Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Near Von Ormy Historic District Von Ormy, TX

Von Ormy is a city in southwest Bexar County, Texas, along Interstate 35 and the Medina River, about fifteen miles southwest of downtown San Antonio.

Von Ormy is named for Count Norbert von Ormay, an Austrian nobleman who bought a local ranch 'castle' in 1886, and postmaster Branson Bywater actually misspelled the count's name when he renamed the town's post office that year.

Von Ormy was founded in 1827 by Blas Herrera, who is remembered as the 'Paul Revere of Texas' for riding from Laredo to San Antonio to warn of Santa Anna's approach during the Texas Revolution.

Before it took the name Von Ormy, the community was known over the years as Mann's Crossing, Garza's Crossing, Medina Crossing, and Paso de las Garzas, all names for crossings of the Medina River.

Santa Anna camped at the future site of Von Ormy before his final march on the Alamo, beneath a giant live oak later known as the Santa Anna Oak, which a university study estimated to be more than 600 years old.

Archaeological findings show that the Von Ormy area has had continuous human habitation for an estimated 8,000 years.

Von Ormy remained an unincorporated community for most of its history and only became a city on May 30, 2008, after voters approved incorporation by 88%, making it one of the newest cities in Bexar County.

Von Ormy was promoted by its founders as a low-tax 'liberty city' and was nicknamed 'The Freest Little City in Texas.'

Von Ormy's first mayor, Art Martinez de Vara, was a sixth-generation local resident and one of the youngest mayors in the United States when he took office in 2008.

Von Ormy's official motto is 'Dios y Tejas,' Spanish for 'God and Texas.'