Oct 4, 2026 · 34 min · 17 segments
Joining host Brian Fitzgerald on this edition of Inside Austin is the Director of the Texas Military Forces Museum, Jeff Hunt. They discussed Austin's Camp Mabry, an active military post that many…
Well, Camp Mabry is the oldest military post that belongs to today's Texas National Guard.
It was established in 1892 as the first permanent training facility for what was then known as the Texas Volunteer Guard.
And when it was established, after a long search to find an appropriate spot for the Volunteer Guard to hold its annual two-week training muster, it was well outside the city limits.
They used to hold battle reenactments out here, and of course we still do battle reenactments out here.
This was a place where the volunteer guard trained, but it was also a place where the community could come and gather.
The Volunteer Guard got no money from the federal government, and it got very little money from the state government, so it did things that it could sell tickets to.
And the things that it did, these competitions, these polo matches, these ballerina events, were very popular with the Austin public, and people would come out here Carriages, wagons, eventually the railroad, of course, is going to haul people because one of the reasons that Camp Mabry winds up where it winds up is because it's built right next to the tracks of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, which for military purposes was incredibly vital.
It's on the National Register of Historic Places that people always ask us, oh, are they going to get rid of Camp Mabry one day and build condos here or something like that? And the answer is no, they can't.
And it is the, Camp Mabry is the headquarters of the Adjutant General of Texas, of the Texas Army Guard, the Texas Air National Guard, the Texas State Guard, and the 36th Infantry Division are all here.
And when, you know, you have a hurricane, you have wildfires, we have floods, those sorts of natural disasters that happen in Texas, and the Texas Guard is responding to help its fellow Texans.
And I bet you there's a lot of people out there that are even generational in Austin that did not know that.
And that was kind of my point in the open of the show is that there's so much going on.
Well, Camp Mabry is the oldest military post that belongs to today's Texas National Guard.
It was established in 1892 as the first permanent training facility for what was then known as the Texas Volunteer Guard.
And when it was established, after a long search to find an appropriate spot for the Volunteer Guard to hold its annual two-week training muster, it was well outside the city limits.
They used to hold battle reenactments out here, and of course we still do battle reenactments out here.
This was a place where the volunteer guard trained, but it was also a place where the community could come and gather.
The Volunteer Guard got no money from the federal government, and it got very little money from the state government, so it did things that it could sell tickets to.
And the things that it did, these competitions, these polo matches, these ballerina events, were very popular with the Austin public, and people would come out here Carriages, wagons, eventually the railroad, of course, is going to haul people because one of the reasons that Camp Mabry winds up where it winds up is because it's built right next to the tracks of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, which for military purposes was incredibly vital.
It's on the National Register of Historic Places that people always ask us, oh, are they going to get rid of Camp Mabry one day and build condos here or something like that? And the answer is no, they can't.
And it is the, Camp Mabry is the headquarters of the Adjutant General of Texas, of the Texas Army Guard, the Texas Air National Guard, the Texas State Guard, and the 36th Infantry Division are all here.
And when, you know, you have a hurricane, you have wildfires, we have floods, those sorts of natural disasters that happen in Texas, and the Texas Guard is responding to help its fellow Texans.
And I bet you there's a lot of people out there that are even generational in Austin that did not know that.
And that was kind of my point in the open of the show is that there's so much going on.
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