DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this place — the site of Monte Christo, two and a half miles north of where you're rolling right now. Now, the Rio Grande Valley had a way of conjuring towns out of thin air in the early twentieth century. Blink, and a new one had sprung up.
Monte Christo was one of those — platted in 1909 by the Melado Land Co., staked out and mapped and offered up to whoever was bold enough to come. And some bold folks did come. Among the first was Otto Woods, born in 1882, who managed the townsite itself — the kind of job that means you're equal parts booster, problem-solver, and hand-shaker.
Alongside him came Virgil Lott, born in 1878, who did what any self-respecting early settler with ink in his veins would do: he started a newspaper. He called it The Hustler. You have to appreciate a man who names his paper The Hustler in a brand-new town with everything still to prove.
And for a while, Monte Christo proved plenty. At its height, this place had a bank. A school.
A railroad station. A cotton gin. Two hotels — not one, two — and a population of fifteen hundred souls.
Fifteen hundred people living, working, banking, reading The Hustler, ginning cotton, and sleeping in one of those two hotels on any given night. Then things started going sideways. The bandit raids of 1914 to 1916 — and that stretch was no small thing in this part of Texas — started pulling residents away.
You can't blame a person for weighing their options when raids are part of the local calendar. Others left for a quieter reason, but one just as stubborn: the water supply proved inadequate. A town of fifteen hundred needs water, and Monte Christo couldn't deliver enough of it.
One by one, then in greater numbers, people moved on. Otto Woods had been born in 1882 and would live until 1956. Virgil Lott, born in 1878, lived until 1960.
They outlasted the town they helped build by decades. Because by 1934, Monte Christo was a ghost town. The bank, the school, the railroad station, the cotton gin, the two hotels — all of it, quiet.
Fifteen hundred people, gone. Two and a half miles up the road, that's all that's left of Monte Christo now — the site, the marker, and this story.
What the marker says
(2.5 mi. North) One of the towns that sprang up in the Rio Grande Valley in the early 20th century, Monte Christo was platted in 1909 by the Melado Land Co. Among the first settlers were Otto Woods (1882-1956), who managed the townsite, and Virgil Lott (1878-1960), who published a newspaper called "The Hustler". At its height, Monte Christo had a bank, school, railroad station, cotton gin, two hotels, and a population of 1500. Residents began to move away during the bandit raids of 1914-1916. Others left when the water supply proved inadequate. By 1934 Monte Christo was a ghost town. (1985)