These limestone structures along the Eagle Pass - San Antonio Road at the Medina River ford were once centers of trade, travel, industry, and domestic life. Alsatian colonist Michel Simon settled here in 1844, followed by Caesar Monod, who built a one-story home and store with a separate kitchen in 1849. Within two decades, John and Rowena Vance had converted Simon's home into a wash house, built a new residence, and enlarged the store to include a two-story hotel. A mill was built on the river in 1854, which Joseph Courand modernized after 1876 and J.T. Lawler used for hydroelectricity after 1925. Ruth Lawler kept the tradition of hospitality at her "Landmark Inn" before deeding it to the state in 1974.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
Marker is Property of the State of Texas