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COMSTOCK, TEXASSuggested
slogan: "Get a Lode of Us."
Val Verde County, West
Texas
Hwys 90 & 163
29 miles NW of Del Rio
18 miles E of Langtry
Population: 400
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Named after a railroad dispatcher for the Galveston, Harrisburg
and San Antonio Railroad, Comstock came into being about 1883.
The original town site was just east of present Comstock and was called
Sotol City.
Like hundreds of towns in Texas, the post office appeared at the same
time as the first store. In this case the year was 1888 and the store
belonged to George Washington Ames. The Deaton Stage Line operated
between Comstock and Ozona
for 22 years beginning in 1888. The population was as low as 8 people
during the depression, and reached a peak of 400 during WWII*.
Today Comstock is a little too close to Del
Rio for travelers heading west to need a rest stop so soon, and
east-bound travelers probably stopped in Langtry.
The hilly terrain makes an interesting residential section. The highway
frontage is littered with failed businesses and the liveliest building
in town is the U.S. Border Patrol Station. |
The
water tower stands in a residential backyard and may or may not have
once been the "official" Comstock water tower. It now serves as a
reservoir for a swimming pool.* (See
Comstock Forum)The present condition
of the water tower is not representative of the charming community
of Comstock. *Our source, as it often is, is the Handbook of Texas
Online.
Del
Rio Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here
& Save
Comstock
Stories
Bud
Newman Gang by Mike Cox
Bud Newman didn’t amount to much as an outlaw, but not for lack of
grit... While Newman never hit the big time, he clearly had aspirations.
And his memory lived on well into the 20th century at Comstock, where
some of his exploits occurred... more |
Comstock
Texas Forum
The Comstock
stage line was owned by George Deaton - Lou Lane, April 27, 2005
*I
was raised in Comstock, Texas and now make my home in Houston. The
water tower was constructed, as you mentioned, as a reservoir for
the swimming pool. It never served as the water tower for the town.
It is on private property but as a small child, I remember swimming
in the pool. - PKZ, December 13, 2004
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