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About Helotes, Texas
Written by Cynthia Leal Massey   
Helotes was incorporated as a city in 1981; however, the town, whose name derives from the Spanish word elotes, or corn-on-the-cob, has been on Texas maps since the nineteenth century. The term elotes, or Helotes, has been used since the early 1700s, when it was mentioned in a Spanish report to the governor of the region, describing the area where Apaches scalped a Spaniard who had been looking for stray horses. Lipan Apaches, Tonkawas and Comanches camped in the ImageHelotes hills: the Lipans grew corn along the fertile banks of Helotes Creek before the Comanches’ frequent raids made such agricultural activities virtually impossible.

Settled in the 1850s by European and Latin immigrants primarily from Germany and Mexico, Helotes has a long history as an identifiable town. After the establishment of the Helotes Post Office in 1873, Helotes was put on county maps. Along with the post office, German immigrant Carl Mueller and his wife Amalie ran the Helotes Stagecoach Inn. The old Mueller homestead is located in Helotes Ranch Acres and is now a private residence.

The pioneer whose land encompassed what is now Old Town Helotes was Scottish immigrant and surgeon Dr. George F. Marnoch who built a two-and-a-half story limestone house on Scenic Loop Road in 1858. After his death, his son Dr. Gabriel Marnoch, a renowned naturalist and the town doctor, inherited the Marnoch Mansion (which still stands today and is a privately owned residence) and married a local girl, Carmel Trevińo. Marnoch heirs sold a portion of the family land that became downtown Helotes to Swiss American Arnold Gugger, who in 1881, built a two-story limestone home (now the Helotes Bicycle Shop) for his bride Amelia “Mollie” Benke. He also built a General Store, now the Old Town Grill, and a small blacksmith shop (no longer standing). These were the first downtown buildings.

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Gugger Homestead
Sixteen miles from San Antonio, Helotes remained a farming community for decades and was a frequent site of cattle drives between San Antonio and Bandera in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As the 20th century commenced, new downtown landowner Bert Hileman added a dance hall and boarding house (now a sporting goods store and a retail boutique). In the 1920s, James and Kate Riggs purchased the downtown property from Hileman and added a store (now a surveying company) and a gas station/garage (now an antique store).

In the early 1920s, contractor and philanthropist Ross Barham came to Helotes with his bride, Matilda, who served as Helotes postmistress in the 1950s and early 1960s. Barham, a community leader for 60 years, purchased land throughout Helotes (much of it from Marnoch’s widow) and built several homes. Two of Barham’s 1920s-era rock homes, reminiscent of the quaint cottages in Grey Forest’s Scenic Loop Playground, are downtown on the north side of Helotes Creek. One of the cottages is located in the village of the Shops at Old Town Helotes. The other, a flat roofed rock cottage, is across the street.

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Riggs Grocery Store
In 1942, John T. Floore came to town and leased James Riggs’ Red & White Grocery Store. In 1946, Floore purchased property in downtown Helotes and opened his own “country store,” a music venue, which became the world-renowned John T. Floore Country Store, today a Texas Historic Landmark listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.

In early May 1966, the first Helotes Cornyval was held in downtown Helotes. The spring festival, whose money proceeds funded local nonprofits, was so popular it became an annual event. It is now held over a four-day period the first weekend in May at the Helotes Festival Association Cornyval Grounds on Leslie Road, bringing an average of 30,000 people to Helotes over the long weekend. The festival includes carnival rides, a PRCA rodeo, dances and lots of food, including plenty of roasted corn-on-the-cob.

Helotes remained primarily rural until the late 20th century, when the sale of farmland to developers created a housing boom. By the end of the 1990s, Helotes’s population had tripled, from 1,507 to 4,295. Along with the population growth came a new school: In 1998, Sandra Day O’Connor High School opened for business in Helotes. Census estimates in 2005 indicated a population of more than 6,000. By the 2010 census, it is estimated that more than 10,000 will be living in Helotes.

Despite its growing population, Helotes retains a unique small town appeal. Renowned as much for its citizen’s independent spirit, as for its lush hill country landscape, Helotes is the quintessential Texas town.

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Where the Texas Hill Country Begins

© Cynthia Leal. Massey. All rights reserved. Cynthia Leal Massey is the author of Helotes: Where the Texas Hill Country Begins, the first comprehensive book about the history of Helotes, published February 1, 2008.  Softcover 8.5" x 11"  * 262 pages, with photos, illustrations, maps, endnotes, appendix, bibloiography and index * Nonfiction history * Retail price: $29.95 * Published by Old American Publishing, 14027 Memorial Drive #159, Houston, TX  77079, www.alpub.us * Wholesale orders through the publisher * Email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for retail order information * For more information, visit cynthialealmassey.com.