Elmer Kleb was born on this farm and lived here his entire life.  But he never was a farmer.  When Elmer inherited the farm, he stopped the farming and let the place go back to nature.  He enjoyed the company of the birds and small animals.  He planted trees to encourage them.  Elmer Kleb never concerned himself much with mundane things like taxes.  Eventually he had a very large tax bill.  He probably would have been put through a forced sale but his plight attracted a lot of attention and Judge Jim Scanlan put him in receivership.  The judge appointed an attorney to manage Elmer's affairs.  His property was worth a lot more than he owed.  Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack was interested in it as a nature preserve.  The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and The Trust for Public Lands worked with the Commissioner and Elmer's attorney/guardian to

ELMER KLEB (1909 - 1999)

find the money to buy the farm.  The proceeds cleared the tax debt and provided a trust fund to take care of Elmer Kleb's needs for the rest of his life.

A small part of the property, well removed from the Kleb house, was opened as Kleb Woods Nature Preserve in 1994.  The purchase arrangement allowed Elmer to continue living in the house and he lived there until he died.  He was buried with the rest of this family in the nearby Roberts Cemetery.

Park consultants are working on a plan to extend the Nature Preserve to the remainder of the property, preserving the house and turning the area around it into a living history farm.  This part of the park is not yet open to the public.

The original section, opened in 1994, has a covered picnic area, 10 picnic sites, restrooms, paved parking, a walking trail and 10 camp sites where overnight camping by organized, supervised scout groups is permitted by reservation only.  More information is available at (281) 496-2177.