Historical Period: Frontier Texas (1865-1900)
Historical Topic: Frontier Settlements
Species: Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)
County: Hays
Public Access: Yes, the Kyle Auction Oak and historical marker are in front of 204 S. Sledge Street, in Kyle
The thousands of visitors to Kyle Field probably don’t know the connection between the stadium’s namesake, Edwin Jackson Kyle, former dean emeritus at Texas A&M University, and the Kyle Auction Oak—but there is one.
The town of Kyle was established on land originally included in the public domain of the Republic of Texas. In 1844, 2,389.5 acres were granted to Zachariah Hinton. Six years later, the Hays County assessor and tax collector sold most of the tract for overdue taxes. Tennessee native Claiborne Kyle bought the land at auction for $7.50.
The land was divided and transferred ownership several times. In 1871, Kyle’s son and daughter-in-law, Fergus and Annie E. Kyle, bought a 350-acre plot , part of which had belonged to Annie’s father, David E. Moore.
Several years later, the International and Great Northern Railroad Company proposed building a new town (after realizing their planned railroad route missed the communities between Austin and San Marcos). The company purchased land from the Moore and Kyle families for the town site of Kyle, which was named after Fergus Kyle—father of Edwin Kyle. In the shade of the giant Kyle Auction Oak, the business lots and most of the residential lots were sold at auction.
Edwin Kyle may have developed his love of trees as he romped under the beautiful live oak as a boy; as an adult and dean of the School of Agriculture at the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M University), he was credited with helping to establish the State Department of Forestry—Now Texas A&M Forest Service.