Bankersmith, Texas

Kendall County

Banker Smith is a ghost town in Kendall County in the U.S. state of Texas on the Old San Antonio Road about halfway between Fredericksburg and Comfort near the border to the Gillespie County.

History and Geography

Banker Smith was founded in 1913 as a station for the nearby city Grapetown along the San Antonio, Fredericksburg and Northern Railway. The city and the railway station were named "Banker Smith " or " Smith Banker " by Temple Doswell Smith, president of the Frederick Burger Bank, which financed the railway line from Fredericksburg to Comfort. Later it was the first paved road from San Antonio to Fredericksburg ( Route 9 ).

In the 1920s, bankers Smith had reached with about 50 residents the maximum value. The Post Office, which was sometimes referred to as the Kendall County and sometimes as the Gillespie County duly listed, was surrounded by a small business district, provided the station. In the 1930s, the railway traffic was stopped on the line by Banker Smith, and further west, U.S. Highway 87 was the preferred alternative between Fredericksburg and Comfort. In the 1940s, the city was already largely deserted and the post office closed, although some residents endured until the 1960s there.

The city was located in the hills of the Texas Hill Country near one of the few railway tunnel of Texas, the first railway tunnel in the state. It took six months to build the 293 m long tunnel, which at that time cost $ 134,000. He is now part of the Old Tunnel State Park and is home to thousands of bats.

Purchase and planned renaming

Doug Guller, the owner of the restaurant chain Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill, bought the ghost town in 2012 and announced that he would rename the place abandoned by his " Breastaurants " in " bikinis, Texas ". He said he wanted to transform the small town into a tourist attraction, including a Hall of Fame for the Bikini, ie for the two-piece swimsuit. It is not planned to open an Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill restaurant there, but he could imagine to set up a bar in an old bus.

The opening ceremony of bikinis, Texas took place on 13 July 2013. Country musician Jerry Jeff Walker sang and Carmen Electra was present to open the Hall of Fame. There are also plans for a "Miss Bikini USA" beauty contest and possibly a reality show.