Biohazard Cleanup Near West Staples Staples, TX

Staples is a tiny city in northeastern Guadalupe County, Texas, sitting just west of the San Marcos River, which forms its border with Caldwell County, about 11 miles southeast of San Marcos.

Staples was first settled in 1852, when the McKean brothers, John and William, arrived in the area, and during the Civil War the community hosted Camp Edward Clark, a Confederate training camp named for Texas's first Confederate governor.

Staples got its start as a river-powered mill town — in 1867 Leonidas Hardeman harnessed the San Marcos River to run a cotton gin that later also ground corn, sawed lumber, and crushed sugar cane.

Staples takes its name from Civil War veteran Colonel John Douglas Staples, who opened a country store in a live oak grove in 1871; a post office opened in 1879 as 'Staples Store' and the name was shortened to Staples in 1891.

Staples remained unincorporated for more than 150 years before voting to become a city on May 10, 2008, when 87 of 125 voters (69.6%) approved incorporation.

Staples had just 193 residents in the 2020 census, down from 267 in 2010, making it one of the smallest incorporated cities in the San Antonio metropolitan area.

Staples preserves an unusually deep heritage for its size, with century-old homes, two churches more than 100 years old, two historic cemeteries including the Staples African American Freedman Colony Cemetery, and live oaks over a century old.