From oil dynasties to whole mountain ranges and properties never before offered for sale, these legacy Lone Star ranches have something extraordinary to offer.
By Katharine Jose, Managing Editor Jan 1, 2025
The Texas real estate market saw no shortage of often enormous, sometimes luxurious and truly compelling ranches go up for sale in 2024. Some had ties to famous names, like Astros legend Craig Biggio’s $12 million hunting ranch, which the Hall-of-Famer owned for 20 years, or the MV2, once part of T. Boone Pickens’ legendary Mesa Verde Ranch in the Panhandle. Others had unparalleled amenities, like the Whitehall Ranch in Navasota with its polo field and helipad—it was listed for a staggering $42 million in 2023 and then relisted at a somewhat more modest $24 million this year—or the poolside casitas of the $32 million Hunt River Ranch in Hunt, Texas. And it’s hard to forget the 3 Creeks Ranch, which a couple from Alaska cobbled together from three original Hill Country German ranches and then listed for an eye-watering $42.5 million.
But none of these fall into the category of the harder-to-find “historic ranch”—a property either passed down from generation to generation or with deep ties to the state’s history. Some historic Texas ranches are borderline world-famous, like the King Ranch, the Wagoneer, or the 6666 Ranch. But many others are smaller, less developed, (and without major licensing deals with American motor companies).
Here are 9 historic Texas ranches that hit the market in 2024, and are still available to buy in 2025. (Note that prices are sometimes lower today than the original listing price.)
Wylie Mountain Ranch
$27.2 million
At more than 32,000 acres, the Wylie Mountains Ranch in Van Horne is among the largest on the market, and it also includes basically the entire Wylie Mountain Range, named for one of the state’s earliest ranchers. Robert Kelsey Wylie arrived in Texas just a few years after statehood and founded what became the Wylie Mountain Ranch, growing his herd of sheep to 60,000.
Zodiac Ranch
$16.85 million
This 1,500-acre Texas Hill Country property has been owned by the same family for generations and is being publicly offered for sale for the first time ever. Zodiac’s natural environment, in addition to elevation changes that provide panoramic views, includes about a half-mile of frontage on the San Saba River and rolling hills covered in a variety of mature trees.
Baird Miller Creek Ranch
$11.5 million
The Baird Miller Creek Ranch has been owned by the famous bread-making family since 1951. At least three generations of Bairds have cared for the rolling grasslands, and the ranch is part of the Pedernales Valley conservation easement group, which is committed to safeguarding the area against fragmentation.
Anchor Land & Cattle
$5.6 million
Located just outside of Alpine in Brewster County, Anchor Land & Cattle is a working ranch that was also once part of the holdings of the legendary Kokernot ranching family, which at one time owned more than half a million acres in the region. Heirs to the Kokernot fortune were named in 2024 as still the 40th largest landowners in the U.S.
Dolen Ranch
$4.3 million
The 428-acre property, located less than a hour’s drive from Houston, has been operating as a farm and ranch since the early 1800s, and has been owned and managed by just one family for most of that time. That’s well before the railroad arrived in Cleveland (1900), and before the adjacent small unincorporated community of Dolen had a post office (1903, and that post office only lasted until 1914).