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| Salado,
which means 'salty', is an old Tawakoni Indian settlement, although Paleo-Indian
tribes were there even earlier. Bustillo y Ceballos probably stopped here, too.
Originally called Salado Springs, it was settled in 1851 by Archibald Willingham
and became a well-known stage stop on the Chisholm Trail. A stone wall
was erected around the springs to keep the cattle out, since the springs supplied
water for the town. Today it is a large, wide swimming hole behind a dam located
downtown. One hundred years ago, the springs gushed so strongly that they produced
a five-foot fountain. Between 1851 and 1868, eleven mills were built in Salado
around the springs. |
| | Salado
Springs
Photo courtesy Chandra Moira Beal |
W.A.
PACE PARK Take
exit 284 from IH35, go right at the first stop sign, cross Main Street, and continue
on into the park.
This park was given to the people of Salado by
John W. and Elizabeth Pace Hodges in honor of their parents, William Alexander
Pace and Sarah Jane Hankons Pace, on August 16, 1936. The land was once at the
northwest corner of a 100-acre tract set aside by Colonel E.C. Robertson in 1859
to be sold to benefit Salado College. The property was purchased by a man named
Stinnett who resold it to Pace in 1888. Pace was a Virginian who came to Texas
to farm and had 17 children with his wife. During the Civil War, Pace Park was
a safe haven to Company G.
Pace Park is a very simple park with few
amenities. The main attractions are Salado Creek and lots of open, grassy
space. The creek is shallow and suitable for wading. There are picnic tables and
gazebos on the gently sloped shores, and private property is on the opposite side.
The picnic tables are built of natural, uncut rocks from the creekbed. Cottonwoods
provide shade. A covered pavilion has ceiling fans, a fireplace, and electricity.
Addendum:
Salado Creek and Pace Park were the state's first designated
natural landmark. Wagon wheel ruts can still be seen in the limestone creek bed
just north of the park, leftover from when Main Street was part of the Chisholm
Trail.
Where to Stay > Salado
Hotels |
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First
United Methodist Church in Salado
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, 2005 |
Salado
Chronicles From
Patty Hearst to Salado by Clay Coppedge
Charles Turnbo writes
about history but he has also witnessed a fair amount it... The
Chisholm Trail Rides Again by Clay Coppedge
Anyone wanting
to follow the Old Chisholm Trail through Bell County would find part of the quest
relatively easy, at least as easy as driving on IH-35. The old trail roughly paralleled
the Interstate from Salado to Belton.
After that following the old trail might get a little trickier, though anyone
who spends much time here passes or crosses it many more times than they could
ever know... more
Jesse
James, Supposedly by Clay Coppedge
"...That
the James and Younger brothers spent some time in Texas is not in dispute, and
local legends of the James and Younger brothers in Bell and surrounding counties
abound..."Institute
for the Humanities at Salado
by Byron Browne
This Texas hamlet offers much more than many of us have imagined. Having undergone
a regeneration of sorts, the town now boasts several interesting and enthralling
businesses and has established itself as a destination rather than simply another
interstate oasis. |
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Salado
Texas Amity School circa 1906
Photo courtesy Gordon Rampy |
Salado,
Texas ForumSubject:
Salado and Benoit
Dear TE, A web search for Benoit, Texas, led me to your excellent site. My father,
Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Rampy was born and reared in Salado. He wrote a detailed account
of those years (1898-1916) in a book titled "Choice and Chance." I have posted
it (PDF), including many photos, on the web at: http://www.upamerica.org/family/trrbook.htm.
I believe those of your readers who are familiar with Salado would find the first
of the three sections to be a good account of how things were on a Central Texas
farm a hundred years ago.
The town of Benoit
was featured in an incident recounted in my father's book (above). He relates
a tale of travel from his home to that tiny village in Runnels County by train
in 1910: A RAILROAD
ADVENTURE
Thanks for the great job you are doing to preserve our precious
past. - Gordon Rampy, Warrenton, Virginia, August 11, 2007 |
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