“Burntbrains”
1850 McKinney Homestead - Austin, Texas
McKinney Falls State Park is in the center of an early Texas land grant that originally fell within the impresario contract of a Texan hero, Ben Milan. Ten acres of the land were transferred to Santiago Del Valle who at that time was Secretary of the Mexican government, and who had previously served in the Mexican Congress. In 1835, Del Valle sold a portion of his land to Michael Menard who helped found the town of Galveston. Thomas F. McKinney was one of his business associates and bought the Del Valle grant in 1839. His family occupied the land but sold almost all of it off by the time of his death in 1873. Some of the land remained agricultural and became the City of Del Valle, the north tract became urbanized, and the remainder is preserved in the park.
McKinney was also one of Austin's first 300 colonists. He settled on Onion Creek and became a breeder of racehorses.
1850 McKinney Homestead - Austin, Texas
McKinney Falls State Park is in the center of an early Texas land grant that originally fell within the impresario contract of a Texan hero, Ben Milan. Ten acres of the land were transferred to Santiago Del Valle who at that time was Secretary of the Mexican government, and who had previously served in the Mexican Congress. In 1835, Del Valle sold a portion of his land to Michael Menard who helped found the town of Galveston. Thomas F. McKinney was one of his business associates and bought the Del Valle grant in 1839. His family occupied the land but sold almost all of it off by the time of his death in 1873. Some of the land remained agricultural and became the City of Del Valle, the north tract became urbanized, and the remainder is preserved in the park.
McKinney was also one of Austin's first 300 colonists. He settled on Onion Creek and became a breeder of racehorses.