An Old Fort Became Part of Rio Grande City's School Campus

A gray stone marker at Lee Circle fixes the opening day: October 26, 1848. Two U.S. Army companies reached Davis Landing as Rio Grande City was taking shape nearby.

The post's names changed with time: Post at Davis Landing, Camp Ringgold, and Ringgold Barracks. It became Fort Ringgold in 1878.

The Army came and went in long stretches. After the Civil War, workers raised brick barracks, officers' quarters, a hospital, and a bakery around a palm-lined parade ground. Troop D of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry, a Black cavalry unit, served at the fort in 1899. Much of the brick fort still stands.

The Army declared Fort Ringgold surplus in 1944. Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District bought the property in 1949. The historic district now lies on the school grounds, and the old marker remains on the campus. In Rio Grande City, the fort did not fade behind a fence; it became part of the place where generations went to school.