Comstock

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight. Way out in Val Verde County, a little place called Comstock didn't just happen, it grew up around water. In the early 1880s, a natural lake and water supply drew the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, and the railroad put down a station right there.

Before long, the old townsite known as Soto, or Sotol City if you preferred, was replaced by something new. Something with a proper name. That name was Comstock, after John B.

Comstock, a railroad dispatcher. Not a general, not a governor, a dispatcher. And yet here's a whole town wearing his name out in the Texas brush.

The community grew fast and grew lively, boasting a variety of establishments. The wool and lamb industry ran strong through here, and for a stretch, Comstock served as a temporary home to several Texas Rangers. That's the kind of detail that makes you wonder what stories walked through that town and never got written down.

Then came World War II, and the advances in technology that followed, and the population began to decline. The railroad that built the place had changed the world, and the world had moved on. But here's what the marker wants you to sit with: Comstock is held up as an example of the influence small communities had on the development of larger commercial cities.

Out here in the middle of a whole lot of nothing, a natural lake and a railroad dispatcher's name helped shape something bigger than either one of them ever knew.

What the marker says

In the early 1880s, Comstock developed as a station on the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway because of the natural lake and water supply. The former townsite of Soto or Sotol City was replaced with Comstock, named after John B. Comstock, a railroad dispatcher. The community quickly grew and boasted a variety of establishments. The town was a key element in the wool and lamb industry and served as a temporary home to several Texas Rangers. After World War II and advances in technology, the population declined. Comstock is an example of the influence of small communities that led to the development of larger commercial cities. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011