On the route from San Antonio to Corpus Christi is a small Texas town with a big claim to fame. George West only has about 2,300 permanent residents, but for decades, thousands more would flock to the town to attend Storyfest, a multi-day festival centered around raconteurs.
Storyfest began in 1989 with the aim to “preserve and perpetuate the art of storytelling,” and it grew into a beloved festival that brought the country’s best storytellers, poets, and liars to George West to participate in the festival. For years, folks took to the stage to tell ghost stories, tall tales, and “sacred” emotional stories, which led to the town’s designation as the “Storytelling Capital of Texas” in 2005 by the Texas State Senate.
Although Storyfest ended in 2019, George West still has a handful of historic buildings and tasty eats that make it worth a stop if you’re traveling between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. George West has been the seat of Live Oak County since 1919, and you can see glimpses of its beginnings in places like the 1920s courthouse and the early 20th-century homes that add charm to this small town. If you’re feeling peckish, stop at one of its handful of restaurants, which offer Mexican, Tex-Mex, and Italian options.
Railroad history lives in George West, Texas
While Storyfest may have put George West on the map, it was a man named George Washington West who literally put it on the map. West was a rancher who had a vision: a town named after him on the railroad route between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Texas is the land of ranches, including the biggest one in the country, so it’s not surprising that West used part of his own ranch to build up the town. He donated 13 miles of his land to be right-of-way for the railroad, and provided the funding to establish a town in 1912. Soon, George West the town had hotels, a barber shop, and a restaurant, while George West the person donated more money to build a courthouse in order to get the county seat of Live Oak moved to his town…