Christoval

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in the 1870s, frontiersmen started making their way into the south Concho Valley, settling in along something called the Toe Nail trail, running between Fort McKavett and Fort Concho. Now that name alone ought to tell you something about the kind of country they were walking into.

By the mid-1880s, though, a real settlement was taking shape. A Union Church got organized. The South Concho Irrigation Company came together in 1885 and built a dam and three miles of canals to get water out to dry farmland.

People were putting down roots, and they meant to stay. Into this picture rides Christopher C. Doty, born in 1857, who had arrived in Texas in 1879.

Doty opened a store, and in 1888 he applied for a post office. He wanted to call the place Alice. Washington said no, there was already an office by that name.

So Doty went back to the drawing board and came up with Christobal, the Spanish word for Christopher. He submitted it. The government accepted it.

Confirmation of the office's establishment and Doty's appointment as postmaster arrived in January of 1889. There was just one small wrinkle. Somewhere between Doty's pen and the federal ledger, the spelling had been changed.

Not Christobal. Christoval. The name was set, and set it stayed.

Then came August of 1906, and a flood. After the water receded, a tract of bottomland was purchased for a city park. That park became a popular Baptist campground and the site of Confederate reunions, both drawing thousands of regional residents.

The place had a pull to it. By 1915, a bath house had been built at nearby mineral wells, the first of several local health facilities that would follow. And in 1930, the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railroad rolled in, making Christoval a shipping point for the area's sheep, wool, and cattle industries.

A little settlement along the Toe Nail trail, named almost by accident, had become a real place on the map.

What the marker says

Frontiersmen began to immigrate into the south Concho Valley in 1870s, locating along the "Toe Nail" trail from Fort McKavett to Fort Concho. By mid-1880s the settlement began to develop and a Union Church was organized, the South Concho Irrigation Co. was established in 1885, and built a dam and 3 miles of canals to furnish water to dry farmland. Christopher C. Doty (1857-1944), who had arrived in Texas in 1879, opened a store and applied for a post office in 1888, after rejection of application for "Alice", due to another office of that name, Doty suggested "Christobal" (Spanish for Christopher). Confirmation of establishment of the office and Doty's appointment as postmaster arrived in Jan, 1889, but the spelling of the name had been changed to Christoval. After flood in Aug. 1906, a tract of bottomland was purchased for a city park, which became popular Baptist campground and site of Confederate reunions, both attended by thousands of regional residents. A bath house, built in 1915 at nearby mineral wells, was first of several local health facilities. Arrival of the Panhandle & Santa Fe Railroad, in 1930, made Christoval a shipping point for area sheep, wool, and cattle industries. (1973).