TOWN ON A ROLL

Ever heard of moving an entire town in one afternoon? It's possible, especially when the town consists of one train station and nothing else. Load it on to a flatcar, move it down the tracks a few miles to where you want it on property sold to you by rancher James R. Hebbron, and presto! - same town, new location. Now add some businesses, schools, a post office, a few churches, the Viggo Hotel, a drugstore, cattle breeders, an auction house, a bank, a courthouse, and a Franciscan seminary and you've got Hebbronville. Established in 1883, Hebbronville serves as the Jim Hogg county seat and has been designated the Vaquero Capital of Texas by the state legislature. The town hosts the annual Vaquero Fest in November, celebrating the Mexican cowboy with exhibitions and a rodeo. It is also home to Scotus College, once a preparatory college for the priesthood that moved from Mexico to Hebbronville in 1926. Today, Scotus College, part of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, serves as classrooms and guest quarters for visiting priests. The church and grounds are available for tours but the college's second-story, open-air walkway - a beautiful work of early architectural design - is reserved for Franciscan solitude.