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History
in a Pecan Shell
The community, which has also been known as South Concho and
Delong, Texas, is said to be named after early settler Christopher
Columbus Doty. The town was granted a post office in 1889 and by 1914
there were 200 people living here, shopping at two stores and reading
their news from the Christoval Observer.
You would never know it today but tiny Christoval once hosted an annual
Baptist encampment (into the 1930s) that attracted 10,000 people.
Mineral waters helped keep attendance up and most of them arrived
on the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railroad. The population peaked in the
1930s when 544 people call Christoval home.
After WWII the
population dropped to just 400 and by 1973 it had declined to just
over 200, remaining there through the 1980s. In 1987 highway 277 was
rerouted, bypassing Christoval and it was thought by some that the
community was finished. But both business and population has increased
and its unusual terrain and abundance of trees has attracted people
looking for a tranquil life.
See Christoval Historical Marker
› |
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Christoval Baptist
Church
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2010 |
Historical
Marker
Corner of Church & Rudd (FM 2084), Christoval.
Christoval
Baptist Church
Settlement of this
area began in the 1860s and increased in the 1870s and 1880s following
the establishment of Fort
Concho in nearby San
Angelo. The town of Christoval began to develop by 1885. The South
Concho Baptist congregation was organized in 1889 with four charter
members. The Rev. T. R. Leggett served as first pastor, and the congregation
met in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, built by a group of citizens
and used as a Union Church. Located on a hill on the corner of present
Church St and Rudd, the Union Church was the site of regular worship
services, with various clergy officiating. The name of the South Concho
Baptist congregation was changed to Christoval Baptist Church in 1906.
Four years later the membership voted to build its own facility, and
an octagonal wooden tabernacle was erected. In 1911, the first annual
summer Christoval Baptist encampment was held on the banks of the
South Concho River. A new church building was dedicated in 1925 during
the August camp meeting. Due to the financial strains of the Depression,
the campground was sold in 1932. This church remains an important
part of the Christoval community.
(1989)
More Texas
Churches › |
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Christoval Post
Office, TX 76935
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2010
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Historic Roadside
Park marker
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2010
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Christoval Historical
Marker
618 Main St, Christoval
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2006
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Historical
Marker
Christoval
Frontiersmen began
to immigrate into the south Concho Valley in 1870s, locating along
the "Toe Nail" trail from Fort
McKavett to Fort Concho.
By mid-1880s the settlement began to develop and a Union Church was
organized, the South Concho Irrigation Co. was established in 1885,
and built a dam and 3 miles of canals to furnish water to dry farmland.
Christopher C. Doty (1857-1944), who had arrived in Texas in 1879,
opened a store and applied for a post office in 1888, after rejection
of application for "Alice", due to another office of that name, Doty
suggested "Christobal" (Spanish for Christopher). Confirmation of
establishment of the office and Doty's appointment as postmaster arrived
in Jan, 1889, but the spelling of the name had been changed to Christoval.
After flood in Aug. 1906, a tract of bottomland was purchased for
a city park, which became popular Baptist campground and site of Confederate
reunions, both attended by thousands of regional residents. A bath
house, built in 1915 at nearby mineral wells, was first of several
local health facilities. Arrival of the Panhandle & Santa Fe Railroad,
in 1930, made Christoval a shipping point for area sheep, wool, and
cattle industries.
(1973) |
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Christoval
was recommended for inclusion by native son Doug Roberts who wrote:
"Hope you can include my old hometown soon - Christoval. Located on
the Concho River south of San
Angelo . Lots of history there with its old Baptist camp grounds,
its ranching history &, of course, its six man football dominance
in the 50's & 60's."
Texas
Escapes' 1600th Town |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. |
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