Stagecoach Preserve in Westlake

Description

Some places transcend time while others help define it. Stagecoach Preserve, rich in natural and historical heritage does both. In the 1850s the Star Stagecoach line stopped here at a log cabin. The stop was named Plascido, by the U.S. Postal Service, likely after the last Tonkawa Chief. The area’s first rock home, a home that exists today and also may have been used as a stagecoach stop, was built from the local sandstone 100 feet from the cabin in the 1870’s. My grandparents, Stephen and Jacel Thornton, bought this estate in 1916 from a friend, Dr. Harold Johnson. My father was born upstairs in the frontier cottage in 1917 and given their friends name, Harold. In 1971 My Father developed the northern portion of the family property creating Stagecoach Hills, a unique airpark community which includes a half mile grass runway that runs along the west side of Stagecoach Hills and Stagecoach Preserve. Paula, my wife, and I purchased most of the remaining property to create this contiguous 30 acre “private park” which is now under wildlife management