Field Guides
Jourdanton, Texas
(Atascosa COUNTY)
Oil-rich landscape with authentic Tex-Mex culture and historic small towns.
Highlights
Jourdanton, Texas, and its nearby sister city Pleasanton are the population centers of Atascosa County. They county borders San Antonio and Bexar County, so there are endless tourism opportunities in the next county to the north.
In this county, however, there is much to see and do. Jourdanton, in particular, and Atascosa County, more broadly, have been many things—a railroad town, an agricultural center, a ranching community, and now an energy producer. The county often defines itself through its economic prospects, which have lately been linked to the fracking of the Eagleford Shale formation.
While roughnecks may currently symbolize the area’s economy, it was not always that way. Pleasanton proudly wears the title “Birthplace of the Cowboy,” and there is much to remind us of that way of life. Beyond that, if it is not hunting for natural gas that brings people here, it is deer and exotics that do the trick. Also in Atascosa County is Poteet, a small community widely known and justly revered for strawberries and Gearoge Strait. The strawberry part of the fame results from the Poteet Strawberry Festival, one of Texas’s signature festivals.
The County Courthouse
Modernizing courthouses is sometimes a necessary evil. With the advent of the fracking industry, Atascosa County’s judicial and record-keeping functions fairly exploded, requiring a new center for county business. Thus, there is the modern (opened in 2018) Atascosa County Justice Center, situated next to the “Atascosa County Courthouse.” We are sure the Justice Center is efficient, secure, and will be used for a long time. We are sure the Justice Center is efficient, secure, and will be used for a long time. It is the “old” courthouse, however, that draws our attention.
Built in 1912 and designed by San Antonio architect Henry T. Phelps, this mission-style beauty exhibits towers, balconies, and a tiled, Spanish roof. As far as we can tell, this is the only standing mission-style courthouse in the state. As so much of our culture, particularly in South Texas, derives from Spain and Mexico, the absence of mission architecture is a sad fact, but it makes the Jourdanton building important.
Things To See And Do
The “thrill of the hunt” drives much of the tourism in Atascosa County. White Tail deer are prevalent in the area, and the terrain, climate, and vegetation have encouraged the development of ranches for exotic hunts. Dove is another popular option. The general season for White Tail Deer in Atascosa County usually runs from early November to mid-late February. These things are true in many parts of the state, but Atascosa County is one of the best. Some options for contracted hunts are:
Buck Horn Ranch (Axis Deer and other game, also sport shooting)
Tom Ranch (two locations, with the Atascosa more traditional deer)
Texas Wild (White Tail, Dove, and hog)
Hindes Hunts (Traditional deer, turkey, and hog, exotics including Axis Deer, Scimitar Oryx, Blackbuck, Gemsbok, Scimitar Oryx, and Fallow Deer)
El Indio Outfitters (focusing on trophy whitetail deer)
For a wholly different type of excitement, a Saturday Night at the I-37 Speedway in Pleasanton will get your heart racing.
Also, in Pleasanton, the ACT Theatre Group puts on shows and plays several times a year.
The Longhorn Museum (still in Pleasanton) will teach you everything you want to know about the cattle industry. For local history, go to the Museum on Main.
Food, Drinks, and Music (Eat Local!)
Atascosa is large enough to have a variety of locally-owned restaurants. As in most of South Texas, Tex-Mex reigns, but other options exist. If you want something high-end, you may be headed to San Antonio.
Here are some of the best-reviewed for Tex-Mex. In Pleasanton, you can choose La Cantera, El Castillo, Taqueria Huentiian, Sely’s, El Rancho, Playa Cancun, Angelica’s, or Don Jesus. Jourdanton serves the enchilada of your choice at Restaurant Chile Bandera or Taqueria La Perla De Jalisco. Poteet has a quartet of options, including Don Juan Restaurante, La Mesa, Irma’s, and Gramma Texas. J
Pleasanton offers Cafe Chris and Shifter’s American Grill for cafe, deli, or diner-style eating. Joe’s Place in Jourdanton has a reputation for burgers that stems from serving them since 1938. Lauren’s Deli is also a great Jourdanton spot for casual, great eats. Aggie’s Cafe is the spot in Poteet for cafe food and serves Mexican plates, too.
Barbecue is best in Pleasanton at Texas Prime BBQ and Catering or True Texas (in H-E-B, but well-reviewed). Casual Italian and pizza can be found in Pleasanton at Roma’s Italian and Urban Bricks ( a small franchise but more personalized and higher quality than most) or in Poteet at Biggs.
Bigger places with outdoor areas, sometimes music or entertainment, and more unique atmospheres include The Office and Lew’s at Pleasanton Country Club (overlooking the course) in Pleasanton. The same goes for Poteet MPG and Backyard Kitchen in Poteet. Additional nightlife features Texas South and Bar K Icehouse. Texas South offers the down-home, friends-in-low-places vibe Texans love. There is live music or karaoke, and cold beer is always available. Bar K has a devoted local following as an icehouse and a bar. Icehouses are great for capturing that just-got-off-work-on-Friday feeling, and Bar K is one of the best.
Poteet Country Winery and BlackBird Winery are unique spots for grape lovers. Something is inspiring about strawberry wine. Both Ringo Starr (as a cover) and Deana Carter had monster chart hits mentioning the brew. Poteet is the world’s strawberry capital, so the presence of the world’s best strawberry winery is no shock. Ringo played drums on the inspired Beatles’ tune Blackbird, which is also the name of the Atascosa winery offering more traditional wines.
Where To Drop A Dime (Shop Local!)
Fun local shopping options are spread out between Pleasanton, Jourdanton, and Lytle. We cannot get them all, but here are some Texas Ten found interesting. In Pleasanton:
Fairy Tale Books. You might be surprised that Atascosa County has a literary center. It certainly does, and this is it.
Pink Cactus Boutique. This might be a good place to start if you need to supplement the “hip western girl” portion of your closet.
Paisley’s Boutique. Designer women’s brands are here.
The Gypsy Moon Market. Do you know what a “Botanica” is? Neither did Texas Ten until we encountered this darling gift store. A Botanica sells herbal and traditional remedies. Gypsy Moon is more than that, offering gifts and boutique items also.
Their Beautiful Voice offers unique gifts dedicated to those who journey with autism.
Nest Feathers Fine Gifts & Home Decor is a traditional gift shop that sells high-quality goods.
Jourdanton has The Chicken and the Tulips for high-quality vintage, which are well presented.
Nearby Lytle has a mini-shopping district that includes:
Faith and Joy Christian Store provides an option for the more spiritual among us.
The Texicana Boutique sells a variety of clothes and accessories. Veteran-owned.
Small Town Gals Boutique is pretty self-explanatory. Get your country on.
Special Places to Lay Your Head (Stay Local!)
The county’s proximity to the Eagleford Shale fracking play means the hotel stock is almost entirely “working man rooms” offered through chains. Clean and comfortable, yes; quaint and charming, not as much. If you are looking for something unique, you will have to go the VRBO route. A couple of possibilities:
Sleep Under the Stars (Charlotte)
Sleep Under the Stars II (Jourdanton)
Porch Sitting Cabin (Charlotte)
For the Professional Traveller (Campgrounds and RV Parks)
Atascosa County is in the heart of the Eagleford Shale fracking industry. When investigating RV parks, consider whether the park is geared toward industry or recreation.
Freedom RV Resort (Freedom indeed. This is a “clothing optional” park).
Special Events
Texas has many great festivals celebrating local crops, history, events, or weirdness. The Strawberry Festival in Poteet every April does not take a back seat to any of them. Cowboy Heritage Days in August celebrates all things cowboy. In November, the Longhorn Museum hosts the Yesteryear Festival, so if vintage and “old times” are your jam, you will enjoy. The county celebrates livestock at the livestock show in January.
Fore! (Golf Courses)
The Pleasanton Country Club offers a well-kept and challenging 18 holes. Despite its name, it is a semi-private facility. Anyone with a green fee can play.
Getting to Anderson County
Atascosa County is between San Antonio and the deep Rio Grande Valley in south-central Texas. The county seat is three hours’ driving time south by southwest from the state’s geographic center in Brady, Texas.
Specific directions to Atascosa are pretty simple: a short drive south from San Antonio does the trick. State Hwy 16 takes you through Poteet and Jourdanton. State Hwy 281 runs through Pleasanton, and Interstate 37 dissects the county’s eastern edge.
If you are flying, San Antonio International Airport is served by most major carriers and is 50 minutes north. Corpus Christi and Austin are both within two hours if San antonio does not work for you.. For smaller craft, Stinson Airport on the southside of San Antonio, about 30 miles away, is a great option or you can fly straight to Pleasanton.
History
Early archaeological evidence points to the Couhiltecan people occupying these lands. Early natives presaged today’s hunting culture, subsisting on local deer, javelina, and turkey for several thousand years before the Spaniards arrived in the early 1600s. Upon the Europeans’ arrival, the natives learned carpentry, pottery, and masonry skills from the Spanish. Most, however, succumbed to disease, intermarried, or were killed off by more aggressive Comanche and Apache invaders. By the late 19th century, even the warrior tribes had been pushed out or killed by Anglo settlers and the U.S. Army.
It was in the late 1840s that Anglo settlers began arriving in this area. The name “Atascosa” comes from the Spanish word “boggy,” which was how this area was described in the late 1700s. Once land grants were offered to veterans of the Texas Revolution, colonization in this area boomed. José Antonio Navarro, a Mexican participant on the side of Texans and one of three Mexican signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, became interested in colonization as a close friend of Stephen F. Austin and bought up much of the area formerly known as Atascosa Creek. Among other early settlers of this area was Peter Tumilson, who organized one of the first Ranger companies in the state. Other Indian fighters began to move in as well, but due to poor roads, isolation, and the threat of Indian attacks, the population remained low.
The first county seat was settled in the mid-1850s. In 1857, Navarro donated a tract of land named Navatasco, which was then separated from Bexar County directly to its north. The county seat moved several times until it finally settled in Jourdanton in 1912.
At the time of the first census in 1860, 33 slaveholders in Atascosa County each owned, on average, only one to two slaves. When the Civil War broke out, cattle ranching was the area’s dominant economic industry. ue to its relative isolation, the war had little effect on the county’s residents or economy. Those who did fight aligned with the Confederates. Among notable enlistees were the sons of José Antonio Navarro, who all joined the cause.
By the end of the Civil War, cattle ranching thoroughly dominated the economic scene in Atascosa County, accounting for nearly 75% of the income. 1870 saw the peak period in economic growth, and the early 1880s railroad expansion drew large numbers of English, German, and Mexican immigrants to the area. This influx of new residents resulted in the settling of numerous farms. The primary cash crop in the early days of the 1880s was corn, but by 1920, the cotton crop had peaked.
The turn of the century brought new railway lines and an increased number of new towns. During this same time, developments in irrigation brought still more farming opportunities to the area, with watermelon, strawberries, and peas further growing the economy. Oil was discovered in 1917, ultimatley helping farmers strapped for cash during the Depression.
Still, the Depression was a particularly difficult time for Atascosa County. Much of the farming was done by sharecropping and tenant arrangements. There was little equity in the land. Foreclosures ran rampant. The economy recovered slowly and unevenly in the decades that followed. Although agriculture and ranching remain important industries, San Antonio’s growth, proximity to ports, and natural resources have diversified the county’s economic base.
Today, approximately 50,000 people live in the county. Atascosa is notable for its extreme degree of racial diversity. 31% of Atascosa County is Caucasian, non-Hispanic, 23% is Caucasian Hispanic, 24% is mixed race, including Hispanic/Anglo, 16% is non-Caucasian Hispanic, and 6% is evenly divided between other races. Despite the economy’s growth, median family income slightly lags state and national averages as does educational acievement.
Atascosa County has had its fair share of notable musicians. Residents David Lee Garza and Hubert Long are among the musicians who put Poteet, Texas, on the map. Garza’s unique Tejano style has led to numerous musical collaborations with Grammy-winning artists. On the Nashville scene, Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Hubert Long also made this county proud. However, country music legend, “King” George Strait is by far the most well-known of the noted musicians to hail from Atascosa. Outside of the music realm, W. Page Keeton was a renowned lawyer and long-time dean of the University of Texas’ Law School.
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