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LOYAL VALLEY,
TEXAS
Texas Ghost
Town
Mason County, Texas Hill Country
Highway 87
16 miles SE of Mason
26 miles NW of Fredericksburg
Population: 50 (estimate since 1990)
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The
church
Photo courtesy Erik Whetstone, August 2005 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Settled
by German immigrants from the Fredericksburg
area about 1858, the name was either given to honor the loyalty and
cooperation of the settlers, or to proclaim German loyalty to the
Union. It is one of the oldest communities in Mason County.
During the 1870s outlying communities sought shelter in Loyal Valley
from hostile Indians. It was also a stage stop between San
Antonio and Fort Concho.
A post office was in operation from 1868 to 1919.
The first school opened in 1870 and a later stone building was built
by Phillip Buchmeyer. In the early part of the Twentieth Century,
the town was thriving. Brush arbor meetings were held and cotton and
livestock fueled the economy. |
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A
ruin in Loyal Valley
Photo courtesy Erik Whetstone, August 2005 |
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The
cemetery
Photo courtesy Erik Whetstone, August 2005 |
Loyal Valley
became a popular hunting destination. From an estimated population
of 194 in 1904, it shrank to a mere 25 in the 1930s. But it reached
1000 just before WWII and as late as the 1970s, the town still had
a population of 150.
Fredericksburg
Hotels
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