Harper, Texas

Harper is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP), located west of Fredericksburg on U.S. Highway 290, in Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 1,192 at the 2010 census.GeographyHarper is located in western Gillespie County at . This is about northwest of San Antonio and west of Austin.According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 146.7km2, of which 146.5sqkm are land and 0.2sqkm, or 0.14%, are water. The headwaters of the Pedernales River flow through the community.HistoryOn December 15, 1847, a petition was submitted to create Gillespie County. In 1848, the legislature formed Gillespie County from Bexar and Travis counties. While the signers were overwhelmingly German immigrants, names also on the petition were Castillo, Pena, Munos, and a handful of Anglo names.The first white settlers were the families of Eli McDonald and Matthew Taylor in 1863. A historical marker just south of U.S. Highway 290 commemorates the McDonald massacre of August 1864. This incident involved the killing of two family members and the kidnapping of five more by Kiowa Indians.