Lajitas, Texas. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

The name is said to mean "little flat rocks" in Spanish. Early inhabitants were driven out by Apaches and Comanches. Anglo settlement began in the middle part of the 19th Century.

When mercury was discovered nearby in Terlingua, the region experienced a minor boom. The influx of miners increased businesses between Mexico and the U.S. and by 1900 the town had become an official port of entry, complete with a customhouse.

Farmers moved in to plant crops in the floodplain of the Rio Grande, creating a need for a school. The ford of the Rio Grande was lined with rock, making it the best crossing between El Paso and Del Rio.

The most influential resident of Lajitas in its infancy was a man named H. W. McGuirk. The overworked McGuirk tended bar, operated the store and still found time to help manage the mining operations in Terlingua. Through his efforts, the Lajitas post office was opened. McGuirk also paid the costs for a school and church to be built before selling out to Thomas V. Skaggs.

In 1916 incursions by elements of Pancho Villa�s forces necessitated the establishment of a cavalry post. The post office closed in 1939.

In 1949 the settlement was purchased by Rex Ivey, Jr., who brought electricity to the town (via a generator). After the mines at Terlingua closed, Lajitas was left with a population estimated at four.

In the mid 1970s Lajitas was bought by a Houston Corporation and most of the surviving buildings were restored.

In the 1980s Lajitas became a resort � with 50 permanent residents, most of them employed at one of the three motels, restaurant or golf course. The old trading post was complemented by an RV park, and visitors who didn�t want to take the long drive could fly into the resort�s airfield.

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