Driftwood Historical Conservation Society

The Driftwood Historical Conservation Society (DHCS) strives to preserve and enhance Driftwood and the Onion Creek Valley’s rural beauty, heritage, and sense of community and belonging. 

Driftwood and the Onion Creek Valley (OCV) are a proud and thriving 21st Century rural community containing environmentally pristine streams, conservation easements, karst geological conditions and endangered species habitat. Our agri-businesses have ranged from: silvi-culture from 1835-1850; cattle and goat livestock ranching from 1850-late 20th Century; and grape growing and production of products using grapes, yeast, barley, hops and malt from the late 20th century and into the 21st. Our society may acknowledge other means of livelihoods, but embraces the importance of the past and current generation’s agricultural and farming heritage.  

What is of equal importance to maintaining Driftwood’s rural environment is to maintain Driftwood’s agrarian social culture including its: deeply personal relationships to the environment and mankind; a strong sense of community and belonging; and preserving and enhancing the existing high social quality of life that transcends all race, religion, ethnicity, education, and age differences, to form a community of unity--the community of Driftwood residents. 

Maintaining the agrarian economy, social culture and natural environment is the foundational core of the DHCS and to the Driftwood/OCV residents.

• Retaining traffic arteries on the scale of Farm to Market or Ranch Roads
• Retaining native vegetation along all road arteries 
• Preserving and enhancing water quality for Edwards and Trinity aquifers and Onion Creek
• Developers openly working with the community by discussing early on with the DHCS what their ideas, intentions and plans are for the future development to help ensure they are welcomed into the community and are building a strong continuum for the preservation and enhancement of the agrarian economic, environmental and cultural community vision 
• Preserving endangered species habitat and conservation easements
• Adhering to the Dark Sky lighting initiative
• Following DHCS commercial signage guidance
• Preserving/restoring historical & heritage sites
• Building low density housing with greenspace preservation areas equal to 1 to 1 lot developments dedicated to: community gardens and chicken coops; family play and education areas; and publicly preserved native vegetation savannahs to share in independence with all of humanity, wildlife and botany.  

• Building multi-lane, MAD 4 highways
• Taking more right of way than needed for safe FM or RR transportation arteries
• Developers not sharing early on with the community what their plans are for development
• Cutting vegetation along all/any road arteries
• Diminishing/negatively impacting water quality for Edwards and Trinity aquifers and/or Onion Creek
• Installing billboards
• Not following Dark Sky initiative for commercial or residential development
• Obtrusive commercial signage that denigrates our rural landscape
• Negatively impacting any/all historical, heritage, or endangered species sites during development 
• Building high density housing 
• Removing more native vegetation/trees than needed for the actual development of the property.