Kincaid Ranch and Hotel

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Kincaid Ranch and Hotel. Now settle in, because this is a story about a man who built something that outlasted him, and a family that made sure the world knew it. William Davis Kincaid learned the cattle business as a young man out in West Texas.

That's where you learn it right, or you learn it the hard way, and Kincaid learned it right. By 1905, he had a plan, and he moved his family to land he'd purchased southeast of Uvalde, spread across both Uvalde and Zavala Counties. That was the Kincaid Ranch taking root.

And Kincaid wasn't a man who stopped at ranching. Before his death in 1914, he had served as President of the Uvalde National Bank and sat on the Uvalde School Board. A man with range in more ways than one.

Now here's where the story takes a turn that'll stay with you. Kincaid was gone, but his family wasn't finished honoring what he'd built. In 1927, his wife and children raised the Kincaid Hotel at the intersection of North and Getty Streets in Uvalde.

Built it in his honor. And that hotel, The Kincaid as folks called it, became something. During the ranching heyday of that whole area, it was the business hub and the social center of Uvalde.

Ranchers riding in from Texas and surrounding states, they didn't just pass through. They made The Kincaid their headquarters. A man builds a ranch.

His family builds a monument. And for a good long while, every deal struck and every handshake made in that country had The Kincaid somewhere in the story.

What the marker says

William Davis Kincaid, founder of the Kincaid Ranch, learned the cattle business as a young man in West Texas. In 1905 Kincaid brought his family to land he purchased southeast of Uvalde, in Uvalde and Zavala Counties. Before his death in 1914, Kincaid served as President of the Unvalde National Bank and the Uvalde School Board. In 1927, his wife and children built the Kincaid Hotel at the intersection of North and Getty Streets in Uvalde in his honor. During the area's ranching heyday, the hotel served as the business hub and social center of the Uvalde area, and ranchers from Texas and surrounding states often made "The Kincaid" their area headquarters. (2008)