DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's a good one. You're rolling along Babcock Road in Bexar County, and if the land could talk, it might just tell you about cold glass bottles, Jersey cows on a hill, and a family name that looms large in Texas history. This is the story of Sunshine Ranch.
In 1905, a man named Willie Maverick gave 173 acres of land along Babcock Road to his nephew Albert and Albert's wife Jane — Jane Maverick, born a Maury. Now Jane is the one who named it. She called it Sunshine Ranch, and that name stuck for fifty years.
Up on the hill along what became Sunshine Ranch Road, Albert and Jane built themselves a home. Not just any home — it was designed by noted architect Alfred Giles, and the family knew it simply as the Big House. Albert and Jane went on to have eleven children.
Eleven. The eighth of those children was a boy named James Slayden Maverick — Jim, to the people who knew him. After Jim graduated from the University of Wisconsin, he came back to that hill and started building something.
He amassed a small herd of purebred Jersey and Holstein cattle, and in 1917 he opened the Sunshine Dairy. He called his product Sunshine Certified Milk, and he was particular about it. Cleanliness was the word Jim Maverick stressed, and the dairy didn't just sell plain milk.
The lineup included milk from each of the herds, heavy cream, cottage cheese, and two rarer products — butter cream and soft curd milk. The company sold its goods right there at the ranch and by truck along delivery routes across the area. Borden's, Dairyland, and Knowlton Creameries all delivered Sunshine Certified Milk alongside their own.
And here's a detail worth savoring: Joske's Department Stores used that milk and cream to make ice cream in their restaurants. Ice cream at the department store, made from a dairy on a hill on Babcock Road. The ranch itself was a small world.
There were eleven houses for employees, most of whom were of Mexican descent, and many Maverick family members lived close by. Visitors were actively encouraged to come out — city dwellers from nearby San Antonio were welcome to come see what a working rural dairy farm actually looked like. For the first half of the twentieth century, Sunshine Ranch was a significant institution in this part of Texas.
Then 1955 arrived. The City of San Antonio annexed the property. Jim Maverick auctioned off the herd, sold the land, and watched it get redeveloped as a subdivision.
He then retired with his wife Hazel. Fifty years of milk and mornings on that hill, and then it was gone — folded into the spreading city the way so many places like it have been. The marker says Sunshine Ranch represents a rural experience that has all but disappeared from Texas.
Standing here now, looking at what surrounds you, it's hard to argue with that.
What the marker says
SUNSHINE RANCH FOR 50 YEARS, THIS WAS THE LOCATION OF THE SUNSHINE RANCH, WHICH WAS PARTICULARLY KNOWN FOR ITS MILK PRODUCTION BUSINESS. IN 1905, WILLIE MAVERICK GAVE 173 ACRES OF LAND ALONG BABCOCK ROAD TO ALBERT (HIS NEPHEW) AND JANE (MAURY) MAVERICK. JANE NAMED THE PROPERTY SUNSHINE RANCH AND THEY BUILT A HOME DESIGNED BY NOTED ARCHITECT ALFRED GILES ATOP THE HILL ON SUNSHINE RANCH ROAD. IT WAS ALSO KNOWN AS THE “BIG HOUSE.” JAMES SLAYDEN (JIM) MAVERICK, THE EIGHTH OF ALBERT AND JANE’S ELEVEN CHILDREN, AMASSED A SMALL HERD OF PUREBRED JERSEY AND HOLSTEIN CATTLE AFTER GRADUATING FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. IN 1917, HE OPENED THE SUNSHINE DAIRY, SELLING WHAT HE CALLED SUNSHINE CERTIFIED MILK. MAVERICK STRESSED CLEANLINESS IN HIS MILK PRODUCTS, WHICH INCLUDED MILK FROM EACH OF THE HERDS, HEAVY CREAM, COTTAGE CHEESE, AND TWO RARER PRODUCTS: BUTTER CREAM AND SOFT CURD MILK. THE COMPANY OFFERED ITS PRODUCTS AT THE RANCH AND BY TRUCK THROUGH AREA DELIVERY ROUTES; BORDEN’S, DAIRYLAND AND KNOWLTON CREAMERIES ALSO DELIVERED SUNSHINE CERTIFIED MILK. JOSKE’S DEPARTMENT STORES USED THE MILK AND CREAM TO MAKE ICE CREAM IN THEIR RESTAURANTS. SUNSHINE RANCH INCLUDED ELEVEN HOUSES FOR EMPLOYEES, MOST OF WHICH WERE OF MEXICAN DESCENT. MANY MAVERICK FAMILY MEMBERS LIVED NEARBY. VISITORS WERE ENCOURAGED AT THE RANCH, WHERE NEARBY CITY DWELLERS COULD VISIT THE RURAL DAIRY FARM. IN 1955, THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO ANNEXED THE PROPERTY. MAVERICK AUCTIONED OFF THE HERD AND SOLD THE PROPERTY, WHICH WAS REDEVELOPED AS A SUBDIVISION. HE THEN RETIRED WITH HIS WIFE, HAZEL. SUNSHINE RANCH WAS A SIGNIFICANT AREA INSTITUTION IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY, AND REPRESENTS A RURAL EXPERIENCE THAT HAS ALL BUT DISAPPEARED FROM TEXAS. (2010)