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History
in a Pecan Shell
The town was laid out by A. L. Odin in 1871 and became the county seat that
year under the name Frio City. The site was chosen for its convenient low
water crossing of the Frio River - said to have been used by Juan Ugalde (Uvalde's
namesake), Santa Anna during the Texas Revolution and General Woll when he briefly
occupied San Antonio in 1842.
The courthouse was finished in 1872 and the town had a stone jail as well.
The original jail is still standing. The post office was established in that same
year and a Masonic lodge was established sometime during the 1870s. The courthouse
burned in 1877, and a new stone courthouse was constructed with assistance of
local rancher W. J. Slaughter.
Frio
City was an outpost of civilization - and the town would occasionally fill with
people seeking safe haven from Comanche raids. Rangers were called in to solve
the Indian mischief and the last incident occurred in 1877. In the early 1880s
the estimated population was close to 1,500.
Frio City lost its prestige
and population when it was bypassed by the International-Great Northern Railroad
in 1881. Pearsall was on the
line, however, and people and businesses moved the 16 miles to be connected to
the rest of the world.
Pearsall
became the county seat in 1883 and the decline in population made Frio City officially
Frio Town in 1886. The courthouse was purchased in 1884 by an individual
and became a general store/ post office for the shrunken community.
By
1890 there were only 100 people left in Frio Town and in 1916 the two-teacher
Frio Academy was teaching 16 students in the former courthouse. Nevertheless,
Frio Town was wired to the outside world by telephone in 1914.
By 1953
Mrs. A. C. Roberts owned most of the townsite, including the former courthouse
and jail. Mrs. Roberts had an interest in history and contributed what she knew
in a 1936 article in Frontier Times called: "Frio County Has a Colorful History,"
which remains part of the bibliography for the Handbook of Texas' entry for Frio
Town.
Today the former courthouse, jail, cemetery and of course, the
river crossing are all that is left of the once prosperous Frio City. The ruins
are on private property, although the cemetery (on FM 140) is accessible. |
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Centennial
Marker Text
FRIO
TOWN
Known 1871-1886
as Frio City
First county seat of Frio County
1871-1883
Presented
by the State of Texas
1936 |
Story
and Photographs By Josa Combs
A
newly-wedded couple drives to desolate Frio County in the late 1980s to camp alongside
the Frio River. Thanks to the kindness of a mysterious writer, they’re allowed
to discover the crumbling ruins of Frio County’s first seat of government. more |
The
1878 Old Frio County CourthouseMaterial
- Locally quarried sandstone
On private property today |
| The
former Frio County Courthouse in Frio Town
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
From "Ghost
Town Honeymoon" by Josa Combs
"Then we found the massive
courthouse. When I crawled up the steps of the courthouse, there were still old
papers laying around. Downstairs too, but the downstairs was in worse condition
than the upstairs was.
There was an old telephone table with all the wires,
old benches and what looked like a Judges desk. It was almost as if the people
had just walked away. The huge beautifully-painted safe was something to see."
more |
Old
courthouse courtroom
1980s Photo courtesy Josa
Combs |
Old
courthouse courtroom
1980s Photo courtesy Josa
Combs |
The
1872 Frio County Old JailMaterial
- Locally quarried sandstone
On private property |
From "Ghost
Town Honeymoon" by Josa Combs
"The old jail was in bad condition,
but one could still see the marks where former prisoners had carved off the plaster
to keep track of their days." more |
| "Old
jail taken from outside to inside. The rafters represent where the upstairs was.
I was told by the property owner that the Sheriff lived upstairs." - Josa
Combs |
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Historical
Marker TextFrio
Town CemeteryFounded
in 1871, Frio Town served as the first county seat of Frio County. A courthouse
was built in 1876, and a number of families built homes in the area. The International
and Great Northern Railroad built a line from San Antonio to Laredo in 1881, bypassing
Frio Town. By 1883 the new town of Pearsall (16 mi. E) on the rail line became
the new county seat.
One of the few physical reminders of the historic
Frio Town community, this cemetery stands as a testament to the county's early
pioneer history. The first burials occurred in 1873, when Calvin Massey (1797-1873)
was killed by Indians, and Robert Wesley Hiler (1855-1873) died in a horse riding
accident.
Among the pioneer settlers interred here are Ben (1813-1893)
and Minerva (1817-1895) Slaughter and their descendants, as well as members of
the Roberts, Hiler, Little, Loxton, Taylor, Hattox, Blackaller, and Minus families.
A number of early graves are unmarked. Six men killed in an Indian raid on the
William J. Slaughter sheep ranch in 1876 are buried together in a row of graves.
The cemetery also contains the burials of a number of infants and small children,
a reflection of harsh conditions on the frontier.
(1991) |
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Slaughter
Tombstone
1980s Photo courtesy Josa
Combs |
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us.
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Town Area Hotels
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