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Mo Ranch

Coordinates: 30°03′30″N 99°28′27″W / 30.058425°N 99.474077°W / 30.058425; -99.474077
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30°03′30″N 99°28′27″W / 30.058425°N 99.474077°W / 30.058425; -99.474077

View from the Chapel on the Hill at Mo Ranch.

Mo Ranch is a Presbyterian conference center for summer camps, retreats, family reunions that is located in unincorporated Kerr County, Texas. It is in a west-central area in the county, 10 miles (16 km) west of Hunt, Texas,[1] in the Hill Country at the North Fork of the Guadalupe River.[2]

History

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The Ranch is named for Daniel J. Moran, who was chairman of Continental Oil Company (later to become Conoco, Inc.). He owned the 6,871-acre (27.81 km2) ranch from 1935 until his death in 1948; Presbyterians purchased the ranch in 1949, the year after his death,[1] for $562,500; Mrs. Moran then gave a gift back to the church of $50,000. Eventually the State of Texas bought 6,500 acres (26 km2) of the ranch from the Presbyterians, and later expanded that portion with additional purchase of adjacent land.[3] That land is now the Kerr County Wildlife Management Area, administered by Texas Parks & Wildlife. Now the entire Mo-Ranch covers 500 acres (2.0 km2).[citation needed]

By 2019 the Mo Ranch camp organization began doing off-site camping programs in the Rio Grande Valley region; historically many residents there chose not to travel to Kerr County for the camp as some members of families lacked immigration visas and therefore could be detained at in-country immigration checkpoints set up in the region.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mo-Ranch". Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  2. ^ Fernandez, Manny (2019-08-17). "A Summer Camp on the Border, Where the Border Crisis Feels Far Away". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
  3. ^ "Inside Mo-Ranch: An Enchanting History of a Gorgeous Texas Vacation Spot". Texas Hill Country. 2018-07-27. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
  4. ^ Tritenbach, David (2019-06-06). "The story of a Mo-Ranch miracle". Kerrville Daily Times.
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