Contents
Lajitas, Texas
Lajitas is an unincorporated community in Brewster County, Texas, United States, near the Big Bend National Park. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 75 in 2010.
History
The settlement is named after the Boquillas flagstone found in the area. "Lajitas" translates to "little flat rocks" in Spanish. Starting in the 1980s as a joke, for many years the purported mayor of Lajitas was Clay Henry III, a "beer-drinking" goat. After two replacements of the original Clay Henry, the trading post and stable where the actual mayor lived is now closed and the goat no longer resides there. The election included incumbent human mayor Tommy Steele, as well as a trading post wooden Indian, and a dog named Buster. Since Clay Henry, goats have been mayors of the community ever since.
Geography
Lajitas is located on the eastern end of the Big Bend Ranch State Park. It is located on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande at San Carlos ford of the old Comanche Trail, in the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert in southwestern Brewster County. It is also located 95 mi south of Alpine and 50 mi east of Presidio. Columnar basalt that is similar to that of the Devils Postpile National Monument in California can be found in a high desert dry river falls area just north of Lajitas.
Climate
Lajitas has a hot arid climate with very hot summers and mild winters.
Economy
The Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa is a 20,000-acre golf resort business in Lajitas owned by Texas businessman Kelcy Warren, who bought the resort from previous owner Steve Smith while the business was going through financial distress. It is located on the Rio Grande, bordering Mexico, between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. The Robert E. Lee on Traveller statue is on display at the resort.
Education
Lajitas is zoned to schools in the Terlingua Common School District. In 1912, Lajitas had a school with 50 students.
Media
In the 1970s the community had one telephone, and newspapers were delivered one day later than their normal dates. Additionally, there were no televisions, the latter a rarity among communities in the decade. Frank Q. Dobbs directed his first film, Enter the Devil, in Lajitas in 1972.
Infrastructure
Airport
Due to the remoteness of the resort, Lajitas is served by the Lajitas International Airport, a private airport with a 6503 ft concrete runway. There is regular service between Lajitas and Dallas Love Field on JSX.
Military bases
The 90th Fighter Squadron of the United States Army Border Air Patrol had a sector that traveled to Lajitas from Eagle Pass. The 11th Bomb Squadron operated from Marfa Field along the Rio Grande to El Paso.
This article is derived from Wikipedia and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. View the original article.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Bliptext is not
affiliated with or endorsed by Wikipedia or the
Wikimedia Foundation.