Kyle

Kyle is eight miles north of San Marcos in Hays County and 20 miles south of Austin and is the second largest city in the county. Here the Balcones Escarpment meets the blacklands prairie. The town was established on July 24, 1880, when David E. Moore and Fergus Kyle (for whom the city was named) gave 200 acres for a townsite to the International-Great Northern Railroad. Lots were first sold in October 1880, at an auction held beneath a live oak tree, now known as the Kyle Auction Oak. An 1895 election incorporated the town but voters discontinued the status two years later. It was incorporated again in 1906. Farming and ranching add to the economy of other businesses in this fast growing community.