528°N 100.41500°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Kinney |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.2 sq mi (8.2 km2) |
| • Land | 3.2 sq mi (8.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,106 ft (337 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 1,876 |
| • Density | 591.8/sq mi (228.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 78832 |
| Area code(s) | 830 |
| FIPS code | 48-09868 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1352804 |
Brackettville is a city in Kinney County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,876 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kinney County. Brackettville claims it is the drive-in movie capital of Texas.
Founded in 1852 as Las Moras (the name of a nearby spring and the creek it feeds), the town initially was a supply stop on the old San Antonio-El Paso road and a supply depot for the U.S. Army's Fort Clark (the fort was established the same year). Later the town was named Brackett after Oscar B. Brackett, the owner of the first dry goods store in the area. In 1873 when a post office was awarded, "ville" was appended to the name to differentiate from another town.
The town grew quickly through the 19th century with the expansion of the garrison at Fort Clark for the Indian Wars. The town's fortunes were tied to the fort. For many years, it was the base of the famous Buffalo Soldiers, made up of African Americans. Demographically, Brackettville had a larger proportion of Black Seminoles (people of mixed African American and Seminole ancestry, who originated in Florida) than the rest of West Texas, as they had been recruited by the US to act as scouts for the Buffalo Soldiers and settled with their families in the town. During the slavery years, they had been living in a settlement in northern Mexico to escape US conditions. Their language developed in Florida, Afro-Seminole Creole, is still spoken by some in Brackettville.
After the Buffalo Soldiers moved out of Fort Clark with the waning of the Indian Wars, it was used as a cavalry post. The Seminole Negro Indian Scouts were finally disbanded as a unit in 1914. Virtually every cavalry unit in the U.S. Army was stationed at or trained at Fort Clark at one time or another.
In 1943 during World War II, the U.S. Army activated the Second Cavalry, which was to be the Army's last horse-mounted unit. By 1944, even the Second had been mechanized. Fort Clark, so long a center of mounted cavalry, was targeted for closure. Before its closure, the fort was used as a German prisoner-of-war camp.
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Wikipedia