A visitor to Bandera can see a sign on Main Street, in front of the fire department, which states that Bandera was founded by PolishRoman Catholic immigrants from Upper Silesia. St. Stanislaus Catholic Church was built by those immigrants, and the church is one of the oldest in Texas. Many of the residents are descended from those original Polish immigrants. Several stories exist regarding the origin of the name "Bandera". One says that in the 19th century, a flag was placed at the top of a path that came to be called Bandera Pass, due to bandera being the Spanish and Polish word for flag. Bandera was the starting point of the Great Western Cattle Trail, during the second half of the 19th century.
As of the census of 2000, there were 957 people, 408 households, and 239 families residing in the city. The population density was. There were 488 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 94.98% White, 0.21% African American, 0.52% Native American, 2.51% from other races, and 1.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.84% of the population. There were 408 households, out of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.86. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.5% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 25.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,089, and the median income for a family was $36,500. Males had a median income of $27,604 versus $17,813 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,502. About 11.0% of families and 15.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.0% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.
Bandera is featured in the 1980 CBS unsold pilotJake's Way which starred Robert Fuller, Michael Jaymes, Andrew Duggan, the late Slim Pickens, and newcomers Lisa LeMole, Stephen McNaughton and Ben Lemon and was produced by Disney Television Studios and Barry & Enright Production.
On Sunday mornings, Bandera is a popular destination for motorcyclists from San Antonio, known as the Bandera Breakfast Run.
Bandera is home to the Bandera Riverfest that takes place in June each year on the Medina River, offering tubing, kayaking, cookoffs, and live music throughout the weekend.
Willie Nelson has an instrumental called "Bandera" on his Red Headed Stranger record.
"The Bandera Waltz" was written by Easy Adams in 1949, and has been recorded by the Texas Top Hands, Slim Whitman, and Bruce Robison.
Bandera is the hometown of singer-songwriter brothers Bruce Robison and Charlie Robison.
The rugged Hill Country State Natural Area is the location of the Bandera 100K trail run and the Cactus Rose 100-mile endurance run, two of the toughest ultramarathons in Texas. Both are hosted annually by race director and veteran trail runner Joe Prusaitis.
The Bandera Downs horse racing facility lies just northeast of town. It is now closed.
