Shumla Texas. (original) (raw)

Shumla TX Motel Ruins

Come back to Shumla, Tracy Henderson. All is forgiven.
Photo courtesy Abdul Khan, October 2016

History in a Pecan Shell

The region was inhabited some 6,000 years before Shumla first appeared as a section station on the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad in 1882. The unusual name supposedly comes from a Turkish fort that that was situated in terrain not unlike this portion of Val Verde County.

In early 1883, just east of town, a ceremony was held to commemorate the completion of the southernmost transcontinental railroad route. In 1892 it was discovered that the roadbed of vibration-sensitive limestone was an accident waiting to happen. Although it was just a 25-mile stretch, the railroad decided to reroute their tracks. After the alignment, Shumla found itself without a railroad. But it didn�t stop the town from receiving a post office in 1906. It took them three years to discover the town was dying and in 1909 the post office shut it doors. (See 1907 Val Verde County postal map.)

For years the town consisted of a freight station and little else. The highway was resurfaced and both the Devil�s River and Pecos River received new bridges � but progress ignored Shumla as it had ignored most towns along Highway 90. Population figures are not available, but by 1973 Shumla became a mere flag-stop. Shortly thereafter the former town decayed into the ruins that you see here.

[ Shumla by Mike Cox › ]