After 30 years of fighting off attempts to develop it, the Maverick Ranch-Fromme Farm — a 329-acre property in northwest Bexar County — will now be protected in perpetuity.
Over the weekend, the Texas Land Conservancy announced its acquisition of the historic property, which has withstood four eminent domain fights since the late 1980s. It will now be fully protected under a conservation easement, a voluntary legal agreement that permanently limits the uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values.
The property’s owners, the three Fenstermaker sisters, have worked with conservation groups such as TLC and the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance for more than 30 years to prevent their land from being transected by a major highway and more recently from several government projects they were concerned would affect the springs on their land.
The TLC’s acquisition of the property is a “huge win” for its protection, said Annalisa Peace, executive director of GEAA.
“I know of no one else who has demonstrated more commitment to protecting their family’s ranching heritage; their efforts have been truly heroic,” Peace said of the Fenstermaker sisters: Mary, Anne (or “Bebe”) and Martha. “I hope that the permanent protections afforded by their agreement with the TLC will finally put an end to any more ill-formed plans to encroach on or compromise this historic site.”
The property, located just south of Boerne, has both historical significance and ecological benefits, Peace said.
According to TLC’s website, Maverick Ranch and Fromme Farm were established in the late 1860s by Ernst Hermann and Emma Altgelt, and by Daniel Fromme, respectively. The property quickly became a hub for cattle drives moving north, survived several Native American raids in the late 19th century and hosted the area’s first school in the early 20th century. In 1979, Maverick Ranch-Fromme Farm earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
In recent years, the property has been an operating cattle ranch tended to by the three sisters. The sisters are direct descendants of Samuel Augustus Maverick — the famous Texas lawyer and politician who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836 and later supposedly inspired the term “maverick.”
The property has also served as a common sighting ground for both the golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo, two songbird species listed as endangered. Its location in northwestern Bexar County near the Edwards Aquifer Contributing Zone and near the Balcones Fault Zone also makes it pivotal to the hydrology of the region, Peace said. This fault zone acts as a pathway for rainwater to permeate the ground and recharge the Trinity and Edwards Aquifers that converge near the property, according to TLC’s website.
“I’m happy they finally got it protected,” Peace said. “It’s a historic ranch out there on the contributing zone, and since it has natural springs, we’d like to see those protected.”
