Concho County Texas

Concho was founded in 1858 and is named for the Concho River.

    Named for its principal river, Concho County was formed out of a portion of Bexar County in 1858, but was not put under organization until 1879. The surface is level prairie, crossed by ranges of hills along the water courses, and by the Brady Mountains, which cross the southern, portion from east to west. The two sites of Indian activity in Concho County that have drawn the most attention lie along the bluffs of the Concho and Colorado rivers. About a mile west of Paint Rock, above the Concho, are found some of the most noted Indian pictographs in Texas Concho County was organized  after the required petition was signed by at least seventy-five voters. There being no established community in the county, the vote to select officers and a site for the county seat was held near Mullins Crossing on the Concho. The location chosen for the county seat was at a ford on the Concho about a mile below the mouth of Kickapoo Creek, twelve miles west of the confluence of the Concho and Colorado rivers, and five miles south of the Concho-Runnels county line. The county seat was named Paint Rock, after the nearby pictographs. The town developed steadily. By 1884 it had an estimated population of 100 and had become a shipping center for pecans, wool, hides, and mutton (the cattle were routed elsewhere). In 1886 a permanent courthouse was constructed.

Eden, on Hardin Branch in the south central region of the county, was established in 1882. By 1931, when Paint Rock had reached its peak population of 1,000, Eden had surpassed it with 1,194. Thereafter the population of Paint Rock declined and that of Eden remained relatively constant. The southwestern part of the county saw the development of several early communities, but none of them attained any size, and the names of all but one have disappeared from the map. These included Kickapoo Springs, Erskine, and Vigo, which succeeded one another on virtually the same location on Kickapoo Creek. Ruth and Live Oak (the latter still marked on the 1963 county map) were situated approximately ten miles and eight miles southwest of Eden, respectively. In the west central part of the county grew up the small communities of Vick and Henderson Chapel and, around the turn of the century, the more substantial community of Eola. In 1988 Eola was the third largest town in the county.   Lowake, on the Concho, San Saba and Llano Valley Railroad in the far northwestern corner of Concho County, was established in 1909. Concho, a small community on the Concho River about seven miles northeast of Paint Rock, maintained itself through the 1960s. Millersview, in the east central region, acquired a post office in 1903 and in 1988 was the fourth largest community in the county. In the southeast, the communities of Pasche, Welview, and Lightner grew up along the railroads that entered the county around 1910, but none of these has survived. [Excerpted from Mary M. Standifer, "CONCHO COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online Published by the Texas State Historical Association.]

CITIES, TOWNS,  AND POPULATED PLACES

* Eden *  Paint Rock * Eola * Lowake *  Millersview *

Ghost Towns
* Kickapoo Springs * Erskine * Vigo * Ruth * Live Oak *
Vick * Henderson Chapel * Pasche * Welview * Lightner