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Somervell County TX
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RAINBOW, TEXAS

Somervell County, Central Texas North

32° 15' 56" N, 97° 42' 51" W (32.265556, -97.714167)

Farm Road 200
4 miles NE of Glen Rose the county seat
Population: 76 est. (2010, 2000)

Rainbow, Texas Area HotelsGlen Rose Hotels

Brazos River bridge and Rainbow country scene

Crossing the Brazos at Rainbow
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, 2003


Rainbow, Texas History

"Rainbow is on Farm Road 200 four miles northeast of Glen Rose in northeast Somervell County. Among the first settlers was William Porter, who established a school in the late 1860s; for several decades the area was referred to as the Porter school district. By the 1890s a community had developed, and the residents requested a post office. When the townspeople gathered to name the community a thunderstorm broke out, followed by a rainbow. The residents, struck by the beauty of the rainbow, named their town after it. A post office was opened in Rainbow in 1899. By 1910 the community had half a dozen stores, a church, and a school. In the 1920s a newspaper, the Rainbow Reminder, served the estimated 113 residents. Throughout the twentieth century Rainbow has served as a church and school community for area farmers. After the 1920s the population decreased, reaching a low of forty in 1960. By 1981 the number of residents had increased to seventy-six. This growth may be due in part to the opening of nearby Dinosaur Valley State Park in the 1970s. Through 2000 the population was still reported as seventy-six."

David Minor, “Rainbow, TX,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed September 11, 2022, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/rainbow-tx.

The Rainbow post office
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, 2003



Rainbow, Texas Baptist Church

The Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, 2003



Brazos River Bridge, Rainbow, Texas

The Brazos River Bridge
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, 2003


Nearby Attractions:

Dinosaur Valley State Park

Glen Rose TX - Tracks, Dinosaur Valley State Park
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, July 2009

113 million year old Dinosaur Tracks in the Paluxy River bed.
US Highway 67 to FM 205 for 4 miles to Park Road 59; then one mile to the park headquarters



Take a road trip

Central Texas North

Rainbow, Texas Nearby Towns:
Glen Rose the county seat
See Somervell County

Book Hotel Here:
Glen Rose Hotels | More Hotels

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