An Austrian immigrant, Joseph Huebner, came to America in 1853 with his wife and two children.  In 1858, he purchased 200 acres out of the Losoya Survey and built a one room, 12 X 12 limestone temporary living quarters using only creek mud to bind the stones together.  He began building his herd of horses and mules and purchased 150 head of cattle. 

 

In 1862, Huebner completed the main house that passersby on Bandera Road see today, and the temporary living quarters became the cookhouse.  The porch, covered balcony and stacked stone barn were added later. 

 

The Homestead was  located on the stagecoach route from San Antonio to Bandera and then west to California, and as a stagecoach stop sometimes provided overnight lodging and meals if the Huebner and Leon Creeks were flooded and impassable.  Joseph Huebner died at the age of 58 and is buried on the property.

 

Beginning in the 1930s, Judge John F. and Harriet Onion and their family lived in the Homestead for 53 years.  Their twin boys, John and James, followed in their father's footsteps in the Texas Judicial System.  Harriet was a substitute school teacher in the Northside Independent School District and was loved and remembered by many in the area.

 

The Homestead is a Texas Historic Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Another milestone for our historic site was having the Huebner Cemetery recognized, dedicated and set aside for historic purposes by the Texas Historical Commission.