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Saspamco

Saspamco, Texas: The Clay Pipe Town That Built San Antonio’s Sewers

Saspamco, an unincorporated community in Wilson County, Texas, takes its name from the San Antonio Sewer Pipe Manufacturing Company, which established operations there in 1901. The company was founded to take advantage of the area’s abundant red clay deposits, producing clay sewer pipe and related products. To support the business, a post office and a railway switch on the San Read more…
Sam Fordyce

Sam Fordyce, Texas: A Ghost Town with Roots in Railroads and Oil

Sam Fordyce (sometimes recorded as Samfordyce) was founded in 1905 as the western terminus of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway. The community was established with the hope that irrigated agriculture would transform the western Rio Grande Valley. The town was named after Samuel W. Fordyce, a St. Louis railroad executive and financial backer of the line. That same Read more…
Salt Gap

Salt Gap, Texas: The Tiny Crossroads Town with a Forgotten Past

Salt Gap is an unincorporated community in western McCulloch County, Texas, situated at the junction of Farm-to-Market Roads 503 and 504. The settlement takes its name from Salt Creek, a natural watercourse in the area that influenced local geography and land use. The community’s development is tied to the establishment of its post office in 1905, which marked Salt Gap Read more…
Salt Flat

Salt Flat, Texas: A Small Town with a Big Salt Basin Legacy

Salt Flat, Texas, began in 1928 when Ed (Edwin W.) Hammack, a local entrepreneur, learned from highway surveyors that a new route would connect El Paso to Carlsbad Caverns. Seeing an opportunity, he built a combination store and gas station, which opened in 1929. Around the same time, Arthur Grable established a competing business nearby. Both entrepreneurs later added cafes Read more…
Salona

Salona, Texas: The Montague County Community That Time Almost Forgot

Salona is a historic unincorporated community in central Montague County, Texas, about five miles southeast of Bowie. It began as a farming settlement in the early 1870s, originally known as Bethel, and was renamed Salona by the early 1880s. Though it never grew large, the community served as a local center for families in the surrounding countryside for many decades. Read more…
Sage

Sage, Texas: Where Stage Roads Met and a Community Once Thrived

Sage was a rural community in north-central Burnet County, Texas. It developed before 1860, when families from South Carolina, Mississippi, and Kentucky settled near the crossroads of the old Burnet–Lampasas Road and the old Austin–San Saba Road, on the north fork of the San Gabriel River. Its location along these stage and wagon routes gave it an early role in Read more…
St. Mary's of Aransas

St. Mary’s of Aransas: The Lost Texas Port That Became Bayside

St. Mary’s of Aransas was a short-lived but historically significant community on Copano Bay in present-day Aransas County, Texas. Founded around 1850 by Joseph F. Smith, the settlement grew quickly into a bustling port town. Its location made it a vital shipping point for goods such as lumber, hides, tallow, cattle, and cotton, which were hauled by wagon from inland Read more…
Rustler Springs

Rustler Springs, Texas: Tracing the Shifts From Post Office to Sulfur Railroad Hub

Rustler Springs is a former industrial site and community in Loving County, Texas. It is best remembered for its sulfur mining operations, its multiple historical names, and its connection to a railroad spur built in the late 1960s. Today, it is an abandoned location with only remnants of its once-active sulfur industry. Early Names and Post Offices The site was Read more…
Runnels City

Runnels City: The Vanished First County Seat of Runnels County

Runnels City, sometimes referred to as Old Runnels, was established in 1880 when Runnels County was organized by the Texas legislature. The new community was chosen as the first county seat. At the time, it was centrally located and quickly became the focal point of civic life in the area. By 1882, Runnels City had grown to around 250 residents. Read more…
Royston

Royston, Texas: The Railroad Town That Faded Away

Royston, located in northeastern Fisher County, was established in 1907 when the Texas Central Railroad extended its line through the area. The railroad was the main catalyst for its creation, as it provided both transportation and economic opportunity. A post office opened that same year, and within a short time Royston became a hub for the surrounding farming community. By Read more…