In the mid 1850's, as Kerr County was establishing a new county seat, a small community to the south was being established as a major trade area between Comfort and Kerrsville (later changed to Kerrville) and Bandera and Fredericksburg.

On November 25, 1859, the first post office was established and called Zanzenberg after the ancestral home of the town founder Dr. Charles Ganahl. Originally opened in the home of Dr. Ganahl, the post office stayed there until 1872 when it was moved to the south side of the Guadalupe River, where a sizable community was building. When the post office was reopened it was called Center Point due to its location on the trade routes mentioned above.

Founded largely by settlers from western Tennessee, the community continued to grow as relatives and neighbors from Tennessee converged on the banks of the Guadalupe to call Zanzenburg/Center Point their new home. On September 1, 1857, the first native of Center Point came into this world when Daniel C. Nowlin, son of Dr. James Crispin Nowlin and Ann Gathings Nowlin, was born. Daniel served as Kerr County Surveyor, sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, and then to Wyoming where he was a prominent sheep rancher until his death on February 5, 1925.

The first attempt at incorporating Center Point came on August 9, 1889 for "school purposes" as cited in minutes of Kerr County Commissioners Court, Book D Pages 385-387.

The 1900 population of Center Point was estimated at 500 with most essential businesses and a few of the non-essential variety. Center Point was an active trading center for area ranches and farms through the 1920s.

The area’s reputation as a retirement haven goes back a long way. It became a popular place for former Texas Rangers to retire and many tombstones in the town’s cemetery have small metal crosses alongside them – signifying a Ranger’s grave.

Center Point spent decades minding its business and enjoying life alongside the river. The population which was estimated at 800 in the mid 1980s, fell to 625 for the 1990 census but has since rebounded back to 800.

At the turn of the century Center Point was a thriving trade center and remained so until like so many communities in America it became the victim of progress as the emergence of new highways passed it by. Once again, on March 1, 1913, Center Point voted itself an incorporated city, appointed a mayor, city clerk, commissioners’ health officer, and then, in October of the same year, dissolved itself by a popular vote of the people. It remained unincorporated until the mid 1990's, when it was once again voted that incorporation was the way to go. Within less than two years, it was once again voted that the incorporation should be dissolved. As such Center Point remains as one of the largest unincorporated cities in the state of Texas.