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A building
in downtown Sabinal
TE photo 4-04 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Thomas B. Hammer
is credited as being the first settler in the area. Hammer opened
a stage stop on the eastside of the Sabinal River around 1854 and
when a post office was granted the same year the town was designated
Hammer’s Station. A Cavalry outpost was established in 1856 on the
west bank of the river for the settlers protection. The camp’s presence,
however, didn’t intimidate the bandits that killed Hammer in 1857.
Sabinal got a railroad (Southern Pacific) connection in 1881– the
same year that Turkish Angora goats were introduced. In 1893 the town
had two hotels and the population was reported as 150 for 1884 – not
bad for the era.
By 1906, the year the town incorporated, 500 Sabinalistas called the
place home. Irrigation for cotton crops was provided by the lumberyard’s
windmill and enough cotton was produced to keep six gins in operation.
Wool and mohair production were important economic mainstays.
Water and fire departments were established and telephone service
began – all in the magic year of 1906. By 1911, the population had
swelled to an estimated 1,500 – and those who could read, read The
Sentinel - the town’s own weekly newspaper.
A school specifically for Hispanics was opened in the mid 1930s. With
schools consolidations, a new elementary and high school were built
in town. Five school buses fanned out daily to gather students over
the district’s 356 mile territory.
The population reached its zenith in the mid-1950s, with about 2,300
people, but it had declined to 1,570 by 1974 By 1990 the estimated
population was about the same. |
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A ghost
from 100 years ago
TE photo 4-04 |
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The old
Gas Station/ Café/ Dance Hall
TE photo 4-04 |
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"Arroyo de la Soledad”
AKA Sabinal River
TE photo 4-04 |
Sabinal
River
The Sabinal River
which flows from springs north of Vanderpool
(Bandera County) continues past Sabinal to the west of town and eventually
joins the Frio River. The Sabinal River is only 60 miles long, and
for some of its length it flows underground. The Spanish had originally
named the river Arroyo de la Soledad, or "Stream of Solitude"
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Sabinal water tower
TE photo 4-04 |
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