Editing Helotes, Texas (section)

==History==

According to anthropologists, the area was occupied seasonally from about 5,000 BCE by small bands of nomadic [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribes in search of food and game.<ref name=citymarker>{{cite web | title=Texas Historical Commission city marker (archive copy) | format=JPG | url=http://www.accd.edu/pac/history/rhines/StudentProjects/1998/Helotes/Marker.JPG | work=Texas Historical Commission | publisher=Palo Alto College | location=San Antonio, Texas | access-date=26 December 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227224647/http://www.accd.edu/pac/history/rhines/StudentProjects/1998/Helotes/Marker.JPG | archive-date=27 February 2007}}</ref> The [[Lipan Apache people|Lipan Apache]] moved into the area in the late 17th century and occupied it throughout the 18th century. However, the Lipan were forced from the area in the early 1820s by the [[Comanche]] Indians.

A small farming and ranching community began to develop in the area shortly after the [[Texas Revolution]] in the late 1830s.<ref name=researchpaper>{{cite journal | author=Michael R. Causey | title=Helotes Small Town Research Project (archive copy) | date=Fall 1998 | url=http://www.accd.edu/pac/history/rhines/StudentProjects/1998/Helotes/Helotes.htm | publisher=Palo Alto College | location=San Antonio, Texas | access-date=26 December 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406030133/http://www.accd.edu/pac/history/rhines/StudentProjects/1998/Helotes/Helotes.htm | archive-date=6 April 2007}}</ref> The ranches suffered occasional attacks by the Comanches until the late 1870s. The last Indian raid in Helotes may have been in 1878, when a postmaster, Carl Mueller, was killed by Indians. <ref name=researchpaper/>

In 1858, a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] immigrant, Dr. George Marnoch, purchased the land that later became the site of the town.<ref name=citymarker /> Marnoch's home at one time served as a [[stagecoach]] stop and a [[post office]] for [[cowboy]]s driving their cattle from [[Bandera, Texas|Bandera]] to auction in [[San Antonio]].<ref name=cityhistory>{{cite web | title=City of Helotes: Tourism | url=http://www.helotes-tx.gov/index.asp?Type=B_LOC&SEC={F1BE65BA-CABD-4506-8FA4-0F43ABA1EE2B} | publisher=City of Helotes, Texas | access-date=26 December 2006}}</ref> His heirs sold a portion of their property in 1880 to a [[Swiss people|Swiss]] immigrant, Arnold Gugger, who built a home and mercantile store around which the town of Helotes arose.<ref name=citymarker /> In 1908, Gugger sold his property to Bert Hileman, who opened the town's first dance hall.<ref name=citymarker /> He was also instrumental in getting old Bandera Road paved and opening the town's first [[filling station]].<ref name=researchpaper /> He sold his property in downtown Helotes in 1919, when the town's population declined.<ref name=researchpaper />

In 1946, the manager of San Antonio's Majestic Theatre, John T. Floore, opened the landmark John T. Floore Country Store,<ref name=floore>{{cite web|title=John T. Floore Country Store |url=http://www.liveatfloores.com/index2.htm |publisher=John T. Floore Country Store |access-date=26 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061218152357/http://www.liveatfloores.com/index2.htm |archive-date=18 December 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which is actually a dance hall (or "[[honky tonk]]") that draws top [[country music]] talent, including [[Willie Nelson]], who still plays the venue on occasion. Floore also financed the first annual Helotes Cornyval festival in the 1960s, which was held to celebrate the opening of a new post office.<ref name=cornyval>{{cite web | title=Backgrounder: Helotes Cornyval | publisher=Helotes Festival Association | url=http://www.cornyval.com/ | access-date=26 December 2006}}</ref>

Corn played an important role in the heritage of Helotes. The local Native Americans planted corn ([[maize]] outside the US) in the fertile valleys of the area, and feed corn was a major crop grown in the 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref name=cornyval /> The town name is derived from the [[Spanish (language)|Spanish]] word ''elote'', which can mean "ear of maize", "[[corncob]]", or simply "corn", but exactly how the town came to be called Helotes is still a subject of debate.<ref name=online>{{cite web | title=The Handbook of Texas Online: Helotes, TX | url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlh38 | publisher=The Texas State Historical Association | access-date=26 December 2006}}</ref>

As the [[urban sprawl]] of San Antonio expanded and approached the outskirts of Helotes in the 1970s<!-- , residents determined to take their fate into their own hands -->. After a decade of planning and negotiation, Helotes became an [[Municipal corporation|incorporated city]] in October 1981.<ref name=cityinfo>{{cite web | title=City of Helotes: General Information | url=http://www.helotes-tx.gov/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={90E823C5-DC0D-4248-8316-49BB7CC9F557} | publisher=City of Helotes, Texas | access-date=26 December 2006}}</ref> To this day, residents struggle with the dilemma of maintaining the city's rugged country charm, while at the same time allowing for the development of modern suburban facilities and businesses.<ref name="cityhistory"/> Helotes was the hometown of late Texas State Senator [[Frank L. Madla]], who died after his home on the south side of San Antonio caught fire on November 24, 2006.<ref name=madla>{{cite web | title=Frank L. Madla | url=http://www.answers.com/topic/frank-l-madla | publisher=Answers.com | access-date=12 March 2007}}</ref>

===1953 tornado===
On [[April–May 1953 tornado outbreak sequence#April 28 event|April 28, 1953]], the town was hit by a violent 1-mi-wide (1.6 km) F4 tornado struck the city, damaging or destroying multiple structures. Two people were killed and 15 others were injured.<ref name="Helotes">{{cite report|author=National Weather Service|date=February 2020|url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=10121802|title=Texas Event Report: F4 Tornado|publisher=National Centers for Environmental Information|access-date=4 June 2020}}</ref>