City: Houston, TX

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (281) 343-0218

Address: 10215 FM 762

Insider Pick:

Description: George Ranch Historical Park is only about 30 minutes southwest of downtown Houston, but it seems like a world away. This 23,000-acre working ranch was the home of Henry and Nancy Jones and three generations of their descendants. Founded in 1824, the ranch actually predates Texas’s independence from Mexico. Tours of each of the four generations’ spacious homes put the ranch’s 185-year history into perspective: The oldest home, the Henry and Nancy Jones Homestead, features outdoor kitchens, activities like weaving and corn grinding, and crops that you can help harvest. At Polly and William Ryon’s post–Civil War home, you’ll learn how the ranch expanded after the war and swap stories with a charming actor playing the part of Colonel William Ryon. The Davis Mansion, which dates back to the 1890s, sheds light on the work of sharecroppers and blacksmiths and features an old chuck wagon, a railroad car, and a longhorn pen. Built in the 1930s and inhabited by A. P. and Mamie George, the George Ranch House blends the past with the present as the resident cowboys rope, sort, and tend cattle before sending them off to one of the country’s last remaining cattle dipping vats to rid them of fleas and ticks. George Ranch is also home to an authentic general store, actors clad in old-­timey garb, and livestock aplenty. You can also grab burgers and sandwiches at the Dinner Belle Cafe. The park is situated around a mile-­long loop, enabling you to either walk from site to site, or get chauffeured from one stop to the next in a tractor-­drawn tram. Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors 62 and older, and $5 for kids ages 5 to 15. Children 4 and younger get in for free. Visit on Saturday when you can lunch on barbecue or pork in one of the houses. Menus change to reflect the site. Call to reserve your spot at one of these meals. They cost $12.50 for adults 16 and older, $9 for kids ages 5 to 15, and $4 for kids 4 and younger. George Ranch Historical Park can be accessed from Houston by taking US 59 South and exiting at Grand Parkway/TX 99. Take a left at Crab River Road/FM 2759; the ranch is about 6 miles down the road. Closed Sun and Mon.