Region: Prairies and Lakes
The town has an unusual name derivation: A local creek was notorious for
trapping cattle in bogs, and local Native American skinners killed the wild
cattle that got stuck there and salvaged the hides. The creek took its name from
the Spanish word for rawhides—cuero (KWER-o). When the town was founded in 1872,
it took the name of the creek.
Once a round-up point for a leg of the Chisholm Trail, the town was a true
"Wild West" outpost where women and children were forbidden to go outside after
dark. Today, Cuero is a bountiful agricultural area and the seat of DeWitt
County, designated the "Wildflower Capital of Texas" by the Texas Legislature in
1999 for more than 1,000 different species of wildflowers found in the area.
April is Wildflower Month, with the only live wildflower specimen exhibit in
Texas at the DeWitt County Historical Museum.
Cuero is home to 50 historic structures on the National Register of Historic
Places and three historic districts—two residential and one
commercial—encompassing Main Street. The 1896 courthouse is among the most
handsome in Texas. Many homes were built in the 1880s and 1890s and include a
variety of architectural features—Classical Revival, Tudor Revival, Queen
Anne-style and "T" plans. More than 60 homes display a Texas Historical
Commission marker. Call the Chamber of Commerce for tour information.
More than 40 churches represent 14 denominations in the city. Among those are
four that are Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks and on the National Register of
Historic Places: Grace Episcopal (built in 1889), 401 N. Esplanade; St. Mark's
Lutheran (current structure built in 1939), built in a style reminiscent of
Spanish missions, 400 N. Esplanade; First United Methodist (current structure
built in 1929), 301 E. Courthouse; and St. Michael's Catholic (current structure
built in 1931), 202 N. McLeod. First Presbyterian Church, 302 N. McLeod, also is
a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Annual events include holiday festivities and the Turkeyfest Celebration in
October.