RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Christoval. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.
Use two fingers to move or zoom the map.
No artists from Christoval in the database yet.
Know one? Add it →Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Christoval.
Pugh River Park in Christoval, Texas, is a public park that offers visitors access to the South Concho River. The park is situated along three-quarters of a mile of riverfront, providing a natural setting for recreation and relaxation. The South Concho River, which runs through Christoval, serves as a water supply to the surrounding area and is a key feature of the park's ecosystem.
The South Concho River at Pugh River Park is flanked by a shoreline covered with large oak trees. These trees provide a habitat for various species of birds and mammals, contributing to the park's biodiversity. The presence of rope swings hanging from the oak trees is a unique feature, allowing visitors to engage with the park's natural environment in a playful way, while also learning about the strength and flexibility of these trees.
Pugh River Park is known to attract crowds of over 500 people on summer weekends, highlighting its importance as a recreational destination in West Texas. The park's popularity can be attributed to its natural beauty and the opportunity it provides for public access to the South Concho River. The river's flow, which is part of the park's geological process, is a testament to the area's hydrological cycle and the role of such water bodies in supporting local ecosystems and human activities.
Frontiersmen began to immigrate into the south Concho Valley in 1870s, locating along the "Toe Nail" trail from Fort McKavett to Fort Concho. By mid-1880s the settlement began to develop and a Union Church was organized, the South Concho Irrigation Co. was established in 1885, and built a dam and 3 miles of canals to furnish water to dry farmland. Christopher C. Doty (1857-1944), who had arrived in Texas in 1879, opened a store and applied for a post office in 1888, after rejection of application for "Alice", due to another office of that name, Doty suggested "Christobal" (Spanish for Christopher). Confirmation of establishment of the office and Doty's appointment as postmaster arrived in Jan, 1889, but the spelling of the name had been changed to Christoval. After flood in Aug. 1906, a tract of bottomland was purchased for a city park, which became popular Baptist campground and site of Confederate reunions, both attended by thousands of regional residents. A bath house, built in 1915 at nearby mineral wells, was first of several local health facilities. Arrival of the Panhandle & Santa Fe Railroad, in 1930, made Christoval a shipping point for area sheep, wool, and cattle industries. (1973).
According to local history, Christoval Methodists, Baptists, and Cumberland Presbyterians assembled for worship services in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church building before 1910. Circuit riders from the three denominations preached on alternate Sundays. Although Baptists built their own structure in 1910, area Methodists continued to worship with Cumberland Presbyterians for many years. The records of the Christoval Methodist congregation date from 1923. In 1926, with the Rev. J. E. Young as pastor, the Methodists erected and occupied a red brick structure at the corner of Second and McKee streets. Fundraising projects at several Fourth of July celebrations helped to defray the cost of the building loan. In early years church women organized the Women's Missionary Society. Their first major project was to raise money for the Methodist Orphans' Home. A Men's Nondenominational Sunday School class was established in 1951. A parsonage was built in 1947 at a cost of $1,200; an educational building was erected in 1956. Further additions and renovations were made as needed, including the construction of three classrooms given in memory of Clarice Atkins McMillan in 1983. Former pastors and longtime members were honored at a church homecoming in 1978 and a 75th anniversary celebration in 1998. With continuing activities of worship and community service including an annual barbecue hosted by the Men's Nondenominational Sunday School class, the Christoval United Methodist Church carries on in the traditions of its founders. (1998)
Settlement of this area began in the 1860s and increased in the 1870s and 1880s following the establishment of Fort Concho in nearby San Angelo. The town of Christoval began to develop by 1885. The South Concho Baptist congregation was organized in 1889 with four charter members. The Rev. T. R. Leggett served as first pastor, and the congregation met in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, built by a group of citizens and used as a Union Church. Located on a hill on the corner of present Church St and Rudd, the Union Church was the site of regular worship services, with various clergy officiating. The name of the South Concho Baptist congregation was changed to Christoval Baptist Church in 1906. Four years later the membership voted to build its own facility, and an octagonal wooden tabernacle was erected. In 1911, the first annual summer Christoval Baptist encampment was held on the banks of the South Concho River. A new church building was dedicated in 1925 during the August camp meeting. Due to the financial strains of the Depression, the campground was sold in 1932. This church remains an important part of the Christoval community. (1989)
Ben Ficklin (Benficklin), seat of Tom Green County from 1875 to 1882, was located five miles south of Fort Concho on the east bank of the South Concho River. In 1868 Maj. Benjamin F. Ficklin bought from John O. Meusebach 640 acres on the South Concho near the spring from which Fort Concho hauled its drinking water. There Ficklin built headquarters for his San Antonio-El Paso Mail line. Francis Corbett Taylor, a close friend of Ficklin, came from Alabama to take charge of the Concho mail station. After Ficklin's sudden death in Washington, D.C., on March 10, 1871, Taylor carried on the prospering stage line. In 1873, with William Stephen Kelly and Charles B. Metcalfe , he laid out a town a mile up the river and named it Ben Ficklin in honor of his friend. Kelly, also from Alabama, built the first house. The post office was established on August 27, 1873, with Henry M. Taylor as postmaster. Taylor and Kelly were among the commissioners appointed to organize Tom Green County in 1874. In January 1875 they led a successful campaign to make Ben Ficklin the county seat, against the stiff challenge of San Angela (now San Angelo). Taylor had the support of stage line employees, Fort Concho officers, area ranchmen, and the growing numbers of business and professional men who, with their families, had been attracted to the new town. San Angela's saloons, gambling houses, and prostitutes were popular with soldiers, cowboys, and buffalo hunters. Ben Ficklin's first courthouse was donated by Taylor and Sheriff James Spears. An adobe building housed a subscription school, and lots were donated for future church buildings. Three stores and a hotel were soon erected. Around 600 people were living in Ben Ficklin when Taylor died in 1879. A two-story stone courthouse was completed in February 1882. Heavy rains the night of August 23, 1882, swelled Dove Creek, Spring Creek, the Middle Concho, and the South Concho, already high because of a wet summer, out of their banks. Their combined waters roared down on Ben Ficklin at midmorning on August 24, and the town was destroyed. On the flat, only the courthouse, the jail, and two houses remained standing. Up the hill, fifteen houses and the schoolhouse remained. Sixty-five people were drowned. County offices and the post office were moved to San Angela, which became the county seat in 1883 with the new name San Angelo. Some survivors moved to Sherwood; others found jobs and free homesites in San Angelo. Two families continued to live at Ben Ficklin, a favorite swimming and picnicking spot, into the new century. The Ben Ficklin cemetery, on a hill overlooking new residences, holds the graves of flood victims and of F. C. Taylor and his wife, reinterred there after the flood dislodged their coffins. The Texas Historical Commission erected a marker at the townsite in 1965.
Ben Ficklin, Civil War blockade runner and stage operator, son of Benjamin and Ellen (Slaughter) Ficklin, was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, on December 18, 1827. He entered Virginia Military Institute on July 7, 1845, and even though he was temporarily kicked out for breaking rules and playing pranks, he graduated on July 4, 1849, after stopping to serve in the Mexican War as a corporal in 1846-47. He subsequently taught school for a time and then began operating stage lines. In 1857, under the command of Albert Sidney Johnston , he traveled on an expedition to Utah to settle trouble with the Mormons . In 1859 he helped organize and became general superintendent of the Central and Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company. In this role he became known as the originator of the Pony Express. Ficklin returned to Virginia to become state quartermaster general in April 1861. In 1861-62 he served in the Virginia campaign and was a staff officer at the battle of Malvern Hill. Later in 1862 he was sent west of the Mississippi River to control the Indians and lawless Whites. He assisted in the organization of the John B. Floyd Brigade and until the end of the war, as a Confederate purchasing agent, bought supplies in Europe for the Confederate government, including a steamer for running the blockade to carry cotton overseas. Ficklin was arrested for suspicion of complicity in Abraham Lincoln's assassination but was released a few months afterward, thanks to the efforts of a friend, Senator Orville Browning, from Illinois. After the war Ficklin received a government contract for a weekly mail service from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to San Antonio, Texas, with a branch line to El Paso. He established the Concho Mail Station, headquarters for his stage operations, near the site of Fort Concho, in what is now Tom Green County. The stage stand grew into the community of Ben Ficklin, the county seat of Tom Green County in 1874. Ficklin died in Georgetown, D.C., on March 10, 1871, and was buried with Masonic honors in Maplewood Cemetery, Charlottesville, Virginia.
124 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
You're driving through Christoval, Texas, a community with a name that might surprise you. It's supposedly named for Christopher Columbus Doty, an early settler, but the name itself is Spanish for 'Christopher's Water.'…
Christoval (Christoval, TX) placed on the 2A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Ryler Hunt (2 HR).
Frontiersmen began to immigrate into the south Concho Valley in 1870s, locating along the "Toe Nail" trail from Fort McKavett to Fort Concho. By mid-1880s the settlement began to develop and a Union Church was…
Pugh River Park in Christoval, Texas, is a public park that offers visitors access to the South Concho River. The park is situated along three-quarters of a mile of riverfront, providing a natural setting for recreation…
According to local history, Christoval Methodists, Baptists, and Cumberland Presbyterians assembled for worship services in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church building before 1910. Circuit riders from the three…
Settlement of this area began in the 1860s and increased in the 1870s and 1880s following the establishment of Fort Concho in nearby San Angelo. The town of Christoval began to develop by 1885. The South Concho Baptist…
One of the most notable events in Christoval's history was the devastating flood that hit the South Concho River on September 17, 1936. The flood destroyed the Baptist encampment facility and parts of the town,…
Knickerbocker, a community in Tom Green County, Texas, has a rich history. It was named after Washington Irving's character Diedrich Knickerbocker by early settlers related to Irving. The community quickly became…
You're driving past the site of a former stagecoach stop that served as a vital thread of life for this remote region. From 1894 to 1909, Theodore Jackson Savell operated a stage line here, running between San Angelo…
You're cruising through Knickerbocker, a town that started with a bang in the 1870s. Farmers and ranchers were drawn to the fertile land along Dove Creek. The Baze brothers kicked things off in 1875, digging an…
You're driving through Knickerbocker, where education has been a priority for over a century. As early as 1877, children rode horseback to the Baze Subscription School, a one-room adobe building that operated for over…
You're driving through what was once the wild frontier, right where Christopher Columbus Doty became the very first permanent citizen of Schleicher County in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1879</say-as>. He…
You're driving past San Angelo, and you're passing the legacy of John R. Nasworthy. This Georgia-born pioneer fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War before heading to Texas. He became a key figure in West Texas,…
You're driving through the Dove Creek Battlefield area, site of a fierce clash on January 8, 1865. Two thousand Native Americans fought against Texas Rangers and State Troops. Four officers and 22 men who fell here lie…
You're driving past Site of Bismarck Farm. First plot of land to be cultivated in Tom Green County; projected as a German colony and named for Otto Von Bismarck, the strong-willed "Iron Chancellor" of Germany who was…
Ben Ficklin (Benficklin), seat of Tom Green County from 1875 to 1882, was located five miles south of Fort Concho on the east bank of the South Concho River. In 1868 Maj. Benjamin F. Ficklin bought from John O.…
Ben Ficklin, Civil War blockade runner and stage operator, son of Benjamin and Ellen (Slaughter) Ficklin, was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, on December 18, 1827. He entered Virginia Military Institute on July 7,…
You're driving through what is now Tom Green County, named for a man who fought in some of Texas's most pivotal battles. Thomas Green arrived in Texas in 1835, just in time to fight in the Battle of San Jacinto, helping…
You're driving through the heart of Texas, and right beneath your tires, for a time, ran one of the greatest cattle highways in history: the Western Trail. Blazed in 1874 by John T. Lytle, this route stretched from…
Sanatorium is in Tom Green County sixteen miles northwest of San Angelo on U.S. Highway 87. It was never an incorporated town, instead, it was a relatively self-sufficient tuberculosis sanatorium. The postmark…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here, the Concho River. It's named for the Spanish word for 'shell,' and for good reason. Back in 1650, explorers Hernán Martín and Diego del Castillo found huge quantities…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here, you're passing through the birthplace of a major wool industry hub. In the spring of 1877, Joseph Tweedy and his partners drove the very first sheep into this area,…
Bohemia was on the banks of the Main (Middle) Concho River south of the road from San Angelo to Arden and on the old road from San Angelo to Sherwood in west central Tom Green County. George Hagelstein, who owned 12,000…
Knickerbocker is at the junction of Farm roads 2335 and 584, six miles from the Irion county line and eighteen miles west of San Angelo in southwestern Tom Green County. It was named for Diedrich Knickerbocker, narrator…
Vancourt is a farming and ranching community on U.S. Highway 87 twenty miles southeast of San Angelo in Tom Green County. In 1908 the community postmaster estimated the Vancourt population as 125; the 1980 federal…
Veribest is on Farm Road 380 eleven miles east of San Angelo in eastern Tom Green County. Isaac "Ike" Mullins, who came to the county some time before 1875, gave the land for a school and the Mullins Cemetery, where he…
Water Valley is on U.S. Highway 87 and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway twenty-two miles northwest of San Angelo in northwestern Tom Green County. Among the early area settlers was Capt. William Turner, who…
You're driving past the site of Ben Ficklin, a frontier outpost named for Major Ben Ficklin himself. He was a frontiersman and a big name in mail and stagecoach contracts, even helping to launch the Pony Express!…
You're driving past the site of a true Texas original, Major Ben Ficklin! He was called the 'Mystery Man of the Confederacy,' a VMI grad who fought in the Mexican War and helped launch the Pony Express. Ficklin even…
You're driving past the Ben Ficklin Cemetery, a final resting place for many Tom Green County pioneers. This site replaced an older burial ground that was washed away in a devastating flood on August 24th, 1882. The…
You're driving through Tom Green County, a place whose story begins way back in 1842 as part of a land grant. It was officially created in 1874 and named for General Thomas Green, a veteran of San Jacinto who also…
You're driving past the Wall Brethren Church, a community with roots stretching back to the summer of 1929. Czech-speaking Brethren families, moving from places like Granger and Taylor, found a new home here. Initially,…
Wall, Texas, has a rich history dating back to the mid-1880s when it was first settled under various names like Lipan School, Little School, and Murray's Store. The community was named Wall after James Madison Wall Sr.,…
You're near Wall High School in Wall. Last December, they took down Newton twenty-five to twenty-four to win the Texas 3A Division II state football championship. They wear that crown until this December, when the next…
Wall High School (Wall, TX): Most recent: 25-24 over Newton · 2025 3A Division 2 final.
Wall (Wall, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Hagyn Barbee (0.598 avg, 3 HR); Reid Ballard (0.458 avg, 5 HR); Jack Jeys (3 HR); Konnor Kanak (2 HR); Wyatt Jost (0.470…
You're driving past Kiwanis Little Olympics. On April 21, 1942, the first Little Olympics began as a community service project organized by the San Angelo Kiwanis Club. The event let grade school-aged children prepare…
Wall, Texas, is not named for any wall. It is named for a man. This little town on U.S. eighty seven, ten miles southeast of San Angelo, went through three other names first. It started out as Lipan School, then became…
Since you're in Wall, Texas, here's the wall tangent. The town is named for a storekeeper, J. M. Wall, but the most famous wall on Earth is hiding a surprise. The Great Wall of China is not one wall. It is a series of…
Since you're in Wall, Texas, here's the wall tangent. Wall got its name from J. M. Wall, its first postmaster, but there is an ancient wall that was a whole frontier. In A D one hundred twenty two, in the reign of the…
Since you're in Wall, Texas, here's the wall tangent. This town is named for J. M. Wall, a storekeeper, but the most famous wall of the twentieth century went up on August thirteenth, nineteen sixty one. That day, the…
Since you're in Wall, Texas, here's the wall tangent. The Texas town is named for J. M. Wall, but the most famous street with the same name really was named for a wall. In the sixteen hundreds, the tip of Manhattan was…
Since you're in Wall, Texas, here's the wall tangent. Wall is named for a storekeeper, but some of the hardest working walls you drive past every day are not keeping anybody out. They are holding up the ground. A…
Since you're in Wall, Texas, here's the wall tangent. Wall takes its name from J. M. Wall, the town's first postmaster, but one of the most famous walls in any story never held up a roof. It held a message. When people…
You're driving through San Angelo, passing the site of the Johnson Street Church of Christ. A congregation began meeting here in 1900 after a revival, forming the nucleus of the Harris Avenue Church of Christ. They…
Why is San Angelo sheep country? Start with the ground. The Edwards Plateau has thin soils, poor for farming and very good for grazing. The Handbook of Texas sorts it this way: the best range goes to cattle, the next…
You're driving past what used to be Fort Concho, right here near San Angelo. This frontier post was established in 1867 to protect the region from Native American raids. For over twenty years, soldiers lived and worked…
You're driving through San Angelo, Texas, where a local hero named Jack W. Mathis made the ultimate sacrifice during World War II. On March 18, 1943, Mathis was serving as the lead bombardier on a B-17 flying over…
You're driving through Central Texas, perhaps near Lockhart, where a preacher once died mid-sermon. Andrew Jackson Potter, known as the 'fighting parson,' was a Methodist circuit rider who served the Texas frontier for…
You're driving through Williamson County, the birthplace of a Texas legend known as 'Booger Red.' Samuel Thomas Privett, Jr. was born here in 1864. But a childhood accident changed his face forever, earning him the…
You're driving through San Angelo, where Maggie Fulleylove Starks carved out a legacy against all odds. Back in the 1920s, she noticed the funeral homes here weren't giving the Black community the respect and care they…
You're driving through San Angelo, the "godmother" of this West Texas city. Eva Camúñez Tucker was the first Mexican American woman to graduate from San Angelo High in 1930. She faced segregation early on, even…
You're driving through San Angelo, and right here is a place that owes a lot to Clara Starr Pope Willoughby. Born in 1902, she was a descendant of Republic of Texas Secretary of the Treasury James Harper Starr. But…
Right here in San Angelo, Texas, in 1948, a groundbreaking moment for women in sports happened. Thirty-eight women met at the St. Angelus Hotel to form the Girls Rodeo Association, which we now know as the Women's…
You're driving near San Angelo, Texas, and right here is a story about Ellen Beck Goldsby Lynch. She was a laundress for the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the Tenth Cavalry, stationed at Fort Concho. Life was tough, and in…
María Guevara Cárdenas, Chicana politician, activist, and feminist, daughter of Fernando Guevara and Paz (Manchaca) Guevara, was born on January 20, 1935, in Tivoli, Texas. As one of nine children in a family of migrant…
The Dunbar Library in San Angelo, Texas, was the first and only library in that city for African Americans during segregation . The Tom Green County Library was founded in 1929, but the public library excluded people of…
You're driving through West Texas, maybe near San Angelo, and you're passing through a landscape that once offered hope for people battling a deadly disease. Right here, Dr. Boyd Cornick, a physician himself, arrived in…
You're driving near San Angelo, home to Goodfellow Air Force Base. It all started back in 1940 as San Angelo Field, a pilot training site. Just a year later, it was renamed Goodfellow Field to honor John J. Goodfellow,…
You're driving through Texas, and right here, you're passing through the hometown of a Tejano music legend: Tony 'Ham' Guerrero. Born in San Angelo in 1944, Guerrero found his passion for the trumpet early. He went on…
You're driving through Tom Green County, and right here in San Angelo, you're passing through the stomping grounds of J. Willis Johnson. He arrived in the area around 1874, initially hunting buffalo. But Johnson wasn't…
You're driving through San Angelo, and right here, Charles B. Metcalfe started his Texas life in 1873, just a young man in charge of a mule drive heading for Fort Worth. He ended up working the 700-mile frontier route…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here, in what is now San Angelo, you're passing the old stomping grounds of McArthur Cullen Ragsdale, a pioneer photographer. In 1875, he set up shop on the main trail of the…
You're driving through San Angelo, the heart of West Texas, where the buildings themselves tell stories. And one of the key storytellers was Oscar Ruffini. He arrived here in <say-as interpret-as="date"…
You're driving through San Angelo right now, and you're passing a legacy that started with a promise. John Moore Shannon and his wife, Margaret, moved here in 1893 and decided to leave their entire estate to build a…
You're driving through the Concho River basin, and right here is where Annie Ellen Allen Tankersley made her mark. Arriving in Texas in 1853, she and her husband eventually settled near what is now San Angelo, becoming…
You're driving through Tom Green County, a place that's seen centuries of history unfold. Long before Texas was a republic, Spanish explorers were visiting the native Jumano people here along the Concho River, even…
You're driving through San Angelo, a town born right on the frontier. It all started in the late 1860s, just across the North Concho River from Fort Concho. The founder, Bart DeWitt, set up a trading post that would…
If you have heard about the Concho Shale, here is a gentle correction. The shale that put San Angelo in the oil news was the Cline Shale, and part of it lies under western Tom Green County. In April two thousand twelve…
You're driving through San Angelo, home to Angelo State University. It started way back in 1928 as San Angelo College, a junior college right in the heart of the school district. It wasn't until 1963 that the state…
You're driving through San Angelo, a city that was home to Andrew Jackson Baker, a man who wrestled with millions of acres of Texas land. Baker served as Texas Land Commissioner in the late 1890s, a time when the state…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here in San Angelo, you're passing through the stomping grounds of Louis Lee Farr, Sr. Born in Greenville in 1865, Farr moved to San Angelo in 1884 and became a true builder…
You're driving through San Angelo, the city that became the heart of a media empire. Houston Harte, a Missouri transplant, bought the San Angelo Evening Standard back in 1920. Just seven years later, he partnered up to…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here, the story of the Concho, San Saba and Llano Valley Railroad comes alive. Chartered in 1909, this railroad aimed to connect the region, with its main office right here…
You're driving through what is now Tom Green County, and right here is where Captain Edmund Duggan spent the last decades of his life. Duggan fought with Hood's Texas Brigade in the Civil War, starting as a lieutenant…
You're driving through West Texas, the land of wide-open spaces and rugged individualism. Right here, you're passing through country that shaped men like Edwin S. Mayer. Born in San Antonio in 1896, Mayer found his…
You're driving through San Angelo, and right here is O. C. Fisher Lake. It was originally called San Angelo Lake, built by the Army Corps of Engineers starting in 1947 and finished by 1952. This massive earthen dam…
Headquartered at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA) was formed in 2002 by several scholars, collectors, gallerists, and other devotees, most notably…
You're driving through San Angelo, and right here is the story of Daniel Millar. He arrived in Texas way back in 1831, settling the land years before it was even a republic. Millar then served in the Texas War for…
You're driving past Calvary Catholic Cemetery, established on June 12, 1893. The first burial that month was Yrinia Buendia. Graves with earlier dates are transferred burials. A memorial altar was added in 1960.
You're driving through San Angelo, and right here is Delta Memorial Park Cemetery. Established in 1928, it served as a vital resting place for the African American community in this part of West Texas. For decades, it…
You're driving past Fairmount Cemetery in San Angelo, a place that's seen more than 33,000 burials since it opened as the 'New City Cemetery' in 1893. The first to be laid to rest here was Elise Bond, wife of a city…
You're driving past the resting place of John Ingram, a true Texas hero. Ingram fought bravely at the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive clash that won Texas its independence. He was born way up in Kentucky back in…
You're driving past Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church. On Nov. 23 1929, a group of Greek residents in San Angelo made the first attempt to organize the Greek community in the area by creating the…
You're driving past Congregation Beth Israel in San Angelo. In the late 1800s, Jewish families were already meeting for religious services here, though without a formal building. By 1926, there were about 35 Jewish…
After the Civil War, the United States Army created four all-Black regiments and sent them to the frontier posts of West Texas. The Ninth and Tenth Cavalry established their headquarters at Fort Concho, and they became…
You're driving through San Angelo, and just ahead is the former site of the Massie home. Mary Lee Payne Massie, born under pioneer conditions, faced hardship, even losing her wardrobe crossing a river! But she…
Imagine a time when the Texas frontier was a wild, untamed land, and this very spot was a crucial defense against raids and conflict. Fort Concho was established in 1867 at the junction of the North and South Concho…
You're driving past the Orient-Santa Fe Depot, a grand old building that was once the heart of a grand dream. Built in 1909 by the Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railway, this was meant to be a vital link in a…
You're driving past the site of Fort Concho, a vital frontier post established in 1867. This sandstone fort was the center of a line protecting the Texas border and served as a base for famous commanders like General…
The center of a line of forts extending from the northeastern border of Texas to El Paso. Was also northern point of southern chain of forts extending to Rio Grande, thence along that river to its mouth. Established…
You're driving past San Angelo, where history gallops on. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1867</say-as>, Congress created the Tenth Cavalry, an all-black unit led by white officers. Facing discrimination,…
You're driving through San Angelo, and just ahead is a site that rose from disaster. In September of 1936, a massive flood surged down the South Concho River, wrecking much of the city, including its parks and swimming…
You're driving past the Maier House, a beautiful Victorian home built in 1891. Originally erected by George W. Brockman, it was purchased in 1893 by Edward Maier, a rancher and businessman. Maier remodeled the house…
Fort Concho is one of the best-preserved frontier military posts in the American West, and the men who served here were among the most remarkable soldiers in the U.S. Army. Built in 1867 at the junction of the North and…
You're driving through San Angelo, and right here is the heart of Tom Green County, named for a Texas hero who saw action from the Republic's early days right through the Civil War. Tom Green was a veteran of the Battle…
You're driving past San Angelo, where John Yellott Rust built a telecommunications empire from the ground up. Born in Virginia, Rust learned the telegraph business as a young man, even helping build a line from New York…
You're driving through the heart of what was once the original Tom Green County, a vast territory that dwarfed Rhode Island ten times over! This land, part of the Republic of Texas until 1846, was a crucial stop on the…
You're driving past the site of some of San Angelo's earliest permanent buildings, constructed during an 1880s economic boom. Look for the Victorian architecture! The San Angelo National Bank got a fancy sandstone…
Blaine's Pub on West Harris Avenue is San Angelo's original live music venue, open since 1997 and a regular stop on the Texas Country, Red Dirt, and Americana circuit. It's an intimate room: one long bar and a small…
The Concho River runs through San Angelo, and it runs through Philip Lupton's songs too. He's half of Briscoe — a folk-rock duo he named after his grandfather. He and Truett Heintzelman, a San Antonio kid, met as middle…
You're driving through San Angelo, and just a bit ago, you passed the site of a major victory for women's rights in Texas. Charles B. Metcalfe, who came to Texas in 1872 and helped map out the original county seat, Ben…
San Angelo, though a modern city now, owes much of its character to its roots as a frontier town, and specifically to the wool and mohair industry. The story starts with Fort Concho in 1867. The fort brought people, and…
You're driving through San Angelo, and right here is the site of the very first church building in town. Catholic priests had visited this area for centuries, but it wasn't until after Fort Concho was established in…
You're driving past the site of San Angelo's first United Methodist Church. Organized in November of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1882</say-as>, this congregation rose from the ashes of a flood that destroyed…
You're driving past Emmanuel Episcopal Church in San Angelo, a place with roots stretching back to the frontier days of Fort Concho. The very first Episcopal services in this area were held way back in 1871, right at…
Here is a story about Fort Concho after dark. A frontier officer wrote about a typical night at a cavalry camp on the Texas plains, and it reads less like a military post and more like a campfire horror story. He wrote,…
You're driving through San Angelo, and right here is where a newspaper was born that helped shape this whole region. Back in 1884, two guys who worked at the 'San Angelo Enterprise' decided to start their own thing.…
In San Angelo, the overpass at North Bryant and Highway Eighty Seven is named for Robert A. Junell, known as Rob. Junell was first elected to the Texas House in nineteen eighty eight and represented San Angelo for seven…
You're driving past the site of San Angelo's First Presbyterian Church. It was organized in 1885 by the Rev. J. H. Zivley with seven members, meeting in the local Methodist church. The current brick sanctuary was…
You're driving past the site of San Angelo's First Baptist Church. Missionary work began here in 1881, and a formal congregation formed in 1883. Despite droughts, cyclones, and the army abandoning Fort Concho, the…
You're cruising through San Angelo, and right here is the former home of Fred Beck, a German immigrant who made his mark on this town. Beck arrived in San Angelo in 1886 and purchased this very homesite in 1889. Just a…
You're driving past Site of Verand. The first town in Schleicher County, Verand was established about 1890 near the headquarters of the Vermont Ranch. Although short-lived, the town, platted in 86 lots, included a…
You're driving past the old Sherwood Courthouse, built between 1900 and 1901. This was the first permanent courthouse for Irion County, and it wasn't just for legal business! It hosted dances, community events, and even…
You're driving past the Eckert House in San Angelo, a home built with a unique touch. In 1910, German immigrants Oscar and Martha Eckert bought this lot. Oscar, a jack-of-all-trades who was a farmer, tinsmith, windmill…
As you pass through San Angelo, look for the impressive collection of stone buildings just south of the river. That’s Fort Concho, the reason this city exists. Established in 1867, this wasn't a log stockade, but a…
If you find yourself on Concho Avenue in downtown San Angelo, you're standing on what was once the rowdiest street in West Texas. Saloons, gambling, and the trade that follows a cavalry post across the river gave the…
The Concho River, flowing through the heart of San Angelo, looks peaceful and planned. That's because it is. Historically the river was unreliable, raging with floodwater one year and running near dry the next. Half the…
The rivers that run through San Angelo hold a unique secret: the Concho Pearl. These aren't your typical white ocean pearls; they are natural, freshwater pearls that can range in color from pink to lavender to a deep…
Mertzon, a town perched high on the West Texas plains, might seem like just another dot on the map, but the dry air here has nurtured more than just hardy ranchers and tough cattle. At over two thousand feet above sea…
You're driving past the site of the Cornick Bungalows in San Angelo. In 1907, Dr. Boyd Cornick built thirty cottages here, pioneering a new treatment for tuberculosis. His methods focused on rest, a dry climate, and…
You're driving past the site of the Dove Creek Battle, a fierce clash on January 8, 1865. Confederate troops and Texas militiamen fought for five hours against a large party of Kickapoo Indians making their way to…
You're driving through Irion County, created back in 1889 and organized just a few weeks later. It's named for Robert Anderson Irion, who came to Texas in 1833 and served in the first Texas Congress and as Secretary of…
You're rolling through Mertzon, the county seat of Irion County. This town owes its very existence to the railroad. It was established as a post office back in 1908, named for a banker who was also a director of the…
Longer stories, research notes, photos, videos, and where the road goes next. Free, and no iPhone needed.
