This reconstructed Harrison and McCulloch stage stop and post office building, originally built in the early 1850s, stands along Star Roue # 6125, a stage and postal route that carried passengers and mail back and forth between Austin and San Antonio in the 1850s and 1860s. The post office opened in 1856, and John Harrison swerved as the first Postmaster from 1856-1858.
From the Handbook of Texas online: (
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SELMA, TX. Selma is on Interstate 35 when it crosses Cibolo Creek, sixteen miles northeast of downtown San Antonio in northeastern Bexar, Comal, and Guadalupe counties. The community was first settled in 1847. John B. Brown and William Davenport ran herds of cattle on the open range until about 1860. A post office opened in 1856, and by 1885 Selma had two general stores, two cotton gins, three blacksmiths, a saloon, a school, a wagonmaker, and a population of 145. After an influx of German and Polish immigrants in the late 1880s the population grew rapidly, reaching 600 in 1896. The town declined after 1900. The post office closed in 1906 and was replaced by rural delivery first from Bracken and later from San Antonio. . . ."
In the 1860 US Census, Selma had a population of less than 150 free white people, but because this US post office was on a stagecoach postal route, this post office would have served the postal mail needs of everyone on the different H&M stage routes needing to send mail to or receive mail from any of the towns along Star Route 6125, which ran between Austin and San Antonio.
The total free population in Texas in 1860 was 421,649 - including 355 free people of color. See: (
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The state historical marker reads as follows:
"HARRISON AND McCULLOCH STAGE STOP
The Harrison and McCulloch Stage Line began running stagecoaches from the Texas coast to Central Texas as early as 1848. The line was a partnership between brothers-in-law, John S. Harrison (1818-1864) and William McCulloch (1819-c. 1854), after dissolving their partnership with Dr. Caleb S. Brown of Gonzales (Harrison & Brown Stage Line) in 1850. Their stage line was part of a network of competing stage lines and "star routes" that contracted with the United States Post Office delivering travelers and mail throughout central Texas. Star routes 6285, 6154 and 6155 ran from Indianola, Port Lavaca and Galveston to New Braunfels and Austin and back. John S. Harrison also owned the Victoria Hotel in Victoria where he housed his stage passengers overnight on their way inland. In 1852, Harrison moved to Selma, making it his home. His house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 and declared a State Archeological Landmark in 2009. Harrison was the first postmaster of Selma and held that position for two years.
The Selma Stage Stop, as it is known today, was one of the stops on Harrison & McCulloch's Star Route 6285 that ran from Austin to San Antonio. In 1852, the route took 18 hours to complete, leaving Austin at 3 AM traveling the Old Post Road and sections of El Camino Real de los Tejas through the open prairie to Manchac Spring, San Marcos, Bonito, New Braunfels and Selma, arriving in San Antonio at 9 PM that night. The Selma Stage Stop is a prime example of "limecrete construction," a process using wooden forms and "slip," a mixture made from sand and pebbles found in the nearby Rio Cibolo. Shards of wood and corncobs were forced into the drying slip for added strength. (2012)"
The stage stop and post office was reconstructed by the Texas Historical Commission using period-appropriate materials and techniques in 2006.
To view the US National Register of Historic Places listing for this property, click here: (
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The modern-day address of this building is 9374 N Evans Rd, Selma TX 78154.