Crosby County Places
Landmarks & Vanished Communities
This index preserves the TXGenWeb collection of named places, geographic features, historic sites, and vanished communities associated with Crosby County, Texas.
About the coordinates:
The USGS no longer maintains the GNIS database links formerly
used by this collection. Copy and paste a latitude/longitude
pair into a modern map service to view the location. Older
coordinates may reflect NAD27 rather than NAD83, so some points
can appear slightly displaced.
| Feature Name | Type | Latitude, Longitude | Description | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfalfa Draw | valley | 33.626667, -101.130556 | — | USGS |
| Big Bull Tank | reservoir | 33.541944, -101.213889 | — | USGS |
| Blanco Canyon | valley | 33.665833, -101.160000 | — | USGS |
| Blue Hole | reservoir | 33.552778, -101.176389 | — | USGS |
| Blue Hole Creek | stream | 33.552222, -101.146667 | — | USGS |
| Bridwell Ranch | locale | 33.774722, -101.256667 | — | USGS |
| Broadway | pop place | 33.703611, -101.072222 | — | USGS |
| Bunker Hill | summit | 33.546944, -101.043611 | — | USGS |
| Camp Rio Blanco | locale | 33.681667, -101.169167 | — | USGS |
| Canyon Valley | pop place | 33.401111, -101.334722 | — | USGS |
| Cap Rock | locale | 33.491389, -101.398056 | — | USGS |
| Cedar Hill | cape | 33.540556, -101.147222 | — | USGS |
| Collett Springs | spring | 33.592778, -101.127500 | — | USGS |
| Cone | pop place | 33.797222, -101.387222 | — | USGS |
| Cone Airport | airport | 33.811111, -101.396111 | — | USGS |
| Cone Cemetery | cemetery | 33.797222, -101.421667 | — | USGS |
| Cottonwood Tank | reservoir | 33.531667, -101.120556 | — | USGS |
| Courthouse Mountain | summit | 33.434722, -101.405556 | — | USGS |
| Crawfish Creek | stream | 33.783333, -101.226944 | — | USGS |
| Crosby County | civil | 33.600000, -101.300000 | — | USGS |
| Crosbyton | pop place | 33.660000, -101.237500 | — | USGS |
| Crosbyton Cemetery | cemetery | 33.657778, -101.210000 | — | USGS |
| Crosbyton Municipal Airport | airport | 33.623611, -101.240833 | — | USGS |
| Davidson Creek | stream | 33.488889, -101.098611 | — | USGS |
| Davidson Tank | reservoir | 33.505000, -101.154167 | — | USGS |
| Dry Trap Windmill | locale | 33.550278, -101.233889 | — | USGS |
| East Herd Windmill | locale | 33.575556, -101.220556 | — | USGS |
| Estacado | pop place | 33.752222, -101.561389 | — | USGS |
| Fairview School | school | 33.740278, -101.317222 | — | USGS |
| Farmer | pop place | 33.783333, -101.456667 | — | USGS |
| Forbes Oil Field | oilfield | 33.405556, -101.434444 | — | USGS |
| Gannon Creek | stream | 33.641944, -101.133056 | — | USGS |
| Grape Creek | stream | 33.595000, -101.125556 | — | USGS |
| Ha-Ra Oil Field | oilfield | 33.544167, -101.535556 | — | USGS |
| Home Creek | stream | 33.439722, -101.085556 | — | USGS |
| Hornet Stadium | locale | 33.672778, -101.530556 | — | USGS |
| Indian Hill | summit | 33.619167, -101.143611 | — | USGS |
| Indian Ridge | ridge | 33.421111, -101.408056 | — | USGS |
| Kalgary | pop place | 33.408889, -101.148056 | — | USGS |
| KCLR-AM (Ralls) | tower | 33.666667, -101.378889 | — | USGS |
| Lions Park | park | 33.669722, -101.386667 | — | USGS |
| Lorenzo | pop place | 33.670556, -101.534722 | — | USGS |
| Lorenzo Cemetery | cemetery | 33.667778, -101.560278 | — | USGS |
| Lorenzo Cemetery | cemetery | 33.695833, -101.535556 | — | USGS |
| Meadow Windmill | locale | 33.776667, -101.234722 | — | USGS |
| Mount Blanco | pop place | 33.815556, -101.192778 | The community was named for a mesa and Blanco Canyon, each located nearby. A trail was first mapped through this part of Bexar Land District in 1872 by the 4th U. S. Cavalry under command of Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie. Early in 1877 Charles P. Tasker, whom J. Evetts Haley called "a young Philadelphia spendthrift," asked Fort Griffin businessman, Henry Clay [Hank] Smith (1836-1912), to recommend a site for a cattle ranch. Smith chose the site in Blanco Canyon that became Mount Blanco as the headquarters of Tasker's proposed ranch. Tasker gave the ranch the romantic name of Hacienda Glorieta. Sometime later in 1877 Smith arrived at Mount Blanco with a herd of 500 to 600 cattle to stock Tasker's ranch. A two-story stone ranch house was built with walls 22 inches thick. Stone blocks for its construction were taken from Blanco Canyon. Before the ranch was established, Tasker found himself strapped for cash. He and his coachman loaded up his hounds and departed, abandoning the ranch. Since Tasker had borrowed $11,000 from Smith, the businessman seized the ranch and house as payment. The Smith family moved to the ranch in November 1878 and became the first permanent Anglo settlers in the area that became Crosby County eight years later, on 11 September 1886. At Mount Blanco, Smith ran a small store, operated a small ranch of sheep and cattle, and experimented with different types of crops. A post office named Mount Blanco opened at the Smiths' rock house in 1879 with Elizabeth Boyle Smith, the wife of Smith, as postmaster. A public school was established sometime after the Smiths arrived with their six children. Smith was active in county government, serving as first tax collector and as a county commissioner. The family lived in the rock house until Smith died in the spring of 1912. By 1913 the one-room Blanco Canyon school was moved to a site 8 miles northeast of the rock house. In 1916 a new Mount Blanco school was constructed, serving also as a union church and community center. A Missionary Baptist church was formed in 1918. The post office closed in 1920. At the end of the 1940s, Mount Blanco began its decline when its school consolidated with Crosbyton, depriving the community of its main focus. In 1952 the rock house burned, leaving only its thick walls standing. Although a cotton gin was built in 1954 and continued operation at the end of the 1980s, the community lost its last focus in 1965 when the Baptists voted to disband. In the early years of its existence, the rock house became legendary as a lonely outpost that offered hospitality to all who traveled the only road that crossed the high plains. By the 1990s the site was known as the Hank Smith Memorial Park. By 1998 the Texas Almanac listed Mount Blanco as a populated place, but it gave no population figure. Sources: State Department of Highways and Public Transportation, General Highway Map of Crosby County, Texas, revised 01 October 1984; Mary L. Cox, "Mount Blanco, Texas," in The New Handbook of Texas, Vol. 4 (Austin: The Texas State Historical Assn., 1996), 863; William M. Pearce, "Smith, Henry Clay," in The New Handbook of Texas, Vol. 5 (Austin: TSHA, 1996), 1100; J. Evetts Haley, The XIT Ranch of Texas and the Early Days of the Llano Estacado, reprint edition (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953), 44; Luke Gournay, Texas Boundaries: Evolution of the State's Counties (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1995), 90, 98; Charles Deaton, Texas Postal History Handbook (Houston: by author, 1980), 122; 1998-1999 Texas Almanac, 310. | USGS & Julia Cauble Smith cauble@apex2000.net |
| Negro Hill | summit | 33.516389, -101.133056 | — | USGS |
| North Windmill | locale | 33.598056, -101.154444 | — | USGS |
| Old Emma Cemetery | cemetery | 33.611667, -101.411389 | — | USGS |
| Owens | pop place | 33.558333, -101.352500 | — | USGS |
| Pansy Church | church | 33.703889, -101.073333 | — | USGS |
| Pete Creek | stream | 33.511111, -101.075833 | — | USGS |
| Plum Creek | stream | 33.444167, -101.489722 | — | USGS |
| Poe Hollow | valley | 33.504167, -101.066944 | — | USGS |
| Ralls | pop place | 33.674167, -101.387222 | — | USGS |
| Ralph Bunche School | school | 33.667778, -101.545278 | — | USGS |
| Robertson | pop place | 33.564167, -101.513333 | — | USGS |
| Rock Trail Tank | reservoir | 33.569444, -101.196667 | — | USGS |
| Sand Creek | stream | 33.464722, -101.092222 | — | USGS |
| Sand Rock Creek | stream | 33.604167, -101.128889 | — | USGS |
| Sand Rock Spring | spring | 33.661389, -101.126667 | — | USGS |
| Savage | pop place | 33.592778, -101.432500 | — | USGS |
| Shaw Tank | reservoir | 33.549167, -101.048333 | — | USGS |
| Silver Falls | falls | 33.666111, -101.160000 | — | USGS |
| Smith Tank | reservoir | 33.407222, -101.071667 | — | USGS |
| Spindle Top Windmill | locale | 33.600833, -101.206389 | — | USGS |
| Spring Creek | stream | 33.393611, -101.449722 | — | USGS |
| Turkey Creek | stream | 33.429444, -101.230556 | — | USGS |
| Turkey Draw | valley | 33.455278, -101.489444 | — | USGS |
| Twenty Foot Falls | falls | 33.662222, -101.155556 | — | USGS |
| V Ranch | locale | 33.402500, -101.521667 | — | USGS |
| Wake | pop place | 33.782500, -101.094167 | — | USGS |
| White River Dam | dam | 33.458333, -101.083056 | — | USGS |
| White River Reservoir | reservoir | 33.458333, -101.083056 | — | USGS |
| Wood Ranch | locale | 33.415556, -101.514722 | — | USGS |
| Yankee Creek | stream | 33.499722, -101.148611 | — | USGS |
| Yellow House Canyon | valley | 33.452778, -101.536111 | — | USGS |
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