Old Lopeno

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and Lopeno's got a story worth hearing. Way back around 1749, a man named Colonel Jose de Escandon set out to do something ambitious: bring colonists deep into Mexico's northern frontier and plant permanent settlements in the brush country along the Rio Grande. That was the seed of everything that followed out here.

Then in 1767, the Spanish government started granting parcels of land to those colonists, and this is where the story gets interesting. A widow named Ysabel Maria Sanchez, widow of early settler and rancher Joseph Lopez, was allotted more than six thousand acres. Six thousand acres.

That is a serious piece of ground. And the village of Lopeno that later developed on part of that land was named in honor of the Lopez family, the very family whose roots ran straight down into that original grant. During the early 1800s, part of the Lopez land passed into the ownership of the Ramirez family, who were also the founders of the nearby village of Falcon.

The Ramirezes weren't just landowners; they were builders. In 1821, Benito Ramirez put up a structure that was three things at once: a home, a fort, and a chapel. Practical man, Benito.

That building later came to be called Fort Lopeno, and it earned that name honestly. In 1856, federal troops briefly occupied the fort while they were in the area helping to ease border disturbances. Soldiers in your living room slash chapel slash fort.

Life on the frontier. Come the early 1900s, a man named Serafin Benavides opened a general store in Lopeno, and for a time that store was the only supply point in the entire area. The whole community leaned on it.

A post office came along in 1920, and then in 1934, oil and gas wells were successfully drilled just outside the village. Lopeno was humming. But here's the turn in the road.

In 1952, Falcon Reservoir was created, and when the waters rose, the residents of Lopeno picked up their lives and relocated their village to this very site. The old town didn't disappear into legend. The people just moved it.

That's not defeat, friend; that's a town that refused to quit.

What the marker says

Development of this area began about 1749 when Col. Jose de Escandon began bringing colonists to establish permanent settlements along Mexico's northern frontier. When parcels of land were granted to the colonists by the Spanish government in 1767, Ysabel Maria Sanchez, widow of early settler and rancher Joseph Lopez, was allotted more than 6,000 acres. The village of Lopeno that later developed on part of the land was named in honor of the Lopez family. During the early 1800s, part of the Lopez land passed to the ownership of the Ramirez family, founders of the nearby village of Falcon. In 1821 Benito Ramirez built a combination home, fort, and chapel that later came to be called Fort Lopeno. Federal troops briefly occupied the fort during 1856 while in the area helping to ease border disturbances. The general store established in Lopeno in the early 1900s by Serafin Benavides served as the area's only supply point at the time. A post office was established in 1920, and in 1934 oil and gas wells were successfully drilled just outside the village. When Falcon Reservoir was created in 1952, residents relocated their village to this site. (1984)