Forts Trail Region
Palo Pinto
Attracted by the fertile soil of the Brazos River valley, settlers came to the area in 1855. A legislative act in 1856 formed Palo Pinto County and specified that the county seat…
Forts Trail Region Cities
Explore Texas cities in the Forts Trail Region
Cities
Forts Trail Region
Proctor
Proctor was established in 1872 by Thomas Moore when he came west for his health. He decided to open a store and bought a small tract of land. He formed a partnership…
Forts Trail Region
Ranger
Considering it was the Wild West, life was pretty good in 1879 at Ranger Camp Valley. The tent city boasted tent churches, schools, a hotel and general store and, of course, the…
Forts Trail Region
Richland Springs
Richland Springs is a town in San Saba County in western Central Texas. The population was 333 at the 2010 census. The Town of Richland Springs is served by the Richland Springs…
Forts Trail Region
Rising Star
Rising Star, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and State Highway 36, fifty-six miles southeast of Abilene in southwestern Eastland County, had its beginnings in 1876 when six families moved west…
Forts Trail Region
Robert Lee
The county seat of Coke County, Robert Lee is located at the junction of State highways 158 and 208 north of San Angelo. Robert Lee was founded by two Confederate veterans -…
Forts Trail Region
Roby
In 1885, shortly after Fisher County was organized, a dispute arose between business partners from Mississippi and a town called Fisher. Both wanted their land to host the courthouse. The partners were…
Forts Trail Region
Roscoe
Roscoe, Texas is a small town that has big potential. Roscoe is located at the intersection of Interstate 20 and US Highway 84. The Union & Pacific railroad runs straight through town…
Forts Trail Region
Rule
Rule is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 380 and State Highway 6, about fifty-five miles north of Abilene in western Haskell County. The community, established in anticipation of the arrival of…
Forts Trail Region
San Angelo
CONCHO RIVER PEARL San Angelo started out on the right foot for Texas heritage travelers, particularly when it comes to frontier history and early Texas architecture. The townsite, originally a trading post…
Forts Trail Region
San Saba
No place reveres the official state tree, the pecan, more than San Saba. The town calls itself the "Pecan Capital of the World" for good reason. Nineteenth-century English immigrant and amateur horticulturalist…
Forts Trail Region
Santa Anna
Santa Anna is at the intersection of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, U.S. highways 283, 67, and 84, and Farm Road 1176 eight miles southeast of Coleman in southeast central…
Forts Trail Region
Stamford
Stamford may have been named for a city in Connecticut, but this place is all cowboy all the time. It’s been that way since the late 1800s when Swante Magnus Swenson, the…
Forts Trail Region
Stephenville
Town namesake John M. Stephen donated land for the town site, which was laid out by county namesake George B. Erath. Today, downtown Stephenville offers 1890s-era stone buildings surrounding the Romanesque Revival-style…
Forts Trail Region
Strawn
Located less than four miles off Interstate 20 midway between Fort Worth and Abilene, the city of Strawn serves as the gateway to the beautiful North Texas Hill Country. Nestled in the…
Forts Trail Region
Sweetwater
Wide-open spaces and potable water brought Native Americans, buffalo hunters and ranchers to these rolling prairies and plateaus. Sweetwater became the seat of Nolan County in 1881 just as the first railroad…
Forts Trail Region
Throckmorton
When you travel U.S. 183 through Throckmorton, think cattle drive. The highway traces the 1870s-1880s route of the Great Western Trail where tough cowboys drove millions of cattle from South Texas, across…
Forts Trail Region
Thurber
In the early 20th century, a prosperous coal and brick operation made Thurber a thriving city between Fort Worth and El Paso. Owned by the Texas and Pacific Coal Company, the booming…
Forts Trail Region
Tuscola
The original townsite, sometimes referred to as "the Flat" by area settlers, was two or three miles west of the present location about 19 miles south of Abilene on U.S. Highway 83…
Forts Trail Region
Winters
Founded in 1890, the town was named for rancher and land agent J.N. Winters. The Z.I. Hale Museum bears the name of a local optometrist whose office now houses displays on early-day…
Forts Trail Region
Zephyr
Zephyr is on U.S. Highway 84 twelve miles east of Brownwood in southeast Brown County. It was originally on the banks of Blanket Creek, a mile east of the present site. The…