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Armstrong Post
Office, TX 78338
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, September 2011 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Captain James B.
Armstrong founded the Armstrong Ranch around 1893. In 1904 the St.
Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad came through and added the
ranch to its stops. The railroad sold out to the larger Missouri Pacific.
The first post office operated under the name of Katherine,
but was renamed in 1915.
The highest population occurred in 1929 at 25 persons, although when
a bus from the Rio Grange Valley occasionally breaks down near Armstrong
the population temporarily swells to 40 or more. Amenities are few
and it's hard to see where Armstrong's 20 estimated residents actually
live.
We include tiny Armstrong in our town pages for two main reasons:
One, people have asked if the post office is for real, and two, there's
not a lot of other towns to write about in Kenedy
County. |
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"Major
James B. Durst purchased the Armstrong Ranch land in 1853. His daughter
married the Texas Ranger Capt. John B. Armstrong in 1878, and they
moved their family to the property in 1882. Their descendants continue
to run the ranch today.
In 1904 the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad came through
and added the ranch to its stops. The railroad sold out to the larger
Missouri Pacific. The first post office operated under the name
of Katherine, but was renamed in 1915.
Highway 77 was completed through the ranch in 1940." - Tobin
Armstrong, Armstrong Ranch, Armstrong, TX, April 23, 2002
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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