A Piece of Texas Since 1904
Stowers Ranch was established in 1904 by prominent Texas merchant and rancher George Arthur Stowers. Born in Georgia in 1867, Stowers worked in various mercantile enterprises before moving to Birmingham, Alabama at age 17 and opening his own furniture store.
Six years later, Stowers was operating 10 stores in 3 states and relocated his growing business to San Antonio, where by 1910 he had built one of the city’s first skyscrapers.
The crown jewel of the Hill Country
Shortly after moving to Texas, Stowers began assembling tracts of ranch land, eventually owning more than 30,000 acres in Bexar and Kerr Counties.
Today’s 11,800-acre Stowers Ranch, located at the headwaters of the North Fork of the Guadalupe River, was the heart of those holdings. Enhanced by over two miles of riverfront and a large beautiful natural lake, the Ranch provides extraordinary habitat for wildlife.
It has been described as “the jewel in the crown of Texas Hill Country ranches.”
Recognized for the quality of his Herford cattle, Stowers maintained his Kerr County ranch for mother cows and drove the steers and bulls to the San Antonio ranch for finishing and sale.
Sheep and goats, on the ranch for 40 years, were removed in the 1960's with the recognition that their browsing and grazing were overly competitive with wildlife. Normally, commercial Angus/Brangus cows are run and bred to Charolais bulls.
A visionary who loved to hunt, Stowers operated this property as a game management area and hunting preserve as well as a cattle ranch. He erected a deer proof perimeter fence more than 100 years ago and imported elk from Colorado.
Commencing in the 1960's other highly desirable game animals with proven adaptability to this area of the Texas Hill Country were introduced on the Ranch.
Enlightened management of pastures, livestock, and wildlife has ensured the development of healthy whitetail deer and exotic game populations and a broad diversity of plant and animal life.
Continuing the tradition
Stowers Ranch today presents a landscape reminiscent of the Texas Hill Country in the early 1800’s. This aesthetically pleasing blend of open grasslands and wooded areas has been achieved by careful management of the stocking rate and grazing practices and intensive efforts to control the incursion of ashe juniper (cedar).
Prescribed burning, coupled with use of chain saws and a skid-steer with hydraulic shears, is proving a more effective tool than the ax cutting and chaining of the past.
Stowers Ranch is now owned and managed by the grandson and great-grandchildren of the founder. We have every intention of perpetuating his commitment to land and wildlife conservation that has been honored for over 100 years.
