San Saba, Texas

San Saba is the seat of San Saba County, a town of about 3,100 people (2020 census) on the San Saba River, at 1,207 feet. It sits on US 190 between Lampasas and Brady, about 35 miles north of Llano up Highway 16, and calls itself the Pecan Capital of the World. It is the kind of county seat the Hill Country used to be full of: a courthouse square, pecan orchards running down to the river, and a spring-fed park in the middle of town.

The History

The name is older than the town. Spaniards picked a mission site on the river on a Holy Saturday — Santo Sabado — in 1755, and the San Saba Mission was established in 1757; the river, the county and the town all took the name. The town itself was settled in 1854. San Saba County was created from Bexar County on February 1, 1856, and a special election that July made San Saba the county seat.

The late 1800s brought a stretch of vigilante violence remembered as the 'Mob Rule' era, ended when Texas Rangers were sent in. In July 1938 the San Saba River rose in the greatest flood on its record, cutting off everyone north of the river, and the drought of 1953 to 1956 was the hardest economic blow the county ever took.

What San Saba Is Known For

Pecans. They are native here and have been a cash crop since as early as 1857. E. E. Risien, an Englishman who arrived in the 1870s, spent his life improving the native nuts, founded a pecan nursery where the San Saba meets the Colorado, and worked from a single tree — the Mother Pecan — that gave rise to varieties such as San Saba Improved. His work is the reason for the town's title.

The courthouse. Completed in 1911 to a design by Walter W. Chamberlin, it is Classical Revival in red pressed brick and sandstone, with a clock face on each side of the tower and the motto 'From the People to the People' in the pediments. Pecan trees shade the square.

Water. Mill Pond Park, in town, is fed by springs — about seven million gallons a day pass through it — and Gorman Falls, a 70-foot spring-fed waterfall at Colorado Bend State Park, is the big draw in the county.

Outdoor & Nature

Colorado Bend State Park, on the San Saba–Lampasas county line near the hamlet of Bend, has more than 35 miles of hike and bike trails, the Colorado River for fishing and paddling, Spicewood Springs, caves (underground tours need a reservation), and the roughly three-mile round-trip trail to Gorman Falls over rough, rocky ground. The park often fills, so reserve a day pass before you go.

Closer in, Mill Pond Park is 71 acres of spring-fed ponds, a small waterfall, picnic grounds and walking trails, with the county historical museum on the grounds. North of town on gravel county roads, the Regency Suspension Bridge — a one-lane, wooden-decked span from 1939 — still crosses the Colorado. And on China Creek Road stands the Wedding Oak, where four couples married on Christmas Eve 1911.

Rivers here rise fast after heavy rain and low crossings go under first. Check the live river gauges and park guidance before you swim, paddle or drive a low-water crossing, and children should wear life jackets.

Practical Information

Getting there: From Austin, about 105 miles northwest — roughly two hours by US 183 and US 190, or by way of Llano and Highway 16. From Llano, 35 miles north on Highway 16. Lampasas is about half an hour east and Brady about half an hour west on US 190.

Best time to visit: Fall, for the pecan harvest and mild weather; spring, for wildflowers and the falls at their fullest. Summer is hot, and the park is busiest on summer weekends.

The Surrounding Area

San Saba is the northern edge of Roy’s country: Llano is 35 miles south on Highway 16, with Castell and Mason beyond it on the Llano River.

Why It Matters for the Hill Country

San Saba is what people mean when they ask for the Hill Country before the crowds: a working county seat that makes its living from pecans and ranching, with a waterfall in the county most visitors have never heard of. Locals send people here for exactly that: it is still very Texas, and a great deal less crowded.