- City:
- Santa Anna, TX
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, Community Centers
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, National Youth Administration (NYA)
- Started:
- 1937
- Completed:
- 1938
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
Between 1937 and 1938, the National Youth Administration (NYA) built a stone structure on the east side of Santa Anna, Texas for a Texas Ranger memorial museum and reunion hall. Funded by the citizens of Santa Anna, the complex was dedicated at a Texas Ranger reunion in August 1939.
Texas Rangers operated in the Santa Anna area as early as the 1870s, with many of the Rangers settling in the area after their term of service ended. Former Rangers
founded the Texas Ex-Rangers Association and held annual reunions around the state. Santa Anna hosted a reunion in 1935 and became a permanent location for the reunions with the completion of the hall by the NYA. The Rangers held their last reunion in 1960, and the hall fell into disrepair. In 1975, then Sheriff H.F. Fenton
bought the property and renovated the hall as a motel adding an additional building with rooms behind the old hall. New owners renovated the building again in 2015, and the reunion hall now serves as a clubhouse and breakfast area for the motel.
Source notes
Plaque on building.
Texas Ranger Motel and RV Park promotional pamphlet.
Site originally submitted by Larry Moore on October 12, 2019.
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