The Town that almost was

Near Falls City, Karnes County, across the river, up on the high ground there are some ruins, some stones standing one on another, intergrown with mesquite and thorny brush. A few walls, some fire places, two distinct building foundations and walls still stand.

One can visit the site, and stand there and feel the majesty of what may have been. The site I'm speaking of is what is referred to in the local area as Skyles Mansion.

Mr. Skyles was an intrepuneur of early Karnes County. Before the War Between the States, he procured the land on the South side of the San Antonio River, with the idea of establishing a town. He had a plat laid out, and started building a grist mill, and his home.

Today the remnants of the falls for the mill are still there, if you can locate them, and the remains of his mansion are still standing. The plan fell apart, when the War Between the States started, his slave labor was released and the dream fell apart.

Skyles Mansion as it stands today, taken from the dirt road adjacent to the site, it is in very poor repair, and extremely dangerous to go into. Get permissions prior to entering the area.

The site has been fortunate in some respects, it still stands, it still has an underground cistern to hold water, and the basement and walls of the 'slave quarters' still stand, the main house, a few yards away can distinguish the floorplans. There has been excavating close to the buildings for the Calache there, used for the dirt roads in the area, and at one time as a building block. The excavation was stopped just yards from the buildings and a sudden drop is there, for the careless person.

Stories abound about the mansion, to include ghost stories, of alleged abused and killed slaves, though none can be validated.

The site is a few miles off highway 181 in Karnes County, near Falls City, the trip there takes one down a nostalgia highway of rural America, as shown below.

Yes, these bridges still exist, wood and metal, crossing the San Antonio River on the way to Skyles Mansion, the drop is about 20+ feet to the water below. If you grew up in the rural America in the 50's and 60's this will bring back many memories.