BANDERA WAS ONCE KNOWN AS THE SWITZERLAND OF TEXAS:

MUSEUM DIRECTOR GIVES HISTORY OF TOURISM PRESENTATION 

            Rebecca Norton, Executive Director of the Frontier Times Museum, will present a slide show talk on Thursday, July 3rd. Norton’s presentation, The Switzerland of Texas, will explore early tourism in Bandera County and how the community has changed from being a primarily agricultural community to a tourist destination. The presentation will begin at 5:30 pm and is free and open to the public. Norton is proposing the founder of the museum, J. Marvin Hunter, may have been among the first to see the potential of Bandera County as a tourist mecca. He used his Bandera New Era and his magazine, the Frontier Times, to proclaim how beautiful and beneficial a visit to Bandera would be for one’s health and spiritual well-being.  When economic hardships fell on local ranchers, many looked to open their ranches as guest ranches, also known as dude ranches. The ranch owners marketed Bandera as the Cowboy Capital of the World and visitors began to flock to Bandera to stay on a ranch, wear cowboy and cowgirl clothing, ride horses and enjoy Bandera’s western flair.   

The presentation is part of the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit, Crossroads: Changes in Rural America that is on display in the cafeteria at the Bandera Middle School. The presentation will take place on the cafeteria’s stage.  The Bandera Middle School is located at 1005 Cherry Street in Bandera, Texas.