Sonora

Pecos Trail Region
888-387-2880, 325-387-2880
Website

OUTLAWS AND ARCHITECTTS

Seat of Sutton County, Sonora lays claim to the nearby Devil’s River more readily perhaps than other towns simply because it bestowed the river’s name to its oldest continuing operating business – the Devils River News. The seventy-five cent weekly began publication in 1890 and covers the typical newsworthy fair found in most rural Texas towns – local elections, track meets, and the ladies’ softball schedule. Sutton County’s magnificently restored courthouse, a Second Empire flourish of mansard roofing, fancy iron cresting, and stone quoins, succeeds in encapsulating the imposing gesture that Texas architect Oscar Ruffini, with his penchant for the French style favored by Victorians, was no doubt after. Its restoration, courtesy of the County and Texas Historical Commission Courthouse Preservation Program, included particularly handsome interior wall stenciling and glazing. The Old Sonora Ice House Ranch Museum retells stories of outlaws and lawmen, including the shootout that killed Will Carver, local cowboy and member of the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid gang. Nearby, visitors can explore deep underground at the Caverns of Sonora, designated a National Natural Landmark.

Download a copy of Sonora's Main Street Walking Tour.

Mapped location of Sonora

Sonora

888-387-2880, 325-387-2880

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