Colorado City, Texas, Mitchell County Seat. (original) (raw)
History in a Pecan Shell
Colorado City is the oldest established town between Weatherford and El Paso. The name comes from it's location on the Colorado River.
1880s: The Texas & Pacific Railroad arrives, the town becomes the county seat and gets a post office - all in 1881. "Pete" Snyder, namesake of the Scurry County seat does a brisk business in Colorado City. Throughout the 1880s Colorado City was a prosperous town - but it lost business to Abilene and San Angelo when the railroad reached those cities in 1887/88.
1890s: Salt mining was an economic factor
1900s: This decade brought a surge of settlers - increasing the population and creating a boom.
1910s: Electricity and water come to Colorado City and a setback from drought is experienced 1916 - 1918
1920s: The twenties were good everywhere and Colorado City was no exception. City Hall was built and streets paved
1930s: Oil discoveries in Mitchell and neighboring counties help ease The Great Depression - but for the most part the growth was stagnant
1959: Lake Colorado City and Champion Creek Reservoir were built
"The Founding of Colorado City" Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson
The Founding of Colorado City
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
Colorado City, Texas
Attractions / Landmarks
- The Heart of West Texas Museum:
Third Street and Locust St. Closed Mondays - Lake Colorado City State Park: 915/728-3931
7 miles southwest of town off Highway 163
4582 FM 2836 Colorado City TX 79512 - Champion Creek Reservoir
Texas 208, seven miles south of Colorado City on Champion Creek
Book Hotel Here › Colorado City Hotels
Colorado City Methodist Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007
Colorado City, Texas
Old Photos
Second Street in 1917
Courtesy rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
T & P Depot in Colorado City
Courtesy rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
More Texas Depots
Cotton Scene, Colorado, Texas -
Total Receipts from Crop of 1906. 40,000 Bales
Note courthouse in the background
Click on image to enlarge
Courtesy Dan Whatley Collection
Colorado City Tourist Information
Colorado City Chamber of Commerce: 325-728-3403
157 W. 2nd o P.O. Box 242
Colorado City, Texas 79512
http://coloradocitychamberofcommerce.com/
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