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| Altair's
most noticable structures.TE Photos, July 2004 |
History
in a Pecan ShellAltair
had its beginnings in the 1880s and was granted a post office in 1888. The town
had originally been named Stafford's Ranch after the prosperous and influential
Stafford family of Columbus.
But to avoid postal confusion with Stafford, Texas (in nearby Fort Bend County),
it was renamed Altair in 1890. |
| | | | "Andy
Griffith, Marvin Tyler, and Sam Snead (professional golfer), goose hunting near
Altair, 1970. The hunt was filmed and broadcast as an episode of the television
series "'American Sportsman.'" Photo Courtesy Nesbitt Memorial Library #01952
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The Texas and New
Orleans Railroad arrived in 1890 but Altair never fully developed due to the proximity
to the county seat of Columbus
- just 9 miles north. Altair had a mere 200 people in the 1960s which declined
to only 80 in the 1980s.
In the 1990s a rice-drying facility and some
short-lived businesses occupied the site, but the population has been estimated
at 30 since 1990. |
Bridge
crossing the Colorado near Altair
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, July 2005 | |
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