Potosi, Texas, Taylor County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Potosi's beginnings can be traced to a single family (The Pollards) who settled here in the 1870s. The community's first church (Southern Methodist) was constructed in 1880 but burned four years later before being reconstructed. The new church housed both congregation and the pupils of it's first school until a separate schoolhouse was built toward the end of the century.

One R. A. Pollard applied for a post office under the name Potosi, after San Luis Potosi in Mexico - a site in the Mexican American War. In the mid-1890s, the community had nearly 100 residents. In 1904, the Lytle Grove Baptist Church moved the short distance to Potosi.

By 1914 Potosi had several essential businesses. These included a general store and dry goods store as well as a cotton gin and two blacksmiths. The 1940 census counted 80 full time residents served by four businesses. The drought of the early 1950s reduced the population to a mere 20 people but the 60s were kinder to the town and by the late 1960s it had risen to around 150.

Despite its narrow escape from becoming a ghost town, by the early 1990s Potosi had grown to nearly 1,500 residents.

Potosi, Texas Landmarks

Lytle Gap Potosi Methodist Church
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, June 2010

Lytle Gap Potosi Methodist Church Update:
"Checking on Google it appears the church has burned since Gerald Massey's visit in 2010." - Barclay Gibson, August 04, 2017

Photographer's Note:
Map shows where a school was. It's probably the location of the Community Center today. - Gerald Massey

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