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SUTHERLAND
SPRINGS, TEXAS Texas Ghost
Town
Wilson County, South Texas
A Ghost Town
Hwy 87 at FM 539
14 miles SW of Seguin
20 miles E of San
Antonio
The population is given as 362,
however "old" Sutherland Springs rounds out at 0.
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Rear view of bank building
TE photo, November 2000 |
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Sutherland Springs was founded by a Dr. John Sutherland Jr. who
set up a post office and stagecoach stop in 1851. It was
officially designated the County Seat of Wilson County in 1860,
but folks were busy during the Civil War and when it was over, some
people preferred Floresville as county seat and so it was.
When the railroad came in 1877, it became known as the "Saratoga
of the South" for its waters.
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Our
Guide and Host, C.F. Eckhardt
TE photo, November 2000 |
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50%
of what's left of downtown Sutherland Springs
TE photo, November 2000 |
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The
building that is not the former bank
TE photo, November 2000 |
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The
bank vault today
TE photo, November 2000 |
Sutherland
Springs Today
Today what was
Sutherland Springs sits just South and East of the highway. Two buildings
spaced far apart are all that is left of the Old Town, although there
are street signs.
One of the buildings is the former bank. Hackberry trees (and poison
ivy) now grow in the middle of the roofless room and the vault is
still there with its cast iron ornamentation around the door.
Sod farms have become a part of the local economy and the owners of
the old 52 room Hotel Sutherland razed it to have soil to grow more
grass. The building had been closed since 1923.
Book Your Hotel Here & Save
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Antonio Hotels
Seguin
Hotels
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A
Panoranic View of Old Town Sutherland Springs
TE photo, November 2000 |
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The
Joseph Polley House (c. 1850)
still stands on Highway 87 near Sutherland Springs
TE photo, November 2000 |
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You have to
look hard to find information on Sutherland Springs beyond what
is found in the Handbook of Texas. To furnish our readers
with more than this we turned to the excellent Taking
the Waters in Texas: Springs, Spas and Fountains of Youth by Janet
Mace Valenza. (University of Texas Press, 2000)
Sutherland Springs was an extremely popular resort and there
was a claim that within a very small area there were over 100 separate
sulphur springs. The main bathing areas were by the river
(Cibolo Creek) and the one with darker water was called "black
springs" and was reserved for men while women used the "white
springs". One legend has it that the waters of the Black Springs
never froze.
Attempts
were made to bottle the water from Sutherland Springs and shares
were sold; however no bottling plant ever materialized. The springs
were popular with religious groups for holding revivals there and
after 1917, the US Army contracted to have wounded soldiers from
WWI recuperate there.
Because of its isolation, trains were about the only way to visit
the springs. During its heyday women and children would take a train
to the springs during the week and then fathers/ husbands would
join them on the weekend.
See:
Tyrant's
Gold by
Mike Cox (Texas Tale Column)
When General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna came to Texas in 1836 he
left behind death and destruction -- and possibly gold.
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Save
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Antonio Hotels
Seguin
Hotels
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Sutherland
Springs Texas Forum
Anyone
wishing to share history, stories or historic photos of Sutherland
Springs, Texas, please contact
us.
Our special thanks to Author and Raconteur C.F. Eckhardt who
guided us to Sutherland Springs and suggested it be included in our
Ghost Town series. Eckhardt is the author of several books on Texas
Folklore. His second most recent book is
Badmen,
Bad Women and Bad Places
and was published by Texas Tech Press in 1999.
© John Troesser |
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