Austin / Central Texas / Hill Country
Bandera County, Texas
A porch-side guide to the county: the stories that give it a shape, practical local checks, and a few things worth knowing before they surprise you. Every note points to its source.
10 stories · 4 practical · 1 good to know
The practical part
Bandera County offices and deadlines
Appraisal district & tax office →
The Comptroller's official directory for Bandera County: who sets your value and who sends the bill.
Homestead exemption →
File Form 50-114 with the appraisal district. It is free. The regular deadline is April 30, and late filing is allowed for up to two years.
Protest your appraisal →
The usual deadline is May 15, or 30 days after your notice arrives, whichever is later.
Estimate a tax bill →
Model a bill from local rates, the homestead exemption, and the appraisal cap.
Start here
A little of what makes this place itself
Bandera · River park
Bandera City Park Turns Downtown Toward the Medina River
A downtown Bandera errand can turn into river time fast because City Park has fishing, swimming, picnic spots, and BBQ pits.
Lakehills · Lake community
Lakehills Is Bandera County's Medina Lake Corner
Medina Lake reaches into Bandera County, and Lakehills grew around that water after the Upper Medina Lake area developed in the mid-1900s.
Polly · Settlement history
Polly's Chapel Keeps a Tejano Frontier Story in Stone
Polly's Chapel ties a rural Bandera County place to Policarpo Rodriguez, a Texas Ranger, Army scout, guide, and 1858 settler.
All 15 local notes
The full county shelf is mixed so stories and useful checks travel together. Use the filters when you need one kind.
Showing all 15 notes.
- Stories & local character Outdoors Bandera City Park Turns Downtown Toward the Medina River A downtown Bandera errand can turn into river time fast because City Park has fishing, swimming, picnic spots, and BBQ pits. Bandera
- Practical Outdoors Hill Country State Natural Area offers rugged trails and horse camping near Bandera Hill Country State Natural Area is a 5,000-plus-acre primitive park in Bandera County open to hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders, with camping available year-round.
- Stories & local character Outdoors Lakehills Is Bandera County's Medina Lake Corner Medina Lake reaches into Bandera County, and Lakehills grew around that water after the Upper Medina Lake area developed in the mid-1900s. Lakehills
- Practical Money & Taxes Ag valuation can sharply cut property taxes on rural land in Bandera County In Bandera County, land used for farming, ranching, or wildlife management can be taxed on what it produces instead of what it would sell for, which can mean a much lower tax bill on Hill Country acreage.
- Good to know Home & Property Flash flooding on the Medina River is a serious hazard in Bandera The Medina River runs through the town of Bandera and can rise extremely fast during heavy rain. USGS and BCRAGD have built a flood early warning system that lets residents track river levels in real time.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Polly's Chapel Keeps a Tejano Frontier Story in Stone Polly's Chapel ties a rural Bandera County place to Policarpo Rodriguez, a Texas Ranger, Army scout, guide, and 1858 settler. Polly
- Practical Money & Taxes How property taxes and homestead exemptions work in Bandera County Bandera County has a single appraisal district (Bandera CAD) that values property, and a separate tax office that collects taxes, so you deal with different offices for different issues.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Bandera's Courthouse Gives Main Street Its Limestone Anchor The 1890-91 Bandera County Courthouse at 504 Main Street is a locally quarried limestone building that still anchors the county seat. Bandera
- Practical Home & Property Bandera County has its own groundwater district — wells need a permit Most new water wells in Bandera County need a permit from the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District (BCRAGD) before you start drilling.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Frontier Times Museum Grew From One Printer's Collection J. Marvin Hunter's Frontier Times magazine and growing relic collection led to a Bandera museum that opened in 1933. Bandera
- Stories & local character Outdoors Hill Country State Natural Area Still Feels Like Old Ranch Country The primitive feel at Hill Country State Natural Area comes from the old Merrick Bar-O Ranch and the terms of the gift that helped create it.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Medina's Apple Story Started With Dwarf Orchards in the 1980s Medina's Apple Capital nickname has a specific local root: experimental dwarf apple orchards planted in the 1980s. Medina
- Stories & local character Outdoors Lost Maples Puts Bandera County Into the Sabinal Canyon Lost Maples is not just a fall-leaf stop; it is Bandera County's high canyon country on the upper Sabinal River.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Mansfield Park Carries Bandera County's Event Ground Mansfield Park is built for county gatherings, with a rodeo arena, cattle pens, a recreation hall, pavilions, and RV space.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Bandera County grew from a sawmill settlement into a cattle trail hub Bandera County was carved from Bexar County in 1856. It was built first on cypress lumber, then on cattle drives. Polish Catholic immigrants were among its earliest settlers.
Nearby counties