Landmark Inn History | Texas Historical Commission

Water, shade, and wildlife around the Medina River ford supported American Indians, Tejanos, and immigrants from Alsace, Europe, Mexico, and the United States. Empresario Henri Castro chose this site because it was one-day's wagon journey from San Antonio (25 miles) on the freight road to Chihuahua and El Paso. On this site, 27 people established a European-style village named Castroville on September 3, 1844.

In 1849, César and Hannah Monod built a one-story L-shaped family residence, mercantile store, stage stop, post office, and detached kitchen. In 1853, John and Rowena Vance bought out the Monods, and John became postmaster until 1872. During their ownership, the Vances built an expansion to the mercantile, added the second floor to the main structure, and began renting rooms to travelers. They also built a carriage house, guest dining room, and larger hotel kitchen, since razed but represented by their replicated foundations.
George Louis Haass and Laurent Quintle built a gristmill and cotton gin in 1854. Medina River water powered the mill, supplemented by a steam engine. A headrace entrance, located at the dam across the river, supplied water flowing through an underground channel into the mill pit that operated the mill wheel or turbine. Alsatian colonists Joseph and Margarethe Courand bought the mill in 1876, and their son Joseph and his wife Julia Courand purchased the Vance Homestead in 1899. The milling complex processed corn, wheat, cotton, wool, and cypress for shingles. Despite the railroad bypassing Castroville in the 1880s and periodic destructive floods, the mills flourished into the 1900s. Following the death of Julia Courand, Joseph sold the property to Jordan T. Lawler in 1925. Lawler was a Progressive who built public utilities for cities that could not develop their own. Lawler converted the gristmill to electricity generation in 1927.
Inspired by the 1936 Texas Centennial, Jordan’s sister Ruth Lawler began restoring the buildings. She renamed the hotel “Landmark Inn” in 1942. Ruth, her sister Genevieve Lawler, Genevieve’s partner Mary Ruth Lionberger, and many other women planned the preservation of the site and Castroville. Since 1944, Landmark Inn has been recognized for its historic preservation accomplishments. In 1952, editors of the two largest newspapers in Alsace stayed at Landmark Inn to interview Castroville’s Alsatian-first-language speakers to further preserve the language.
On March 11, 1974, Ruth Lawler donated the site to the State of Texas, retaining life tenancy until her death in 1990. Today the site is a reminder of settlement, enterprise, and preservation.