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Colorado City, Texas

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Rivers & Roads in Song near Colorado City

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Colorado City.

Texas Colorado River 6 songs Interstate 20 13 songs

History of Colorado City

Colorado City: The Mother City of West Texas RoadyGoat

1877

Colorado City, the seat of Mitchell County on the Colorado River, is called the "Mother City of West Texas" — it began as a Texas Ranger camp in 1877 and rose to prominence as a cattlemen's center. Chosen county seat in 1881, it gained a station on the new Texas and Pacific Railway and became the region's great cattle-shipping point: ranchers drove herds here from as far north as Amarillo and as far south as San Angelo, hauled in tons of buffalo bones for shipment East, and loaded provisions for the trip home. Between 1881 and 1884 its five saloons multiplied to twenty-eight, and the population was estimated as high as 6,000 in 1884-85. Water was hauled in and sold at fifty cents a barrel. In May 1881 Texas Rangers shot rancher W. P. Patterson, and angry citizens forced the Ranger camp out to Hackberry Springs, twenty miles southwest. The boom faded when the railroads reached Amarillo (1887) and San Angelo (1888).

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Colorado City, TX RoadyGoat

Colorado City, nestled right where the mesquite flats meet I-20, has always had a certain resilience about it. You can feel it in the wind that whips off the plains, the same wind that once carried the sounds of the Texas and Pacific Railway rolling through. For a while, things were tough. Like a lot of small towns tied to agriculture, there were lean years, and you could see some businesses shuttered along the main drag. But the lake, Lake Colorado City, that helped. Folks could still find something to do, and the state park brought in visitors. Then came the winter storm of 2021. That was something else. The whole state was hurting, but here, well, it was personal. The power grid failed, and suddenly, this town built on neighbor helping neighbor was truly tested. The cold was brutal. Pipes froze. People were without water for days. What struck you wasn’t just the hardship, but the way the community responded. Folks shared what they had, checked on the elderly, and did what they could to keep each other safe. Even now, you hear people talk about that time, not with bitterness, but with a quiet pride. It proved something about the spirit of Colorado City, a spirit as tough and enduring as those mesquite trees that dot the landscape.

Colorado City, TX RoadyGoat

Colorado City, nestled right where Interstate 20 cuts through the mesquite-dotted landscape, might seem like a place you just pass through.

Texas & Pacific Railway

1877

Railroad made this "Cattle Capital of West Texas" in 1880s. Cattlemen Frank Byler, Clay Mann, Winfield Scott, C.C. Slaughter and others brought herds here early as 1877, when last of the buffalo were being exterminated. A Texas Ranger unit was stationed in area to guard against straggling Indians. After Texas & Pacific locators staked course through this valley, rancher George Waddell persuaded A.W. Dunn of Coleman to build a store here. Lumber came by wagon from Round Rock (about 300 mi. SE), and was sparingly used. Store had tarpaulin roof, dirt floor, and was opened in late summer 1880. Soon two saloons were also in business. Railroaders--including bridge crew of A.J. Coe--arrived in the fall. By April 16, 1881, when the Texas & Pacific initiated train service to this site, some 350 people lived here in tents and dugouts, and had a newly organized county government, a school, post office and newspaper. This was terminus for months, while river bridge was being built. Then and until late 80s, this was shipping point for such remote places as ranches of Charles Goodnight and the XIT, near present Amarillo. The T. & P. freighted in tons of windmills and barbed wire, shipped out thousands of cattle--giving this city renown. (1970)

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Coleman, Dr. Preston C.; Physician and Leader (1853-1932)

1883

Born in Tennessee. Graduated from University of Louisville (Ky.). Coming in 1883 to Colorado City, rode horseback or by buggy to ranches in 100-mile radius, practicing here rest of his life. Religion, medicine, and education were his chief concerns. He was a Texas & Pacific Railroad surgeon; 1895-96 President, Texas Medical Association; a Fellow, American College of Surgeons; an Elder in his church; Moderator, 1930, Texas Presbyterian Synod; Trustee 1906-31, Austin College (Sherman); Vice President for Life, West Texas Chamber of Commerce; was called "Father of Texas Tech University". (1972)

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The Founding of Colorado City

1880

Founded, 1880, at the crossing of the Colorado River and Texas & Pacific Railroad right-of-way; central shipping point and supply depot for the sprawling cattle ranches of West Texas and New Mexico. From 1880 (when A.W. Dunn opened his dirt-floor, tent-roof general store) to 1890 the boisterous cattle town garnered notoriety as well as fame. The largest community between Fort Worth and El Paso, Colorado City had more millionaires than any other Texas town and the most saloons in the West. Law and order was housed in a dugout at the edge of town, where a company of Texas Rangers made all men check their guns. Modest, courageous Ranger Dick Ware was elected first sheriff in 1881. Population soared from 700 to 5,000 in the first two years, as cowboys, cattlemen, merchants, and (as a visitor said) "any number of bummers", vied for space. The first sermon was preached in a saloon and the town "jail" was a chain attached to a mesquite tree, but citizens could find beauty in the lantern-glow from dozens of tents in the center of town. Although drouth and the passing of the open range soon diminished Colorado City's glory, its first decade won for it the epithet, "Mother City of West Texas". (1968)

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Dies, Martin

1938

Martin Dies, congressman, son of Olive M. (Cline) and Martin Dies , was born on November 5, 1900, in Colorado City, Texas. He attended Cluster Springs (Virginia) Academy, graduated from Beaumont (Texas) High School, and earned a law degree from National University in Washington, D.C., in 1920. Dies soon joined his father's law firm in Orange and in 1930 was elected to Congress to represent the Second Congressional District, his father's old seat; he was the youngest member of Congress. In his early years he supported much of the New Deal but turned against it in 1937. Dies achieved fame as the first chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee, established in 1938 to investigate subversion. The Dies committee welcomed testimony against any suspected communists. The Texas Senate established a similar committee that attempted to ferret out communists at the University of Texas in 1941 but could not discover any. Dies ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1941, finishing last in a four-way race won by Wilbert Lee (Pappy) O'Daniel . During World War II the Dies committee continued to oppose the New Deal and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, but in 1944 Dies announced his retirement after the CIO launched a vast voter-registration drive and found a candidate to oppose him. In 1952 he won election to a new congressman-at-large seat, but he was not allowed to return to the HUAC, which believed that he had damaged the cause of anticommunism. When he ran for the Senate in the special election of 1957, state leaders such as Lyndon B. Johnson and Samuel T. (Sam) Rayburn , believing that Dies was too conservative to defeat liberal challenger Ralph Yarborough , attempted to pressure him out of the race in favor of Lt. Gov. Ben Ramsey . Their effort failed, however, and they turned to another tactic. They attempted to change the laws pertaining to special elections, which required only a plurality, and make a majority vote necessary. The Texas leaders were hoping the change would necessitate a runoff and make a win for Yarborough more difficult. This gambit failed also, and Dies finished second to Yarborough. Dies married Myrtle M. Adams in 1920, and they had three sons. He practiced law in Lufkin between terms in Congress and after declining to run for reelection in 1958; he continued to warn that the United States was succumbing to communism. He wrote Martin Dies' Story (1963) and was the putative author of The Trojan Horse in America (1940), actually written by J. B. Matthews. From 1964 to 1967 Dies was a popular writer in American Opinion magazine. He died in Lufkin on November 14, 1972, and was buried there.

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Colorado City, TX (Mitchell County)

1877

Colorado City, the county seat of Mitchell County, is on the Colorado River, Lone Wolf Creek, U.S. Highway 20/80, State highways 208 and 163, and the Missouri Pacific Railroad, thirty-eight miles east of Big Spring and twenty-three miles south of Snyder in the north central part of the county. It has been called the "Mother City of West Texas" for its early origin as a ranger camp in 1877 and for its prominence as a cattlemen's center. In 1881 the town was chosen county seat and acquired a station on the new Texas and Pacific Railway. Local ranchers hauled in tons of buffalo bones ( see BONE BUSINESS ) for shipment to the East and loaded their empty wagons with provisions purchased from pioneer merchant William H. "Uncle Pete" Snyder and others. When the town was granted a post office in 1881 Prince A. Hazzard became the first postmaster. Water was hauled to town from Seven Wells and elsewhere and sold at fifty cents a barrel. The first school, conducted in a dugout in 1881, was moved to a building the next year, and soon a new building was built. By that time the town had between 200 and 300 residents and was a cattle-shipping center. Ranchers drove their cattle to Colorado City from as far north as Amarillo, from as far south as San Angelo, and from eastern New Mexico. Great herds were held until rail cars were available. After shipment, cowboys were free to enjoy the town's amenities. Between 1881 and 1884 its five saloons multiplied to twenty-eight, and other businesses showed the same growth. The population was estimated as high as 6,000 in 1884-85. The boom slowed after the 1885-86 drought, however, and the 1890 population was 2,500. In May 1881 W. P. Patterson, a prominent rancher, was shot down by Texas Rangers . Citizens blamed the shooting on the rangers' feud with cattlemen, and the ranger camp was moved from town to Hackberry Springs, twenty miles southwest. When Amarillo developed with the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway in 1887 and when the Santa Fe Railroad reached San Angelo a year later, business in Colorado City declined sharply. During the 1890s salt mining was important to the local economy, but salt declined in importance after 1900. A second boom between 1900 and 1906 followed the influx of farmers. The population of Colorado City was 3,000 in 1906. By 1910 the town had a new public school, a waterworks, and an electric plant. In 1914 the population was estimated at 1,500, and the town had two banks and a newspaper, the Colorado City Record . Though the drought of 1916-18 adversely affected local farmers, interest in oil increased. In 1916 the Consolidated Oil and Gas Company of Colorado was organized by local bankers, businessmen, and merchants to develop the area's oil and gas resources, and by 1920 oil production was a part of the local economy. The Col-Tex Refinery began operation in 1924. By 1926 a city hall had been built, the streets were paved, and a new sewage system was in operation. In 1931 Colorado City had an estimated population of 4,761 and 200 businesses. By 1940 the population had increased to 5,213, but by 1945 the number of reported businesses had declined to 120. In the late 1940s increased oil activity in Mitchell, Scurry, Coke, and Borden counties caused some growth, and by 1949 the number of businesses in Colorado City had increased to 176. During the mid-1950s a drought, the longest on record, affected the area's agricultural production, particularly of cotton. In 1955 the population was 6,774. Lake Colorado City , five miles southwest, was built in the late 1940s, and Champion Creek Reservoir , six miles south, was built in 1959. The population was estimated at 6,400 in 1965. The Col-Tex Refinery closed in 1969, but in the early 1970s new industries were established, including a meat-packing operation and a mobile-home plant. Colorado City had 5,300 residents and 126 businesses in 1975. In 1990 it had a population of 4,749, a hospital, and 104 businesses. Local attrac

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Mahon, George Herman

1935

Herman Mahon, United States congressman, one of eight children of John Kirkpatrick and Lola Willis (Brown) Mahon, was born on September 22, 1900, near Haynesville, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. His father, a farmer, was plagued by bad health and in 1908 moved his family to a farm near Loraine, Mitchell County, Texas. He attended a rural school and graduated from Loraine High School in 1918. He married Helen Stephenson on December 21, 1923; they had one daughter. In the fall Mahon entered Simmons College (now Hardin-Simmons University), where he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1924. He then attended the University of Texas law school and received his LL.B. degree in 1925. That summer he did postgraduate work at the University of Minnesota. He was admitted to the bar the same year and began practicing law at Colorado City, Texas. In 1926 he was elected county attorney for Mitchell County; in 1927 Governor Dan Moody appointed him district attorney of the Thirty-second Judicial District. He was elected to successive two-year terms as district attorney from 1928 to 1932. In 1933 he announced for the new congressional seat of the Nineteenth Congressional District, established by the reapportionment of the Texas legislature after the presidential election of 1932. He won the seat in the congressional election of 1934 after a runoff with district judge Clark M. Mullican of Lubbock. Mahon retained his seat from then until his retirement in 1978, by which time his forty-four years of continuous service had made him the longest sitting member of Congress. He was sworn into office on January 3, 1935, during the height of the New Deal, and participated in the most momentous events of the century. He steadily gained in influence until he was elected chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations on May 18, 1964. He held this position, which made him one of the most powerful men in Washington, until his retirement in 1978 at the end of the Ninety-fifth Congress. His first appointments were to the House committees on census, civil service, elections, and insular affairs. In 1939 the Texas delegation supported him for the appropriations committee, to which he was elected on January 18, 1939. A year later he began his service on the subcommittee on War Department appropriations (later the subcommittee on defense appropriations). He maintained this membership throughout the rest of his career, using it as a base of power within the full committee on appropriations. He served as chairman of the subcommittee from 1949 to 1952 and from 1955 to 1978. Some considered Mahon the best-informed person in Washington on matters of national defense; he was one of the half-dozen men in Congress trusted with knowledge of the wartime Manhattan project for the development of the atomic bomb. He never forgot that he was a farm boy from West Texas and that he must represent the interests of his district. He worked throughout his career to limit government spending. He was little known to the general public but a representative upon whom the essential work of Congress depended. He was never an ardent New Dealer, although he supported many New Deal ideas. He said that he remained a Democrat because as such he could support or abstain from policies as he saw fit, whereas if he was in the opposition party he would lose whatever power and influence he had. He opposed early federal civil-rights legislation and Lyndon B. Johnson 's Great Society programs. In addition to his service on the appropriations committee Mahon was chairman of the joint Senate-House Committee on Reduction of Federal Expenditures and served on the joint Senate-House Study Committee on Budget Control and the President's Commission on Budget Concepts. He served also as a member of the board of regents of the Smithsonian Institution. His long series of honors and awards included the Distinguished Service Award of the American Political Science Association, the George Washington Award of th

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Everything Near Colorado City

92 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Colorado City: The Mother City of West Texas

    Colorado City, the seat of Mitchell County on the Colorado River, is called the "Mother City of West Texas" — it began as a Texas Ranger camp in 1877 and rose to prominence as a cattlemen's center. Chosen county seat in…

  • Colorado City, TX

    Colorado City, nestled right where the mesquite flats meet I-20, has always had a certain resilience about it. You can feel it in the wind that whips off the plains, the same wind that once carried the sounds of the…

  • Texas & Pacific Railway · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    Railroad made this "Cattle Capital of West Texas" in 1880s. Cattlemen Frank Byler, Clay Mann, Winfield Scott, C.C. Slaughter and others brought herds here early as 1877, when last of the buffalo were being exterminated.…

  • Coleman, Dr. Preston C.; Physician and Leader (1853-1932) · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    Born in Tennessee. Graduated from University of Louisville (Ky.). Coming in 1883 to Colorado City, rode horseback or by buggy to ranches in 100-mile radius, practicing here rest of his life. Religion, medicine, and…

  • Buffalo Trails · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Colorado City, and right here, you're seeing the ghosts of giants. These aren't just tracks in the dirt; they're the remains of ancient buffalo trails, pounded deep by thousands of thundering hooves…

  • Colorado Opera House · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Colorado Opera House, built between 1899 and 1900. This wasn't just any theater; it was the cultural heart of West Texas! Imagine seeing light opera, vaudeville shows, and even silent…

  • Texas & Pacific Railway Depot, Site of · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the original Texas & Pacific Railway Depot in Colorado City. Rail service roared to life here on April 16, 1881, when a supply train arrived to build this very station. Completed the next…

  • All Saints' Church · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past All Saints' Church in Colorado City. Worship began here in 1882 with laymen, many of them English sheep ranchers. The church was organized in 1883 and the building was erected in 1885, consecrated as…

  • The Founding of Colorado City · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Founded, 1880, at the crossing of the Colorado River and Texas & Pacific Railroad right-of-way; central shipping point and supply depot for the sprawling cattle ranches of West Texas and New Mexico. From 1880 (when A.W.…

  • The Voice of Mitchell County · 0.3 mi

    Business Interstate Twenty through Colorado City is the James Jim Baum Memorial Highway, named for the man known as the voice of Mitchell County. Jim Baum graduated from Abilene High School in nineteen fifty four, then…

  • Hardigree, E. M. Home · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the E.M. Hardigree Home, built in 1890 by H.D. Shepperd. It was sold in 1899 to Martin Dies, Sr., and became the birthplace of his son, Martin Dies, Jr., a famous U.S. Congressman. Later, this was…

  • Prude, John C. Home · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the John C. Prude Home in Colorado City. Built in 1907 for a prominent rancher and banker, this spacious brick house showcases the popular Prairie Style architecture of its time, with its wide…

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  • Majors Home · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Majors Home in Colorado City, built back in 1883. This wasn't just any house; it was one of the first brick homes in the area. It was built by the son-in-law and daughter of General Tom Green, a…

  • Mitchell County · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mitchell County, a vast area settled after the Indians left Texas in 1875. It was officially created in 1876, named for the Mitchell brothers, veterans of the Texas War for Independence. Organized…

  • Burns, F. M. Home · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Colorado City, and right here is the former home of F. M. Burns. Burns was a prominent figure in the early days of this town, serving as a county judge and a key player in its development. This…

  • First Baptist Church of Colorado City · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Colorado City's First Baptist Church. Founded in 1881 as a mission by George W. Baines, who once led Baylor University, the church organized in 1882. Its first building, shared by all…

  • First Methodist Church · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Colorado City, Mitchell County. This marker commemorates the First Methodist Church, a significant part of the community's history.

  • First Presbyterian Church · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Colorado City, and you're passing the site of the First Presbyterian Church. Imagine this: it's January 1881, and the first sermon in this brand new tent town is preached in a saloon. The bar was…

  • Arnett, D. N. Home Old · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the D.N. Arnett Home, a beautiful Victorian built in 1899 by rancher F.E. McKenzie. Look for those unique spool-turned porch columns and decorative wooden awnings over the windows! The house saw a…

  • Col-Tex Refinery · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Col-Tex Refinery, a major industrial player in Colorado City. Opened in 1924 as West Texas Refinery, it processed local oil and eventually became Col-Tex under Standard Oil of…

  • The Lake Built for Power · 0.8 mi

    If you see a large lake in arid West Texas, it's a safe bet there's a big story behind it. Lake Colorado City, finished in 1949, is a perfect example. It wasn't built for recreation, not at first. It was an industrial…

  • Engineering a Cooling Machine · 0.8 mi

    The creation of Lake Colorado City in the late 1940s was a major feat of industrial engineering, designed to solve a fundamental physics problem: heat. To generate electricity, the new Texas Electric power plant would…

  • The Mother City of West Texas · 0.8 mi

    For a few short years in the 1880s, Colorado City wasn't just a town; it was THE town. They called it the Mother City of West Texas, because it was the first real settlement in this vast, untamed region — it began as a…

  • The Courthouse Fire of 1884 · 0.8 mi

    In a town as green as early Colorado City, the county's first courthouse didn't fall to a fire or a mob. It fell to a surveying mistake. Mitchell County organized in 1881, Colorado City took the county seat, and in 1883…

  • The Ancient Salt Flats · 0.8 mi

    There's salt in the ground here, and for a while it was money. The water along this stretch of the Colorado River runs saline, and in the 1890s salt mining was one of the industries keeping this town going, alongside…

  • Dies, Martin · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Martin Dies, congressman, son of Olive M. (Cline) and Martin Dies , was born on November 5, 1900, in Colorado City, Texas. He attended Cluster Springs (Virginia) Academy, graduated from Beaumont (Texas) High School, and…

  • Comanche Village Massacre · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving near Colorado City, and right here in this vicinity, back on October 21st, 1840, a brutal event unfolded. Colonel John Henry Moore led ninety citizen volunteers, mostly from Fayette County, on an…

  • First to chair Un-American Activities Committee · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Colorado City, the birthplace of Martin Dies, a Texas congressman who became one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century. In 1938, Dies became the first chairman of the House…

  • Colorado City, TX (Mitchell County) · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Colorado City, the county seat of Mitchell County, is on the Colorado River, Lone Wolf Creek, U.S. Highway 20/80, State highways 208 and 163, and the Missouri Pacific Railroad, thirty-eight miles east of Big Spring and…

  • Mahon, George Herman · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Herman Mahon, United States congressman, one of eight children of John Kirkpatrick and Lola Willis (Brown) Mahon, was born on September 22, 1900, near Haynesville, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. His father, a farmer, was…

  • Mitchell County · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Mitchell County, and right here is Colorado City, a town that exploded onto the scene in the early 1880s. The arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1881 turned this dusty settlement into a…

  • Robertson, Andrew Briggs · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Nolan County, maybe near Colorado City, the town that Andrew "Sug" Robertson helped build. Born in Indiana, Sug was just ten years old when his family moved to Hood County, Texas, and he was hired…

  • Ruddick Park · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Ruddick Park, a place with a history stretching back to the wild days of the Texas frontier. Way back in 1840, Colonel John Henry Moore and his men fought and defeated a Comanche village right on the…

  • Johnson, Willa Viley · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through West Texas, maybe near Colorado City, and you might be passing land that once belonged to Willa Viley Johnson. Johnson was a Kentucky rancher who moved to Texas in 1882. He helped organize cattle…

  • Lake Colorado City · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Colorado City, and right here is Lake Colorado City, a man-made reservoir built back in the late 1940s. Officially known as the Morgan Creek Dam, this lake was built by the Texas Electric Service…

  • Smith, George W. [1845–1906] · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Mitchell County, past Colorado City, where George W. Smith spent a good part of his life. Smith was a lawyer who also served as the first county judge of Smith County under the Constitution of…

  • Smith, William Robert, Jr. · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Colorado City, the birthplace of William Robert Smith, Jr., a lawyer who made a name for himself across Texas and beyond. Born right here in 1900, Smith's career took him from the state…

  • Texas Archeological Society · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Right here near Colorado City, Texas, a discovery in 1923 sparked a statewide passion for history. An extinct bison, along with ancient projectile points, was unearthed. This find inspired Cyrus N. Ray to organize a…

  • Thompson, Charles Collins · 0.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through West Texas, and right here in Mitchell County, you're passing through the territory of Charles Collins Thompson, a man nicknamed 'Mr. Farm Credit.' Thompson wasn't a cowboy or an outlaw, but he…

  • R.C. (Dick) Ware · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past R.C. (Dick) Ware. 1851-1902 
 Born in Georgia, migrated to Texas in the 1870's and joined the Texas Rangers in 1878.
 Was noted for his part in gun battle with outlaw Sam Bass at…

  • Colorado City Cemetery · 1.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Colorado City, and right here is the city cemetery, established in 1881. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows started a burial ground for their members, while the city set aside land for the…

  • Green, William Marion · 1.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Colorado City area, where William Marion Green spent his later years. Green learned self-reliance early, orphaned at seven. By nineteen, he was a Texas Ranger, and by twenty, he joined the…

  • McMurry, Y. D. (Fed. 9, 1858-April 12, 1923) · 1.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Colorado City, and just ahead is the site associated with Y.D. McMurry, a man who wore a few hats in this town. Born in Tennessee and raised in Fort Worth, McMurry joined the Texas Rangers in…

  • Colorado City Standpipe · 1.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Colorado City Standpipe, a 90-foot steel tower that's been crucial for this West Texas town since 1884. Facing a desperate need for water, city leaders issued bonds that very year to build this…

  • Plainview Baptist Church · 3.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Plainview Community Schoolhouse, where a Baptist mission began as early as 1906. On May 16, 1908, this fellowship organized as the independent Plainview Baptist Church, with help from members of…

  • Seven Wells · 4.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Colorado City, and the waters of Lake Champion now cover a place that was once a vital oasis: Seven Wells. For centuries, these natural springs, resembling man-made wells, drew massive herds of…

  • Union Methodist Church · 6.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Union Methodist Church. Organized in March of 1891 by Rev. J.W. Montgomery, it was the first church built by local folks and served all faiths. It also functioned as a schoolhouse and…

  • Ellwood, Isaac L. · 6.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Isaac L. Ellwood, rancher and barbed wire manufacturer, was born in Springfield Hollow, New York, on August 12, 1833. As a boy he exhibited the initiative and enterprise that made him one of America's great businessmen…

  • Champion Creek Reservoir · 6.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Mitchell County, not far from Colorado City. Right here is Champion Creek Reservoir, an artificial lake built back in the late 1950s. Texas Electric Service Company needed water for their…

  • Cuthbert, TX · 6.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Cuthbert was on Farm Road 1229 some fourteen miles northwest of Colorado City in northwestern Mitchell County. The community began in 1890 when D. T. Bozeman, a teacher in a nearby country school, settled in the area…

  • Seven Wells, TX · 6.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Seven Wells was six miles south of the site of present Colorado City in east central Mitchell County. The community, first called Artesian when platted on November 28, 1882, soon adopted the name Seven Wells, after…

  • The Roaring Twenties Oil Boom · 7.7 mi

    Imagine this quiet town in 1922. It's no longer quiet. The discovery of the Westbrook Oil Field in 1921 had set off a scramble across Mitchell County, and Westbrook — platted only in 1906, with maybe six hundred people…

  • Wildcat Pride: A Six-Man Dynasty · 7.7 mi

    In Texas, high school football is a way of life, and in the smallest towns it's six-man - a wide-open, high-scoring version of the game built for schools with tiny enrollments. Here in Westbrook, the Wildcats didn't…

  • Cracking the Code of the Westbrook Field · 7.7 mi

    The Westbrook oil boom wasn't dumb luck; it was two men who wouldn't let go of an idea. In West Texas in 1920, the money said Permian oil, if it existed at all, was deep. L.W. Sandusky and P.C. Coleman read the local…

  • When Oil Made Loraine a Boomtown · 7.9 mi

    As you look at Loraine, try to imagine it with twice as many people and forty-odd businesses along these streets. That was real, and it came earlier than you'd think. Parson Crandall platted the townsite in 1905, and by…

  • Engineering a Lifeline Across the Plains · 7.9 mi

    The railroad tracks cutting through Loraine are more than a historical artifact; they are a monument of nineteenth-century engineering. When the Texas and Pacific pushed this line across Mitchell County, surveyors had…

  • Loraine, TX · 7.9 mi

    Loraine, Texas, has been home to notable figures throughout its history. George H. Mahon, a longtime member of the United States House of Representatives, spent his youth in Loraine. Additionally, J.D. Sheffield, a…

  • Lone Wolf Mountain · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lone Wolf Mountain, named for a Kiowa chief who had a very personal score to settle. After being held hostage by General Custer following the Washita campaign, Lone Wolf was released. But when his…

  • Handley Cemetery · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Handley Cemetery. Site given by John J. Handley (1842-1935), Confederate veteran who settled here in 1892, after living earlier in Georgia and in Smith and Comanche Counties, Texas. A farmer, he…

  • Valley View School, Site of · 8.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Valley View School. Back in 1905, nine men in the Lone Wolf Valley decided they needed a school for their community. They named it Valley View, and surprisingly, their first teacher…

  • Wallace, Daniel Webster · 9.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through West Texas, maybe near Loraine, and you're passing the legacy of Daniel Webster Wallace, known as '80 John'. Born into slavery in Victoria County in 1860, Wallace ran away from chopping cotton at…

  • First State Bank · 9.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Loraine, and right here is the site of the First State Bank. Organized back in 1908 with just eighteen thousand dollars in capital, this bank was a real engine for growth in Mitchell County. The…

  • Loraine, TX · 9.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through northeastern Mitchell County, on the old railroad line that once defined this area. Right here is Loraine. It started in the early 1880s as just a cotton and cattle shipping point. Things were…

  • First Baptist Church · 9.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Loraine, home of the First Baptist Church. Organized in 1892, services were held in the schoolhouse for 14 years before their first church was built in 1907. The current building dates to 1947,…

  • 96 Ranch, The · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through West Texas, near Colorado City, where cattlemen were the first to settle, even before the farmers and businessmen. Look to your right – this marker stands on the site of the historic 96 Ranch. It…

  • Westbrook School and Church, Site of · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Westbrook's first school and church, a place that kicked off community life way back in 1890. Before the town even had a name, settlers built a single room to serve both needs. Imagine…

  • Spade Community Cemetery · 10.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Spade, a community that started as a family farm. In April of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1898</say-as>, the Hargrove family buried their infant son here, beginning this cemetery. The…

  • D.W. "80 John" Wallace · 10.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Loraine, and just ahead is the story of D.W. Wallace, nicknamed '80 John.' Born to slave parents in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1860</say-as>, Wallace became a cowboy at just 15, riding…

  • Site of Conaway School · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Conaway School, a testament to early Texas grit. It all started in 1891 when settlers C.P. and Mattie Conaway opened their community. The first classes were held in 1896 in a one-room…

  • Site of Town of Cuthbert · 11.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Cuthbert, a town that sprang up in 1890 thanks to D.T. Bozeman, a teacher and merchant. It was named for his neighbor, T.T. Cuthbertson. Cuthbert wasn't just any stop; a well by Bozeman's…

  • T&P No. 1 - W.H. Abrams No. 1 Discovery Well of the Permian Basin · 11.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Westbrook, and right here, you're passing the site of a true Texas game-changer: the W.H. Abrams No. 1 well. This wasn't just any well; it was the first commercial discovery in the vast Permian…

  • Dunn · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Dunn, a town that owes its start to the boom days of Texas railroads. Back in 1881, the T&P Railway reached Colorado City, and suddenly, teams hauling goods north needed a place to stop. This…

  • Lone Wolf Community · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Scurry County, passing the site of what used to be the Lone Wolf community. This area was once home to Kiowa tribes, including the band of Chief Lone Wolf, until the 1870s. The community itself…

  • Coleman Ranch Field Discovery Well · 13.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the P.C. Coleman No. 1 Well, a key player in unlocking the Permian Basin's oil riches. Drilled in 1923 on land owned by Dr. Preston Coleman, this well was a slow starter. After a blast of…

  • Brownlee, TX · 13.5 mi

    Brownlee, Texas, a small community nestled in Brown County, might seem like any other quiet spot in Central Texas. But its history quietly resonates with echoes of figures who shaped the wider world. While not boasting…

  • Campsite of the Marcy Expedition · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Scurry County, heading west on what was once a vital path across America. Right around here, on October 7th, 1849, Captain R. B. Marcy’s expedition camped for the night. They were blazing the…

  • Scurry County, TX · 15.4 mi · Local history

    The Southwestern Tablelands stretch across Scurry County, a landscape of mesas and prairies where the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River carves its path. For centuries, nomadic groups traversed this land, their…

  • J. J. Moore No. 1 Oil Well · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Scurry County, and just south of here is a well that changed everything. This is the J. J. Moore No. 1, the very first producing oil well in this county. Drilled by Loutex Corp. between February…

  • Ira · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Ira, Texas, a town named for Ira Green, who ran a crossroads store right around here. The very first homes and the school were half-dugouts – basically cellars with windows peeking out of the…

  • The Wartime Highway Name That Waited Sixty Years · 16.6 mi

    The World War Two Veterans Memorial Highway is a name with an odd history. On August first, nineteen forty four, a Texas highway minute order named U S Highway Eighty the Veterans of World War Two Highway, all the way…

  • St. John's Catholic Church · 17.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Hermleigh, where farm families settled in the early 1900s. Catholic services began in settlers' homes, and the Church of Francis Xavier was built in 1908 on land donated by Robert Herm. In 1936,…

  • Pyron, Texas · 18.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Pyron, Texas, a town that once thrived before the highway rerouted life away from it. Bob Pyron, a rancher, settled here on Buffalo Creek before 1890, and his cellar even hosted the first…

  • Hermleigh · 18.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Hermleigh, a town born from the railroad in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1907</say-as>. It was surveyed by H. W. Harlin and R. C. Herm, and quickly became a bustling trade center for local…

  • Renderbrook Ranch · 18.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mitchell County, heading past the historic Renderbrook Ranch. It all started back in the 1870s, during the wild buffalo and Indian days, when Taylor Barr founded this massive spread. Later, Isaac…

  • Mitchell County, TX · 18.7 mi

    Mitchell County, Texas, was named in honor of Asa and Eli Mitchell, two early settlers and soldiers in the Texas Revolution. Their contributions to the region's history and their service in the fight for Texas…

  • The Great West Texas Wind Rush · 19.2 mi

    In the early 2000s, a new kind of boom came to Roscoe, but it wasn't for oil. It was for wind. Look around you, and you'll see the result: the Roscoe Wind Complex — 627 turbines and 781 megawatts spread across nearly a…

  • The Science of the Wind Corridor · 19.2 mi

    The hundreds of wind turbines you see around Roscoe aren't there just because it's windy. They're placed here because of specific meteorological and engineering principles. This stretch of West Texas offers steady,…

  • Thirty-One Miles to Snyder · 19.2 mi

    While the Texas & Pacific put Roscoe on the map, it was a scrappy local railroad that gave the town its character. This was the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific — the RS&P — chartered on the first of October, 1906 by a board…

  • Roscoe, TX · 19.2 mi

    Roscoe sits high on the West Texas plains, where the air is clear and the horizon stretches forever. Cotton has always been king here. The soil, though it demands respect and resilience from those who work it, yields a…

  • Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railway · 19.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railway. The Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railway was one of the country&#x2019;s most successful short-line railroads. Chartered on Oct. 1, 1906, by General F. W.

  • Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway · 19.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through West Texas, maybe near Roscoe, where the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway, the RS&P, once thrived. Chartered in 1906, this short line was a powerhouse, connecting major railroads and hauling…

  • Roscoe, TX · 19.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Roscoe, Texas, a town that owes its existence to a flood and a railroad. Originally called Vista, it got its start in 1890. But things really picked up in 1894 when a nearby cattle shipping point,…

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