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Sanco Teacher
Fannie Payne and Cole Family Home
"My great grandfather George Cole is the baby" - Harley Cole
January
11, 2023 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The town had been
named for a Comanche chief named Sanaco. Settled in what had
been Tom Green County
in the1880s, the area got its first post office when rancher J. L.
Durham opened up his house in 1888. His home also served as a school,
store and church. A Methodist church was built nearby and in 1907
the fledgling community moved there. A school was built to serve the
town's children as well as students from the smaller schools of Horse
Mountain and Meadow Mountain.
Sanco prospered with cotton for
awhile but the boll
weevil and drought ended cotton
production in the 1920s. The post office closed briefly during the
20s; reopened and then closed its doors for good in the 1970s. Sanco's
last business went under about that same time.
See Sleeping Woman Mountain ›
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Sanco
Historical Marker
Photo courtesy MF Peck, July 2017 |
Historical Marker
(From Robert Lee,
take State Hwy 208 NW about 6 miles, then N on Sanco Loop about 3
miles):
Sanco
(originally
located 1 mile east)
On site of prehistoric Indian camps; in area where in 1850's Fort
Chadbourne soldiers often skirmished with Indians.
One of the first settlements and second pioneer post office (established
1888) in county.
Named for the Comanche Chief Sanaco, who with Chief Yellow Wolf had
regularly camped here. Yellow Wolf, killed in a fight with Lipans,
is buried nearby.
In 1907, new site was surveyed; town relocated here on Yellow Wolf
Creek. School, post office, store, blacksmith shop moved to this new
site, where Methodist church was already located.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1966. |
Sanco Store warning
sign
Photo courtesy Dustin
Martin, January 2018 |
Sanco Store
Photo courtesy MF Peck, July 2017 |
Building next
to the Sanco Store
Photo courtesy Dustin
Martin, January 2018 |
Sanco, Texas
Update
December 28, 2019
"Iron man in Sanco was vandalized, head torn off then stolen.
The Church has been broken into again despite very clear/plain sign.
Folks are leaving stones on Chickasaw Lady's grave (on the right going
in) Sanco Cemetery. There is Rock Art display at Coke County Library
in Robert Lee...some of the items come from around Sanco. Fresh collapse
of mountain side (landslide on Sanco Road (runs North/South). If you
come to any of the local DAYS/Events...I usually have a table of Portable
Rock Art" - Art Burnett, PantherGap.com |
Sleeping Woman
Mountain
Photo courtesy Art Burnett, June 2015 |
"Howdy,
Not to throw rocks...folks are missing a huge part of Sanco/Coke
County. If you care to take a little more time than just breeze
thru Sanco, start by stopping at Sanco sign on Hwy 208. Look S/SW
across Colorado River at Sleeping Woman Mountain. Summer sunrise...Solstice
passes across Sanco up the Valley to high light Sleeping Woman. No
imagination needed as she is most of a mile long.
Driving north on Hwy 208 thru Panther Gap to semi ghost town
of Silver, best done in the afternoon
light, one comes to the King of Silver. His head is some two
hundred feet tall easily viewed from Hwy 208 off North side of Hwy.
These are but two of what I believe [to be] an ancient religious site
some fifty miles in diameter...." - Art Burnett, PantherGap.com,
June 19, 2015 |
Coke
County 1920s map showing Sanco and other ghost towns
Courtesy General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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