Homes of

Biry is a small settlement in the southeast quadrant of Medina County and part of Castro’s land grant. Land tracts belonged to these families: Andres, Bader, Baker, Bendele, Bieler, Bilhartz, Biry, Burrell, Cropp, Cycoske, Groff, Goll, Herring, Kaufman, Keifer, Mumme, Phene, Scherrer, Schmidt, Trevino, Vonflie and Werne.

Jacob Biry, his uncle Joseph Bilhartz, Henry Vonflie and Seth Howell began purchasing 160-320-acre tracts of land surrounding and including present-day Biry in 1871, according to Medina County Abstract Office records. The four men became close friends while working together in the freighting business and were the sons of Castro land grantees, except Seth Howell, who came to Texas from Arkansas after the Civil War.

Biry had no church or cemetery. Today, some descendants of Bilhartz, Biry, Howell and Vonflie still reside in the Biry community.

-Biry, Jacob. “Communities: Biry Community.” The History of Medina County, Texas, Rev. ed., vol. 1, Castro Colonies Heritage Association, Castroville, TX, 1994, pp. 60-61.