Documentaries
Below you will find links to the commission’s documentary series that have been produced since 2008. Most of these documentaries were directed by the famous Richard Kidd and produced by the renowned Kate Johnson, but several members of our Hays County communities from interviewees, theatre troupes, and historians came together to produce these films with can be viewed in their entirety for people to learn some of our county’s great stories. The HCHC thanks everyone who made doing these possible.
Physical copies of these documentaries can be found and sold at our Kyle Railroad Depot and Heritage Center’s gift shop in Kyle, TX while supplies last.
Click the photo to view videos.
Next Stop Kyle
This documentary tells the story of the creation of a new town from empty prairie by the International & Great Northern Railroad in October, 1880. It involves the family of local landowner Fergus Kyle, New York financier Jay Gould, the IGNRR's Texas Land Company, and the building of tracks across central Texas. Re-Enactors are used to show the enthusiasm for a new town, the one day auction of the town lots, and the changes the "steam beast" would bring to the countryside. Scenes were shot of the Jay Gould private Pullman in Jefferson, Texas, the Texas State Railroad operating steam train between Palestine and Rusk, and the recreation of the famous Auction Oak sale day.
Edward Burleson: Soldier and Statesman
This documentary tells the story of General Edward Burleson, who came to Texas in 1830 and fought [American] Indians, the Mexican Army in the Siege of Bexar, lead troops at San Jacinto, fought in the Mexican-American War, served as a representative and senator for the Republic of Texas and was Vice-President of the Republic.
Burleson contemporaries were Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and Jack C. Hays. He fought Comanches almost non-stop for 20 years, helped survey and lay out Austin and San Marcos, formed the Texas Rangers, and was the first person buried in the Texas State Cemetery in 1851.
Col. Peter C. Woods: Country Doctor, Cavalry Officer, Public Servant
This is the story of Peter C. Woods, who came to San Marcos in 1851, started a cotton plantation and decided to form the 32nd Texas Volunteer Cavalry, C.S.A. during the American Civil War. He was a physician who survived the war and lived the rest of his life as a country doctor and helped develop San Marcos and Hays County. The only memorial located directly on the [Hays County] Courthouse grounds was erected in his honor in 1907.
This documentary is based on interviews with members of the Woods family, Dorothy Woods Schwartz, Clear Springs and Limestones Ledges, Janice Woods Windle, True Women and Hill Country, and historian Dr. Donald S. Frazier, Thunder Across the Swamp, along with the only published information on the 32nd Texas Cavalry and their participation in the Red River Campaign of 1864, The Dead Men Wore Boots by Laurence A. Duaine.
Re-enactors were used to create the life of Col. Woods and his wife, Georgia, the Civil War battles of Blair's Landing and Yellow Bayou in Louisiana, and the 32nd Cavalry attack on Union gunboats on the Red River.
101 Ranch: The Story of the Kuykendall Family
This is the story of the largest ranch in Hays County and the family who ran it for over 60 years. Two strong women, a mother and her daughter and children ran thousands of head of cattle, horses and sheep on over 11,000 acres of hill country property.
This documentary is based on interviews with members of the Kuykendall and Hoskins families, who grew up on the 101 Ranch near Buda. This was the largest ranching operation in Hays County when it began in 1902. Maggie Kuykendall took over in 1905 with the death of her husband, and along with her daughter Dorothy Kuykendall Hoskins, they kept the 101 going for the next 60 years. Period historical reenactments and photos help tell the story of early ranching life during the first half of the 20th century.
Hays County in World War II
The story of Hays County is 1941 told with veterans who served in the US Army, Marines, Air Force, and Navy.
This documentary is based on interviews with veterans from Hays County who served in all areas of World War II. They left the rural life in central Texas and traveled thousands of miles to Europe and the South Pacific.
Also included in the story of the San Marcos Army Air Field (with original period photos) that brought 10,000 servicemen to learn navigation in the central Texas skies.
Vox Pop: The Story of Parks Johnson
Step back into the golden age of radio and learn the story of Parks Johnson during the 1930s and 1940s as his Vox Pop program is created and goes on NBS & CBS.
The documentary is based on Texas radio show host Parks Johnson (1891-1970) who helped create the program VOX POP, that was on the air from 1932 starting in Houston and then moving to New York in 1935 to the NBC Network, and then CBS from 1940 to 1948.
Included are excerpts from the original broadcasts and photos from the extensive VOX POP Collection at the Library of American Broadcasting, University of Maryland. Interviews with 9 important individuals from around the United States are featured. Parks Johnson retired to Wimberley, Texas in 1948 and spent the next 20 years with his wife Louise in building the community.
Larger Than Life: The Story of Buck Winn
A documentary in Texas artist and architect, James Buchanan Winn Jr. (1905-1979). This is the first collection of his artwork, sculpture, building decoration and architecture shot on location around the Southwest. Buck specialized in doing large artwork for building decoration, all of his projects were "larger than life."
Buck and Kitty Winn lived in Wimberley from 1941 until her death in 1978 and his own in 1979. This is the first project that includes all of his major work, including those pieces that have been destroyed as buildings were bulldozed. The Hays County Historical Commission visited and photographed 18 locations and interviewed 8 individuals around the Southwest.
Captain Jack: The Story of John Coffee Hays
CAPTAIN JACK covers 15 scenes from Jack Hays' life, from his arrival in Texas and meeting President San Houston in 1838, recruiting rangers in San Antonio, fighting Comanches, the Mexican War, leading a wagon train to California during the gold rush, being elected the first sheriff of San Francisco and developing the City of Oakland.
Hays County in Texas is named in his honor.
A Road Remembered
In collaboration with Texas Parks and Wildlife, this short documentary tells the story of the first Spanish road that connected Texas and where it goes through Hays County, the Camino Real.