Biohazard Cleanup Near North Harper Harper, TX

Harper is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in far western Gillespie County, Texas, on U.S. Highway 290 about 23 miles west of Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country.

Harper was first settled in 1863 by the families of Matthew Taylor and Eli McDonald.

A historical marker south of Highway 290 commemorates the McDonald massacre of August 1864, in which Kiowa raiders killed two members of the McDonald family and captured five more, while an elderly family member escaped.

Harper is named for George Franklin Harper, who established the community's first post office in 1883, served as postmaster until 1890, founded the Harper State Bank, and was known to residents as "Uncle Frank."

Harper celebrated its centennial in 1963, drawing more than 15,000 visitors to the festivities.

The Harper census-designated place sprawls across 56.6 square miles of ranchland at about 2,021 feet in elevation, and the headwaters of the Pedernales River flow through the community.

The 2020 census counted 1,332 residents in Harper, up from 1,006 in 2000, when the census recorded 417 households in the community.

Harper's schooling began with a one-room frame schoolhouse built in 1885, and the Harper Independent School District, established in 1906, is one of only three school districts left in Gillespie County and also serves parts of Kerr, Kimble, and Mason counties.

In the early 1980s Harper was home to the oldest bank still operating in Gillespie County, and the town served a large ranching area with six churches.

Harper has a humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.