Colorado City, Texas

Colorado City exploded into existence the day the Texas and Pacific Railway arrived in eighteen eighty-one. Before the train came there was almost nothing here. Within a few years the population jumped into the thousands, and boosters were calling it the largest community between Fort Worth and El Paso.

It became a major cattle shipping center. The Colorado River was the key advantage, giving arriving trail herds the water they desperately needed after weeks on the open range. Then drought struck, nearby San Angelo grew, and the population fell sharply.

Colorado City never recovered its boom-era glory, and Mitchell County carries that history quietly today.