Willow City Outlaw Hangout Strongbox — Gillespie County

Willow City on Willow Creek 11½ miles northeast of Fredericksburg was founded after the Civil War by Anglo ranchers including Andrew Moore, Jim Renick, and Pierce Smith — one of the few Gillespie County communities settled by English-speakers rather than Germans. The town prospered and gained an early reputation as a criminal hangout. Outlaw-hangout folklore places buried loot where remote trade posts and cotton gins handled cash far from Fredericksburg banking. John Warren Hunter taught school there in the 1880s and once wrestled a six-gun away from an angry student. Coordinates mark Willow City northeast of Fredericksburg on the Hill Country loop toward Enchanted Rock.