Center Point, Texas

What It's Known For

Center Point is known for its cemetery. The Center Point Cemetery, founded in 1872, holds more than 1,450 graves. Among them are at least thirty-two documented former Texas Rangers — likely closer to forty, according to local historians. The cemetery's historical marker, placed in 1986, names thirty-two; subsequent research has identified additional Rangers whose graves were unmarked or whose service records were incomplete.

This is not a tourist attraction. It is a working cemetery where people are still buried. But it is a genuine historical site, and the concentration of Ranger graves is unmatched anywhere in Texas.

History and Heritage

The area was settled in the early 1850s by families moving up the Guadalupe valley. In 1858, Dr. Charles Ganahl arrived and named the community Zanzenberg, after his ancestral home in Austria. A post office opened on November 25, 1859, with Ganahl as postmaster. In 1872, postmaster Dr. G.W. Harwell renamed it Center Point — the community sat roughly halfway between Bandera and Fredericksburg, and halfway between Kerrville and Comfort.

Center Point was briefly more substantial than it is today. By the 1880s it had a school, churches, a cotton gin, and regular stagecoach service. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway passed through in 1887, bringing a depot and modest commercial activity. Kerr County's first sawmill was built nearby in 1854, on Verde Creek. An agricultural and livestock fair ran from 1898, complete with a grandstand and racetrack.

The town never incorporated and never grew. By the mid-twentieth century, it had settled into the quiet crossroads it remains today — a place people drive through on their way between Kerrville and Comfort, usually without stopping.

The Rangers

The concentration of Texas Rangers in Center Point Cemetery is not accidental. In the decades after the Civil War, the upper Guadalupe valley was a popular retirement destination for former Rangers. The mild climate, the cheap land, the isolation from cities, and the presence of other former lawmen created a community of retired frontier veterans. They lived out their lives on small ranches, and when they died, they were buried in the local cemetery.

George Moore, who died in 1886, was the first Ranger buried at Center Point. Others followed through the 1890s, 1900s, and into the twentieth century. The historical marker names thirty-two; the Center Point Historical Park's research suggests the true number may be closer to forty. A Texas Ranger Day event has been held at the cemetery, with a memorial bell toll and roll call honoring the buried Rangers.

This is a heritage site, not a curiosity. Treat it accordingly.

Center Point Historical Park

The Center Point Historical Park preserves several structures related to the community's history. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad depot has been relocated to the park grounds. In 2023, a Texas Ranger Cabin was dedicated during the Texas Ranger Bicentennial. The park is maintained by volunteers and is open to visitors.

The Land and the River

Center Point sits on the Guadalupe River between Kerrville and Comfort. The river here is calmer than it is upstream near Hunt — the valley is wider, the gradient is gentler, and the terrain is less canyon-like. But the same Flash Flood Alley rules apply: steep rocky terrain upstream means the river can rise fast, even when it is not raining locally. Standard caution applies.

Why It Matters

Center Point is not a destination. It is a place you learn about and then visit with purpose — specifically, to see the cemetery and the historical park. The Ranger graves are the reason this community appears in any guide at all. ## The Community Today

Center Point today is a place you can drive through without realizing you have been there. There is no traffic light, no commercial strip, no sign announcing arrival. The post office still operates (ZIP 78010). A volunteer fire department serves the area. A few small businesses — a feed store, a mechanic — operate along TX-27. The school closed decades ago; children attend Comfort or Kerrville ISD.

What remains is the cemetery, the historical park, and the quiet persistence of a community that never needed to be anything more than what it is. The families who live here are ranchers, retirees, and people who prefer to be left alone. That is not a failing. It is a choice, and it has kept Center Point intact while other communities along the highway have been absorbed into the suburban sprawl of larger towns.

The Sawmill and Early Industry

Kerr County's first sawmill was built near Center Point in 1854, on Verde Creek. The cypress and live oak timber along the creek provided lumber for the growing settlements upstream and downstream. By the 1880s, cotton was being grown in the river bottoms and ginned locally. A livestock fair ran from 1898, with a grandstand and racetrack that drew families from across the county. None of these enterprises survived into the twentieth century — the land was better suited to ranching than farming, and the railroad made it easier to buy lumber from East Texas than to mill it locally.

More former Texas Rangers chose to spend their last years here than anywhere else in the state. That fact alone makes it worth knowing about, even if there is nothing else to do once you have paid your respects.

Getting There

Center Point is on TX-27 (also called SH 27 or Junction Highway) between Kerrville and Comfort. From Kerrville, drive east on TX-27 for about eight miles. The cemetery is on the south side of the highway, marked by a Texas Historical Commission marker. The historical park is nearby. There is no downtown to navigate — the community is dispersed along the highway and the surrounding roads.

If you are driving between Kerrville and Comfort (or continuing to I-10), Center Point is a brief stop. The cemetery and park together take thirty to sixty minutes if you read the markers and walk the grounds. There is nowhere to eat or buy supplies in Center Point itself.