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PAINT ROCK, TEXAS

Suggested slogan:
"You can't get lost in Paint Rock"

Concho County Seat, Texas Panhandle / Hill Country

31°30'28"N 99°55'24"W (31.507777, -99.923277)
Hwy 83 and FM 380
About 16 Miles S of Ballinger
20 Miles N of Eden
32 miles E of San Angelo
Population: 273 (2010) 320 (2000) 227 (1990)

Paint Rock, Texas Area Hotels › San Angelo Hotels
Paint Rock TX - Indian Pictographs
Paint Rock pictographs on the Campbell Ranch
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2010

Paint Rock, Texas Topics:

  • History
  • Paint Rock Landmarks / Attractions & photo gallery
  • Concho County Courthouse next page
  • Paint Rock Pictographs photo gallery
  • Pictograph Centennial Marker next page
  • Paint Rock Chronicles

  • History on a Painted Cliff

    Originally, the town was begun a half mile west of the present location, but the mistake was found and the first buildings relocated to the present site. The year was 1879 and the name comes from the numerous ancient pictographs along the rock walls of the Concho River. The same year (1879) saw the opening of the post office.

    In the mid 1880s, Paint Rock had a population around 100 and had developed into a pecan, sheep and wool shipping point.

    A Presbyterian church was organized in 1881, followed by a Baptist church in 1886. They and they late-arriving (1892) Methodists shared a Union Churchbuilding until they eventually each built their own.

    The first of two destructive fires occurred in 1909 (the second in 1922). This partially accounts for the incomplete courthouse square today.

    It wasn’t until 1910 that the railroad arrived and by 1914, the community had its own water system and newspaper.

    Despite the fires, Paint Rock reached it’s apex in 1931 with around 1,000 residents. Two years later, as the effects of the Great Depression were felt, and the population declined by half. Then, as if life wasn’t hard enough, the railroad bridge was washed out in 1936 and the town was left without a rail connection.

    It returned to 800 in the early 1940s and remained there more or less through the 1950s. In 1972 it had plunged again – this time reaching a low point of just 193 residents.

    The 200 census reported 320 people, making it one of Texas’ least populated county seats. (See Ten County Seats You're Not Likely to Visit)

    Paint Rock, Texas Landmarks/Attractions

    Concho County TX - Paint Rock bluff
    Photo Courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2010
    Pictograph Centennial Marker
    in the Campbell Ranch
    A small cluster of buildings surround a tidy courthouse that reassures Paint Rockers that they are the County Seat, not the Colossus of Eden.
    Concho County courthouse  Paint Rock Texas
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2006
    Concho County Courthouse
    Paint Rock Texas downtown
    Downtown Paint Rock
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2006
    Paint Rock Texas former bank

    Former bank in Paint Rock
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2006
    More Texas Banks

    Paint Rock Tx Concho County Precinct Building
    Concho County Precinct Building
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2006
    Paint Rock Tx Methodist Church
    Methodist Church
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, May 2005
    More Texas Churches
    Pain Rock Wool Warehouse, Texas
    Paint Rock Wool Warehouse
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2006

    Paint Rock Pictographs on the Campbell Ranch

    Pictographs can be visited by car or tours can be arranged (325-732-4376).
    Paint Rock pictographs on the Campbell Ranch
    Photo courtesy Steven M. Aycock, DDS, 2011
    Paint Rock TX - Indian Pictographs
    Paint Rock pictographs on the Campbell Ranch
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2010
    Paint Rock pictographs on the Campbell Ranch
    Photo courtesy Steven M. Aycock, DDS, 2011
    Paint Rock pictographs on the Campbell Ranch
    Photo courtesy Steven M. Aycock, DDS, 2011
    Paint Rock pictographs on the Campbell Ranch
    Photo courtesy Steven M. Aycock, DDS, 2011
    Pictograph Centennial Marker
    in the Campbell Ranch

    Highway to Paint Rock Texas
    Approaching Paint Rock
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2006

    Paint Rock Chronicles:
  • Paint Rock: The Last Comanche Fight of Jack Hays
    by Jeffery Robenalt
    Some historians have questioned the Rangers' victory at Paint Rock as pure fiction or an attempt to revise history, however, Jack Hays and the Texas Rangers need no help from me or any other historian to bring glory and honor to their name.
    Read full article

  • Who Killed Oliver Thornton?
    by C. F. Eckhardt
    Oliver Thornton is no more than a footnote in the history of Western outlawry—a man who wouldn’t be more than a name on a tombstone had he not chanced to get himself murdered... Read full article

  • Concho County Vintage Photos
    Concho County Courthouse vintage photo, Paint Rock Texas old photo
    Concho County Courthouse when it was first built
    Old photo courtesy Virginia Eubanks
    Concho River Bridge, Texas
    Concho River Bridge
    Vintage postcard courtesy Will Beauchamp
    More Texas Bridges

    Take a road trip

    Paint Rock, Texas Nearby Towns:
    San Angelo
    Ballinger

    See Concho County

    Texas Panhandle | Hill Country

    Book Hotel Here:
    San Angelo Hotels | More Hotels
    Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact us.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


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