Bradley Oaks Ranch

The historic Bradley Oaks Ranch, located in Bradford, Texas, covers nearly 1,500 acres and is home to a rich history of Texans. Owned by the Heppner family, Bradley Oaks Ranch is the campus for field work, research applications and gatherings of HERO students, professors and others devoted to improving life in Texas.

BRADLEY OAKS RANCH HISTORY

Learn about the proud history of heroes devoted to helping Texas at Bradley Oaks Ranch.

Founding Fathers, Football & Philanthropy:
The Bradley Oaks Ranch Story
1848: Texas founding father Sam Houston
1848 Friends in High Places

Texas founding father Sam Houston grants a third of a league of land to Captain John Lawrence Hall for his service in the Texas Independence and Republican armies and the Mexican War.

1848-1851: A horse-drawn carriage
1848-1851 A Challenging Commute

Hall clears the uninhabited tract of wilderness, traveling 50+ miles by horse between his farm and his hotel in Crockett, Texas.

1852: A farmer shoveling hay
1852 Blood, Sweat & Texas

Farming begins, launching 160+ years of farming and ranching work here, making it one of the longest continuously operating agricultural concerns in Texas.

1656: Cotton plants
1856 The Folks with the Oaks

Colonel Richard A.R. Hallum of South Carolina buys the property to grow cotton, planting its signature Oak Alley and naming the place “The Oaks.”

1900: Old-fashioned butter churn
1900 Butter Times

The Barnes family take ownership and add a dairy, run by matriarch Nannie Barnes.

1960s: Vintage Dallas Cowboys logo
1960s How ’bout Them Tycoons?

Texas oil and real estate tycoons the Murchison Brothers, one of whom owns the Dallas Cowboys, re-name the property “Glad Oaks,” turn it into a ranch, and let the Cowboys practice here.

2004: The historic Bradley Oaks Ranch
2004 Heppners & Heroes

The Heppner Family, now calling the property “Bradley Oaks Ranch,” make its resources available to university researchers in the HERO program focused on improving life for all Texans.

Facilities

Bradley Oaks Ranch has a range of facilities that make it an ideal campus for HERO researchers, both students and professors, to learn, conduct fieldwork and implement programs that apply their research to a wildlife habitat and working Texas ranch. It’s also a great place to gather together to share knowledge between all of the HERO University Members. In short, it’s a place that’s both for collaboration and use as a laboratory – a sort of Ranch Collaboratory.

Facilities include:

Art & Potters Studio

Amphitheater

Gymnasium

Swimming Pools

Gardening Center

Equine Facility – rodeo, game fields & racing tracks

Demonstration Kitchen

Riding & Party Barn

5+ miles of horse trails, nature paths and biking courses

Multiple spaces for conferences and gatherings

Commitment to Texas Habitats

Bradley Oaks Ranch includes a wildlife education center that allows visitors to learn about and observe animals and plants found only in East Texas and promotes the importance of conserving and maintaining native wildlife and the environment. In 2014, two American bald eagle nests were discovered on the property. Since then, it has served as a site for research on bald eagles, contributing data to the Texas Natural Diversity Database.

A bald eagle
Wildlife Management

The Ranch has implemented a wildlife management program to operate seamlessly with the ranch and farming operations. The primary interests include attracting local game including white-tailed deer, turkeys, doves and waterfowl. Secondary target species include encouragement of quail, all non-game birds and songbirds. The Ranch habitat provides food and cover for additional species including bobcats, coyotes, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, opossum, armadillo, eagles, owls, hawks, woodpeckers, water birds, and various rodent, reptile and amphibian species.

A wood duck
The Heppner Family

Learn more about the owners of Bradley Oaks Ranch and their commitment to Texas.

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