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EAGLE
PASS, TEXAS
Maverick County
Seat, South
Texas
Hwy 277, 57 and FM 1021
140 miles SW of San
Antonio via Hwy 90
Population: 22,413 (2000)
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The
Eagle Pass Centennial
Photo Courtesy William Peterson |
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Early
Eagle Pass Businessmen
According to local historian Al Kinnsel, these men were photographed
each New Year's Day for years
Photo Courtesy Maverick County Historical Museum |
History
on a Pecan shell
Names:
The name Eagle Pass was named after migrating eagles or one particular
eagle that flew to and from its nest while the military was deciding
what to name their first camp. The town was predated by this camp
which was two miles downstream from what became Fort Duncan.
Maverick County was named after Samuel Maverick, signer of the Texas
Declaration of Independence, legislator and the man whose name became
a synonymous with unbranded calves. |
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1916
Photo by John Troesser |
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Fort
Duncan post bridge
Photo by John Troesser |
A timeline
of significant historical events in Eagle Pass
1845: Camp
Eagle Pass is established during the Mexican War
1849: Fort Duncan is established as a permanent installation
(2 miles upsteam from the former camp)
1850: Trading post is opened by a San Antonio merchant and
Piedras Negras is established
1851: Stage line to San Antonio is established
1855: Volunteer rangers pursue Indians into Mexico and burn
Piedras Negras
1856: Maverick County is formed
1863: Renegades attack Confederate Fort Duncan and townspeople
drive them back to Mexico
1865: General Shelby buries a Confederate flag in the Rio Grande
- a symbolic burial of the Confederacy.
1868: Federal troops reoccupy the fort after its use by Confederate
forces during the Civil War.
1871: Maverick County is organized and Eagle Pass becomes county
seat
1875: Population reaches 1,500 - Outlaw John King Fisher unofficially
controls the Eagle Pass area
1882: The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway is
built from Spofford (Kinney County)
1884: Population reaches 2,000
1885: Courthouse is built
1900: Population of Eagle Pass is 2,729
1920: Population reaches 5,765
1941: Eagle Pass Army Air Field was constructed twelve miles
north of Eagle Pass
Eagle Pass was 94 percent Hispanic in 1980. |
Eagle
Pass Architecture & Images
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An early morning street scene downtown
Photo by John Troesser |
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Main
Street in 1916
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/
%7Etxpstcrd/ |
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Eagle Pass school in the 1920s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/
%7Etxpstcrd/ |
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Nearby
Destinations
Piedras Negras
- The Mexican town across the border which claims to be the birthplace
of the nacho.
Guerrero,
Coahuila, Mexico - 30 miles East of Piedras Negras on Mexico
Highway 2
Fort Duncan
- Restored buildings form the centerpiece of Eagle Pass' city park.
Buildings include the Fort Duncan Museum.
Uvalde
40 miles NE
Brackettville
46 miles N on Hwy 131
Del
Rio 56 miles N on Hwy 277
Book Your Hotel Here & Save
Eagle
Pass Hotels
More
Hotels |
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A
sign painter at work
Photo by John Troesser |
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A
downtown "Cafe" neon sign
Photo by John Troesser |
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The
Kress Building in Eagle Pass
Photo by John Troesser |
Eagle Pass
Tourist Information
Eagle Pass
Chamber of Commerce:
PO Box 1188 Eagle Pass, TX 78853
Office: 400 Garrison Street Eagle Pass, TX
Phone: 1-888-355-3224 (830) 773-3224
Website: http://www.eaglepasstexas.com/
Eagle
Pass Hotels > Book
Your Hotel Here & Save
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Eagle Pass
Texas Forum
Subject:
Aztec Theatre
My memories of the "Aztec" are growing up down the resaca in the
"Jardin" neighborhood. We never really had any money back then,
so for the weekends, we'd camp-out in the park just across the water
and catch fish for dinner. I remember my Grandmother, God rest her
soul, took me to "bailes" a couple of times on the rooftop….Oh what
a priviledge it would have been to have seen it in its heyday!!
I think my mother has a charcoal drawing I did back when I was around
15 years old. If I find it, I'll try and scan it and send it to
you guys! Thanks for the memories! - George L. Rodriguez, Jr.
Chesapeake, Virginia, July 31, 2006
Subject:
Prada Marfa
As me and my mom were on our way to Eagle Pass we passed the shoestore
[Prada Marfa] and we were not sure if it was what we had seen. We
wanted to make a U-turn and see if it was really there. Well, on
our way back it was there. We stopped and took pictures of it. To
us it was a store in the middle of nowhere, but [we] enjoyed it
as well. I told my brother about it and he doesn't belive it's really
there. - Marisa Flores, May 11, 2006
When you were
down in Eagle Pass did you cross the border and go to Guerrero,
about 25 miles down river from Piedras Negras, to visit the mission
San Juan Baptista?
This mission was the original mission and the headquarters from
which the fathers operated in their forming and governing the missions
in Texas including the Alamo. It is a ruin now but the Mexican government
has made some attempts to save it. - Sincerely, Bick Eubanks,
June 24, 2002
"Nearby
is the site of the Battle of Dove Creek, although it is on private
land. This fight took place in January of 1865 and involved a Confederate
Frontier Battalion and a large number of Kickapoo Indians
who were en route to Mexico (where they remain today)."
I found the above in your description of Sherwood. While it is true
that the Kickapoo do live near Nacimientos, Coahuila, Mexico, they
also live near Eagle Pass, Texas and in Kansas and travel between
all locations freely.
I really enjoy Texas Escapes and thank you for your dedicated work
on it. - Respectfully Yours, Bick Eubanks, June 22, 2002
© John Troesser
Our special thanks to local historian Al Kinnsal and the Fort Duncan
Museum for providing us with many of the photos in our Eagle Pass
town site.
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