Kerr County, Texas, to close for Columbus Day Oct. 14

The upcoming Monday, Oct. 14, Columbus Day holiday will mean that most local county governmental offices will be closed for the day.

Closing that day will be the Kerr County Courthouse, 700 Main Street in Kerrville, and the West Kerr County Courthouse Annex, 510 College Street in Ingram.

Emergency services, including law enforcement agencies, fire departments and EMS will continue without interruption.

Columbus Day became an official United States federal holiday in 1937, although it was observed unofficially as early as the 18th century to commemorates the 1492 landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.

Columbus, an Italian, set sail in August 1492 with the three ships – the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Bound for Asia, he and his crew were supported by the Spanish monarchy, in particular King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

Doing their bidding, Columbus was tasked with mapping out a western sea route to Asia. Instead, on Oct. 12, he landed and became the first European to explore the Americas.

The holiday will affect the schedule of the Kerr County Commissioners’ Court.

The five-member governing body normally meets in open session on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Because the Columbus Day holiday falls on Monday, Oct. 14, the court meeting that would normally be held on that date is now scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 15, starting at 9 a.m. An agenda detailing what topics of business will be handled during that meeting will be posted at the end of the preceding week on the Public Notices page.

Those who are interested in their county government’s actions, but who cannot attend the meeting in person, are invited to watch it live or recorded at on the county’s YouTube channel.

Also resuming business on Tuesday will be other offices. For hours of specific departments, refer to their individual pages on the county’s website.

Following the Columbus Day holiday, the next scheduled closing of county offices will be for Veterans Day on Monday, Nov. 11.

Other holidays on the 2024 calendar are: Thursday and Friday, Nov. 28-29 (Thanksgiving) and Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 24-25 (Christmas).