Katherine Ann Porter House – This is the childhood home of Katherine Ann Porter, one of the most outstanding American women authors. At the age of two, her mother died, and the family came to Kyle to live with her grandmother who they affectionately called “Aunt Kat.” At age six, Katherine Ann wrote her first novel. At 71, she wrote her second novel, which earned The Pulitzer Prize and worldwide recognition. She placed the locale of seven of her award-winning short stories in and around Kyle. She died at the age of 90. In 2000, the building was given a face-lift, and the house was made into a museum. It is also leased to Texas State University’s creative writing program as a writer-in-residence program. In June of 2002, First Lady Laura Bush dedicated the home as a National Literary Landmark.

Hanging Tree – In the late 1840’s, while cowboys from the Kyle ranch were rounding up stray cattle, they discovered a man’s body hanging from a limb of a large live oak tree. Not knowing his identity or crime, they lowered the body and buried it beneath the tree in an unmarked grave. This mysterious gravesite was the foundation of Kyle Cemetery, where it can be found today. Information on this tree, now known as the “Hanging Tree,” is featured in the book Famous Trees of Texas.

Cemeteries – The Kyle cemetery was used as a community burial ground many years before the founding of the town in 1880. It is currently the oldest burial ground still in use in Hays County. In 1853, Colonel Kyle and his wife, Lucy Bugg Kyle, donated 15 acres surrounding a large oak tree.

Claiborne Kyle Log House – The Claiborne Kyle Log House was built in 1850 by slave labor for Claiborne and Lucy Bugg Kyle and their nine children. Kyle, a former Senator from Mississippi, relocated to Texas after experiencing some financial hardships. When he settled in Texas, with help from his farm workers, he built this log house of alternating courses of cedar logs and rock grouting, square notched at the corners and secured by wooden pegs. The Kyle house is a most unusual type known as the “linear four-pen dog trot” and in fact is the only one of its type left in Texas. It is listed in the Terry Jordan book Texas Log Cabins and a picture and story appears in the book Nineteenth Century Homes. On September 22, 1980, the Blanco River Bluffs, Inc. deeded the Kyle Log House to Hays County. A Claiborne Kyle Log House Commission was appointed to direct the restoration and maintenance of the house. On May 28, 1981, the Claiborne Kyle Log House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. A Texas Historical Marker was dedicated in 1982.

Kyle is located within miles of 6 of the Top 10 Natural Attractions in Texas.

Natural Attractions of Texas Hill Country

• Enchanted Rock – Fredericksburg, TX
• Lost Maples – Vanderpool, Tx
• Longhorn Caverns – Burnet, Texas
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Austin, Tx
• Inner Space Cavern – Georgetown, Tx
• Cascade Caverns – Boerne, Tx
• Natural Bridge Caverns – Natural Bridge Caverns, Tx
• Wonder World – San Marcos, Tx
• Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch – San Antonio, Tx
• Barton Springs – Austin, TX