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The
First Baptist Church in Santo
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, July 2005 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Originally named Grand Ranch, the town was founded by one J. Bearden
sometime between 1850 and 1860. An improvised fort was built nearby
during the Civil War when many of the men were away.
What's in a name?
Pay attention - there will be a quiz later.
About 1870 the townspeople moved to a site a mile east of Santo's
present location. The town then changed its name from Grand Ranch
to Calgando. Under Calgando the town grew with the addition
of a gin and a mill. In 1880 the townsfolk moved again - to Santo's
present site. This move brought another change in name - from Calgando
to Cresco.
The name Cresco was confused with a town (about 50 miles west of Santo)
named Cisco. The Handbook of Texas
mentions that a disasterous train wreck was barely avoided due to
the Cresco-Cisco mix-up. So in the name of safety, the town underwent
another (third) change of name. It was now Sparta. But Texas
already had a Sparta in Bell County and the post office didn't want
a lot of misdirected mail, so Sparta became Santo, named either
for John Santo Statti, the local Texas and Pacific Railroad
agent, or from an early settler named J. A. Santo.
In 1920 Santo had its post office and a thriving population of 500.
The population remained the same through 1936, but by 1940 it had
declined to 350. The town reported 312 for the 1980 Census - a figure
it has retained ever since. |
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The
old high school in Santo
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, July 2005 |
Santo
High School
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, July 2005 |
© John
Troesser
More Photos
by Jim & Lou Kinsey
Santo Texas
Forum
Subject: Santo,
Texas
Dear TE, I read your profile and information on Santo, Texas. There
is reference that the town was once named Cresco and this is correct.
It further states that the town was renamed because the name Cresco
was too similar to a town named Cosco and such confusion nearly caused
an accident on the T&P Railroad when a telegrapher inadvertently keyed
the wrong place for an on-coming train, but no reference could be
found by your staff to a town named Cosco.
Actually, the conflict of names was with the town of Cisco,
which is about 50 miles west of Santo and it too lies on the Texas
and Pacific railroad. You might like to change your profile to reflect
this. All other information seems correct. - Glen Taylor (born
and raised in Santo), October 13, 2007
To share history or photos of Santo, Texas, please contact
us. |
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