Question: What Texas county is home to an artificial bat roost built in 1918?
Answer: Kendall County. The Hygieostatic Bat Roost is one of 16 built by San Antonio bacteriologist Dr. Charles Campbell throughout Texas, Florida, Italy, and the Panama Canal Zone. Campbell built the structures to combat malaria, reasoning that large bat populations would reduce the presence of disease-spreading mosquitoes. After modifications were made to the initial design, the structures attracted bat colonies that significantly reduced local mosquito populations and virtually eliminated malaria in those areas. Bats were given protected status in Texas in 1917, and Campbell was nominated for a Nobel Prize. The Hygieostatic Bat Roost was designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1981 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Another bat roost presumably built by Campbell still stands in Orange, but it’s in a state of disrepair.
