711 Ranch

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the 711 Ranch in Comal County. Now settle in, because this one's got layers. A WWI veteran, a stretch of Texas Hill Country along the Guadalupe River, and a name that comes from a street address in downtown San Antonio.

L.A. Nordan was born in 1896, and by the time his story finds its footing here, he'd already made himself a successful oil and gas producer in south Texas. His wife, Pearl, born that same year of 1896, was right there with him every step of the way.

In 1949, the two of them established what they called the 711 Ranch, eighteen miles northwest of New Braunfels, right along the Guadalupe River. That name, the 711, came straight from Nordan's downtown San Antonio business address. No mystery there, just a man who knew where he worked.

Now the land itself had history before the Nordans ever set foot on it. Starting in the 1850s, this stretch of Comal County had been part of the Fischer Store, Rebecca Creek, and Cranes Mill settlements. The roots go even deeper than that.

Between 1949 and 1966, the Nordans made eight separate transactions to pull together 51 parcels of property, and those parcels were rooted in 35 individual land grants, awarded between 1837 and 1888 to Republic of Texas patriots, railroads, Mexican Texans, and German and Swiss immigrants. Thirty-five grants. You think about all those different hands the land passed through, all those people who staked something on it, and then here come the Nordans assembling it piece by careful piece.

When they were done, the ranch ran from North Cranes Mill Road west all the way to Devils Hollow, one mile south of the river, and stretched northward over seven and a half miles. That is not a small piece of Texas. Nordan was appointed to the Texas State Parks Board in 1951, and the couple gave generously to education, the arts, their church, and medical research.

On the ranch itself, they built something world-class. Prize-winning Santa Gertrudis cattle. Columbia sheep.

A focus on conservation, wildlife preservation, and education. They valued their long-term employees, the ones who knew the land and knew the work. And they took care to preserve nineteenth-century structures and cemeteries located on that sprawling property.

That last part matters. It's one thing to build something new. It's another thing entirely to look at what came before and decide it deserves to stay.

But big ranches and the modern world have a way of finding each other, and not always gently. From 1961 to 1963, almost two thousand acres of the ranch were acquired by the United States government for the Canyon Lake Reservoir. Then in 1999, some 7,180 acres of ranch land was sold, and that land soon became the Mystic Shores subdivision.

Pearl Nordan lived until 1994. L.A. Nordan until 1969.

The land they assembled so deliberately, parcel by parcel, grant by grant, has since moved on into new shapes and new purposes. But the marker stands out there along the Guadalupe, and it remembers what L.A. and Pearl built, and what they gave, and how they added to the rich heritage of that corner of Comal County.

What the marker says

WWI veteran L.A. Nordan (1896-1969) was a successful oil and gas producer in south Texas. In 1949, he and his wife, Pearl (Neugent) Nordan (1896-1994), established the 711 Ranch in Comal County along the Guadalupe River, 18 miles northwest of New Braunfels. The ranch was named after Nordan's downtown San Antonio business address. He was appointed to the Texas State Parks Board in 1951. The Nordans contributed generously to education, the arts, their church, and medical research. Starting in the 1850s, this area was part of the Fischer Store, Rebecca Creek and Cranes Mill settlements. In eight transactions between 1949 and 1966, the Nordans purchased 51 parcels of property rooted in 35 individual land grants awarded between 1837 and 1888 to Republic of Texas patriots, railroads, Mexican Texans, and German and Swiss immigrants. The ranch extended from North Cranes Mill Road west to Devils Hollow and one mile south of the river over 7.5 miles northward. The Nordans created a world-class ranching operation, producing prize-winning Santa Gertrudis cattle and Columbia sheep. They focused on conservation, wildlife preservation and education. They valued their many talented, long-term employees. The ranch owners took care to preserve Ninteenth-century structures and cemeteries located on the sprawling property. From 1961 to 1963, almost 2,000 acres were acquired by the U.S. government for the Canyon Lake Reservoir. In 1999, some 7,180 acres of ranch land was sold and soon became the Mystic Shores subdivision. The contributions of L.A. and Pearl Nordan significantly added to the rich heritage of the area. (2019)