Helotes, Texas

Everything Helotes is known for

6 songs mention this city 1 artist from here

Music in Helotes

Songs About Helotes

Do You Love Texas?
Shooter Jennings
97%
"to Floore's Country Store"
Screw You, We’re From Texas
Josh Abbott Band
96%
"And John T's Country Store"
Here I Come
John Baumann
93%
"Looking up at pictures of John T's and Gruene Hall"
Screw You, We’re From Texas
Ray Wylie Hubbard
92%
"And John T's Country Store"
all my ex's live in texas
george strait
10%
Shotgun Willie
Willie Nelson
2%
"Now, John T. Floores was a-working for the Ku Klux Klan"

Artists From Helotes

M
Mario Flores
country Pop: 22

Rivers & Roads in Song near Helotes

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Helotes.

Interstate 10 23 songs US Route 90 6 songs Interstate 35 27 songs Chisholm Trail 4 songs Guadalupe River 9 songs

History of Helotes

Helotes, TX RoadyGoat

Helotes, perched a bit higher than San Antonio at over 1,100 feet, always felt different. You can feel it in the air, a little cooler, a little quieter. It's named for 'elotes,' Spanish for corn, a reminder that this land has long fed people. Even now, with so many folks commuting down Bandera Road to San Antonio for work, Helotes holds onto its small-town charm. Ashe juniper and live oaks still dot the landscape, a constant presence through all the changes. The stories they tell! Whispers of a stagecoach robbery, gold buried somewhere along Helotes Creek—legends like that cling to the land. It's a relatively recent incorporation, only since 1964, but the area has been a crossroads for much longer. Leon Creek, a tributary feeding into the San Antonio River, has always been a lifeline. That really put Helotes on the map.

Helotes, TX RoadyGoat

Helotes feels different from San Antonio, even though the city's right next door. Up here, almost twelve hundred feet above sea level, among the Ashe juniper and live oaks along Bandera Road, you get a sense of the old Texas. It's a place where folks still remember when Helotes was mostly farmland, and the biggest excitement was whether the Northwest Little League team would make a run for the title. And of course, there’s always the whisper of that old legend about the stagecoach robbery, and the gold still buried somewhere near Helotes Creek. It's funny who all ends up calling this place home. You've got folks who commute into San Antonio every day, working all sorts of jobs.

Helotes, TX RoadyGoat

Helotes has always felt like an island of calm just outside the bustling city of San Antonio. With its higher elevation and the familiar sight of Ashe juniper dotting the hillsides, it's easy to forget you're so close to a major metropolitan area. But recently, that feeling of separation has been challenged as growth in San Antonio continues its relentless march outwards, bringing with it the inevitable pressure on Helotes' small-town identity. The debate around development along Bandera Road, the main artery through town, has really brought this to the forefront. While some welcome the new businesses and increased property values, others worry about the traffic, the loss of that relaxed atmosphere, and the potential impact on the Leon Creek watershed.

Floore Country Store

1946

Floore Country Store (also called Floore's Country Store or John T. Floore Country Store), located at 14492 Old Bandera Road in Helotes, was opened in 1946 by entrepreneur John T. Floore. Floore left his job as manager of the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio and moved to Helotes where he bought land and started the Floore subdivision by the early 1940s. Soon after, Floore built a grocery store in order to cater to the heavy travel between San Antonio and Bandera. In addition to the store Floore constructed a dance hall which included what Floore billed as "the largest patio in the Southwest." The outdoor patio holds up to 2,000 people, and the indoor venue can accommodate 400. By the 1950s Floore's Store began to attract country music notables such as Ray Price, Bob Wills , Johnny Cash, and Ernest Tubb . Then in the 1960s Floore began his association with a young Willie Nelson, with whom he developed a personal and professional relationship that would last for decades. Floore, who established a partnership with the Willie Nelson Music Company, stipulated that Nelson play at the Store once a month without performing anywhere else in the immediate area. For years Nelson and Floore continued their close relationship, and Nelson even wrote one of his best-known songs, "Shotgun Willie," as a tribute to Floore's entrepreneurial skills. In 1973 Floore sold the Store to his cook, Joe Algueseva, just two years before John Floore died in 1975. Under the management of Algueseva and his wife, Estella, the Store continued to book a variety of live music acts, and it also developed a reputation for excellent homemade tamales and bread. The Alguesevas retired in 1990 and sold the Store to Steve Laughlin, a Helotes native who, like Floore, had worked at the Majestic Theatre. Laughlin ran the Store for twelve years before it was bought by a group of San Antonio investors under the direction of Mark McKinney. The new investors made some minor alterations to the Store but kept the essential look intact. They replaced the roof, repaired wiring, installed central air-conditioning and heat, and bought new outdoor furniture, although they did not change the inside décor. The autographed photos that line the walls, alongside cowboy hats, dusty boots, and farm tools, all were left in their original places. The San Antonio investors also expanded the weekday hours of the Store by opening the Honky Tonk Café which offered both lunch and dinner. Dances were still held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with Sundays remaining a free Family Night. Over the years a number of well-known musicians, including Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Lyle Lovett, Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert Earl Keen, Hal Ketchum, George Jones , and Tammy Wynette, have performed at Floore's. Such popular bands as Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, the Texas Tornados , and Asleep at the Wheel have played there as well. Other celebrities, including Patrick Swayze , Meg Ryan, and former President George Herbert Walker Bush, all have visited Floore's. In the 1990s part of the movie 8 Seconds (1994) starring Luke Perry was filmed at the Store's bar. In 2006 Floore Country Store received a Texas Historical Marker.

Tsha Handbook →

Marnoch Homestead

1858

Scottish surgeon Dr. George Frederick Marnoch (1802-1870) purchased more than 1500 acres at this site in the fall of 1858. In January 1859, Marnoch commissioned famed San Antonio architect and builder John M. Fries to construct this house near Helotes Creek. Previously, Fries had designed the Menger Hotel and City Market House in San Antonio. Dr. Marnoch and his wife Elizabeth (Wilson) reared six children. Besides practicing medicine in the Helotes area, Dr. Marnoch also raised livestock. Upon his death, the Marnoch property passed to his children. George Marnoch’s eldest son, Gabriel Wilson Marnoch (1838-1920), was also closely associated with the homestead. Gabriel, like his father, practiced medicine, and was a noted naturalist and rancher. He was a founding member of the Scientific Society of San Antonio, an early observer of the Balcones Escarpment, and also discovered two amphibian and two reptile species in the Helotes Hills. Gabriel served as postmaster of Helotes from 1904 until 1919. The homestead remained in the Marnoch family until 1947. The two-story rectangular plan house is of rough coursed limestone construction, with blocks about eighteen inches thick, and a hipped roof with gabled dormers and stone chimneys. Unique features include two half-octagon bay towers on each side of the house. Both floors contain a central hall and stairwell flanked by single rooms. Additional details include keystone arches and stone lintels above doors and windows, and pine floors and interior woodwork. In 1914, an existing stone kitchen behind the house was dismantled and rebuilt as a rear addition with the original materials.

Historical Marker →

Madla, Frank Lloyd, Jr.

1972

Frank Lloyd Madla, Jr., state legislator and teacher, was born on January 23, 1937, to Frank Madla, Sr., and Epigmenia (Alcala) Madla, in Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, but he grew up in Helotes, Texas, a community on the outskirts of San Antonio. During his childhood, Madla worked on the family farm in the area and attended rural schools where, as he recalled in a 2003 interview, “Hispanics were not looked upon very well.” Drought during the 1950s forced his father to seek work in San Antonio, where he found employment at Kelly Air Force Base . Young Frank commuted from Helotes to San Antonio to attend Central Catholic High School. He graduated in 1955. Not wanting to spend his life as a farmer, Madla attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and majored in political science. Part of his studies required his work in area political campaigns, and the experience inspired his interest in politics. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1959, and in 1963 he was awarded a master’s degree in government. Driven by a desire to give back to his community, Madla began a teaching career in San Antonio soon after graduating from St. Mary’s University. He taught at Escobar Junior High School in the Edgewood Independent School District until 1962 and then taught in the Northside Independent School District for four years. He subsequently taught at St. Philip’s College. He taught civics and Texas history. In 1971 he ran for a position on the South San Antonio Independent District School Board and won. His political career took a major leap in 1972 when he was elected to the House of Representatives in the Texas legislature. As a Democrat, he represented Bexar County in the Sixty-third through Seventy-second legislatures. He tackled major issues concerning education, public health, and drug abuse and served on numerous related committees during his tenure. By 1993 Madla had been elected to the Texas Senate and represented not only Bexar County but a large number of counties in the southwestern and western part of the state in the Seventy-third through Seventy-ninth legislatures. He served as president pro tempore ad interim in the Seventy-ninth legislature. He was recognized as a very successful statesman who was able to pass more than 100 House bills and approximately 570 Senate bills. Madla helped establish programs for gifted and talented students in Texas public schools. He supported legislation to improve the Texas wine industry. He pushed for the regulation of emergency services and prenatal care for indigent women. He was especially productive in his work to improve San Antonio. He helped bring SeaWorld to the city and worked to bring the Toyota plant. Madla also secured millions of dollars to redevelop the former Kelly Air Force Base and was especially proud of authoring a bill that authorized the creation of the Texas A&M University-San Antonio campus for the city’s South Side. Madla received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Texas at San Antonio Hispanic Research Center and the Advocacy Leadership Award from the Texas Hospital Association . The Association of Rural Communities in Texas named him the Legislator of the Year, the Texas Police Chiefs Association selected him as the Outstanding Legislator, and Bexar County extended to him their highest honor—the Hidalgo—for his thirty-three years of outstanding service in the Texas legislature. On April 1, 2006, he was honored as “Governor for a Day,” He resigned from the Senate in May 2006 after his loss to Carlos Uresti in the Democratic primary. During his years as a legislator, Madla had also worked as a part-time instructor at Incarnate Word University as well as a real estate broker and insurance broker. He enjoyed photography as a hobby. He was a Catholic. During his life, Madla was twice married. He married Rosemary Segura in 1961; they had one son, Frank. They divorced in 1975, and Madla married Helen Cruz in 1977. They had a daughter, Marcie. On November 2

Tsha Handbook →

R. L. White Ranch

1926

Ryall Luther White (1878-1962) was born in Jasper, Texas to John Luther Calvin White and Texanna Priscilla Ryall White. He married his wife, Ethel Gertrude Smyth, in 1907 and began working for his father-in-law as the manager of the Uvalde Rock Asphalt Company. In 1920, he resigned to open his own paving company, the Alamo Paving Company, in San Antonio paving exclusively with rock asphalt. White bought his own rock asphalt mine to have his own supply of the material and joined forces with his brother, Tom White. By 1928, Whites Mine Corporation had developed a new process to manufacture onsite a cold-mix paving material and the company began to market the product during the Great Depression. In 1926, White began to build the ranch which was to become one of the largest ranches in northwest Bexar county. The ranch reflects Whites desire to impress his guests with Texas rustic-style architecture on a grand scale. The best example of this style is the Lake Pavilion. It is a two-story rectangular, symmetrical stone structure designed in this architectural style. The building uses the locally available gray and cream-colored limestone to face the walls, inside and out. The Main House, also called Gerties House after Whites wife, is a rectangular, single-story, end-gabled stone house also designed in the rustic style with gray, asphalt shingles. The Red Cottage, a square, one-story, front end gabled, wood frame house with red-painted siding and a standing seam metal roof, was built in 1926. It was one of the first buildings and used to keep horses which were sold to the U.S. Army. Today, the ranchs 3500 acres and historic buildings reflect the tradition of Texas grand homesteads. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2012

Historical Marker → · 4.5 mi away

Scenic Loop Playground

1929

Businessman E.N. Requa developed Scenic Loop Playground on 320 acres north of San Antonio as a rural recreational resort within easy commuting distance from the city. Requa intended the area to be used as a retreat from the stresses of modern life for middle class workers by offering recreational opportunities in a natural scenic setting along the convergence of Lee and Helotes Creeks. Natural features of the area included small lakes used as swimming pools, a lake for boating and fishing, and live oak trees draped with Spanish moss in an area known as Grey Forest. Requa set aside acreage for use by residents as bridle trails, athletic fields, tennis courts and pocket parks. Scenic Loop Road divided the development into two sections, Unit No. 1, opened for sale to the public in 1929, contained small lots to be used as campsites. One year later, Unit No. 2 opened with larger lot development, offering opportunities for the boarding of horses and other livestock. Many of the structures in the development were built from native materials. The 1929 Stock Market Crash and ensuing depression slowed Scenic Loop Playground's rate of development. Soon, its character changed from recreational to year-round living. In 1934, Requa signed over common property in the development to the Scenic Loop Playground Club to manage for the benefit of residents. Lodges and lots continued to be sold into the 1940s. Soon, the transformation of the former recreational area into a rural community was complete, and in 1962, Scenic Loop Playground incorporated as the City of Grey Forest. (2007)

Historical Marker →

Things to Do in Helotes

historical 4.2 mi away
The Alamo

Remember the Alamo. The 1836 last stand that became Texas' most sacred site.
historical 16.2 mi away
The Alamo

In the spring of 1836 about two hundred Texas defenders held this old Spanish mission for thirteen days against a Mexican army of two thousand led by Santa…
historical 0.4 mi away
John T. Floore's Country Store

John T Floore opened his country store dance hall on the old Bandera road in Helotes in 1942 and Willie Nelson played it so many times for so many years that…
quirky 19.0 mi away
The Frozen Dialect

For over a century visitors to Castroville were more likely to hear Alsatian than English in the homes stores and taverns. The remarkable thing is the dialect…
quirky 19.1 mi away
A 400-Year-Old House Crosses the Ocean

The Steinbach Haus was originally built between 1618 and 1648 in Wahlbach Alsace France. In 1988 the Steinbach family carefully numbered every beam and…
historical 19.5 mi away
Mission San José

The queen of the missions -- San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo -- was founded in 1720 just south of San Antonio and quickly became the largest wealthiest and…
nature 22.1 mi away
Bracken Cave

The largest bat colony on earth lives in this single sinkhole outside San Antonio -- somewhere between fifteen and twenty million Mexican free-tailed bats…
historical 19.0 mi away
The Little Alsace of Texas

In 1844 a French-born empresario named Henri Castro led 700 Alsatian farmers across the Atlantic to settle 25 miles west of San Antonio. They built…

Sports in Helotes

🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 6A · Softball · 2022

O'Connor Panthers — 2022 UIL 6A Softball State Champions

Most recent: 2022 6A

O'Connor High School, located in the scenic Texas Hill Country community of Helotes, has established itself as a notable competitor in Class 6A softball. The Panthers have consistently demonstrated strong play on the diamond, reflecting the dedication often seen in high school sports across the Lone Star State.

The school's softball program reached a significant milestone in 2022, securing the UIL Class 6A State Championship. This achievement stands as a highlight for the Panthers, bringing state-level recognition to Helotes.

State titles
2022
Most recent
2022
Class
6A
The moment

In 2022, O'Connor High School secured the Class 6A State Championship in softball.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Helotes

764 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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