Post, Texas
—  City  —
Garza County Historical Museum in Post is a restored sanitarium.
Location of Post, Texas
Coordinates: 33°11′30″N 101°22′50″W / 33.19167°N 101.38056°W / 33.19167; -101.38056Coordinates: 33°11′30″N 101°22′50″W / 33.19167°N 101.38056°W / 33.19167; -101.38056
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Garza
Area
• Total	3.8 sq mi (9.8 km2)
• Land	3.8 sq mi (9.7 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	2,605 ft (794 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	3,708
• Density	988.8/sq mi (381.8/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	79356
Area code(s)	806
FIPS code	48-59012 [1]
GNIS feature ID	1365627 [2]

City welcome sign

Downtown historic district

Hotel Garza Bed and Breakfast

Garza Theatre hosts community events

C.W. Post statue in front of the Garza County Courthouse

Post is a city in and the county seat of Garza County, Texas, United States.^[3] The population was 3,708 at the 2000 census.

There are many ranchers and civic boosters in Garza County, among them Giles McCrary, a former mayor who until his death in 2011 operated the OS Museum, a hybrid of exhibits from both the American West and Asia, which are changed three times per year.

Centennial[link]

Post observed its centennial in 2007. Festivities began with a parade and were followed by The All-School Reunion Dance, which featured the band Thrift Store Cowboys from Post, Texas. Old Mill Trade Days offered six hours of live music as well as other activities. Throughout the weekend commemoration, there were art shows, museum exhibits, and theater productions to observe the centennial.

In 1987, the Texas Historical Commission designated Post as a Texas Main Street City. Main Street is lined with gift and clothing stores located in restored historic buildings. Centennial Plaza on the courthouse lawn honors veterans and Post civic leaders.^[4]

The Garza Theatre (1920-1957) on Main Street was among the first theaters in West Texas dating back to the age of the silent screen. In 1986, the Garza was renovated and reopened for community events.^[4]Regular films are offered at the Tower Theater.

History[link]

Post is located on the edge of the caprock escarpment of the Llano Estacado, the southeastern edge of the Great Plains. It is at the crossroads of U.S. Routes 84 and 380. Post was originally founded in 1907 as "Post City" as a utopian colonizing venture of Charles William (C. W.) Post, the breakfast cereal manufacturer. Post devised the community as a model town.^[5][6] He purchased 200,000 acres (810 km²) of ranchland and established the Double U. Company to manage the town's construction. The company built trim houses and numerous structures, which included the Algerita Hotel, a gin, and a textile plant. They planted trees along every street and prohibited alcoholic beverages and brothels. The Double U Company rented and sold farms and houses to settlers. A post office began in a tent during the year of Post City's founding, being established (with the name Post) July 18, 1907, with Frank L. Curtis as first postmaster.^[7] Two years later the town had a school, a bank, and a newspaper, the Post City Post, the same name as the daily in St. Louis, Missouri. The Garza County paper today is called the Post Dispatch. The railroad reached the town in 1910. The town changed its name to "Post" when it incorporated in 1914, the year of C. W. Post's death. By then, Post had a population of one thousand, ten retail businesses, a dentist, a physician, a sanitarium, and Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches.

From 1910 to 1913, Post experimented with attempts at rainmaking. Explosives were detonated in the atmosphere at timed intervals. Precipitation records, however, showed that the efforts failed.^[4]

The C. W. Post estate pledged $75,000, and the town raised $35,000 in 1916 to bid unsuccessfully to become the site of the proposed West Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College. Postex Cotton Mills began production in 1913 with 250 employees. When the Post interests sold the business in 1945 to Ely and Walker Dry Goods Company of St. Louis, Missouri, the plant was producing six million yards of cloth a year and employed 375 workers who manufactured Postex cotton sheets and Garza pillow cases. Ely and Walker sold Postex in 1955 to Burlington Industries, the world's largest textile manufacturer at that time. By 1973, the company employed 450 persons. The mill has since closed.

Oilfield service companies have been important to the economy, as have farming and ranching. In 1989, Post had two libraries, a hospital, a nursing home, an airport, the Post Dispatch (founded 1926), and ninety businesses. The population reached 3,400 in 1928, declined to 2,000 in 1940, and increased to 3,100 during the 1950s. With the development of the local oil industry, the town's population attained its highest level of 4,800 in 1964. The 1980 census showed a population of 3,864, but by 1988, the Texas Almanac reported 4,162. In 1990, the population was 3,768.

The former sanitarium in Post is preserved as the Garza County Historical Museum. It is located to the right rear of the courthouse. Linda G. Puckett is the museum director.

Geography[link]

Post is located on the rolling plains at the foot of the Llano Estacado at 33°11′30″N 101°22′50″W / 33.19167°N 101.38056°W / 33.19167; -101.38056 (33.191789, -101.380432)^[8].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), of which, 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (0.53%) is water.

Major roads and highways[link]

• U.S. Highway 84
• U.S. Highway 380
• State Highway 207
• Farm to Market Road 669
• Farm to Market Road 651

Demographics[link]

As of the census ^[1] of 2000, there were 3,708 people, 1,243 households, and 873 families residing in the city. The population density was 988.8 people per square mile (381.8/km²). There were 1,419 housing units at an average density of 378.4 per square mile (146.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 51.54% White (European, non-Hispanic), 5.47% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 18.69% from other races, and 2.91% from two or more races. 42.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino.

There were 1,243 households out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 114.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,034, and the median income for a family was $29,135. Males had a median income of $26,318 versus $17,266 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,113. About 23.0% of families and 27.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.2% of those under age 18 and 25.9% of those age 65 or over.

Post is served by two weekly newspaper, nearby stations KBXJ (FM) and KPET (AM), and the various Lubbock radio and TV stations. KPOS(AM) was licensed to Post but was deleted (license turned into FCC) for cancellation in 1998 when the sister FM was upgraded to cover Slaton and the Lubbock area. KSSL(FM)is licensed to Post but operates primarily from offices and studios in Slaton.

Education[link]

The City of Post is served by the Post Independent School District and home to the Post High School Antelopes.

Gallery[link]

• 

  City Hall

• 

  Post Public Library

• 

  Tower Theater is adjacent to the library.

• 

  Algerita Arts Center in housed in a former hotel in the Post Historic District.

• 

  Post Stampede Rodeo stadium

• 

  First United Methodist Church at 216 West Tenth Street

• 

  First Baptist Church at 402 West Main Street observed its centennial in 2008.

• 

  Holly's Drive-In on U.S. Highway 84 in south Post

• 

  Picker at Postex Cotton Mills, Post, Texas (postcard, circa 1913-1918)

See also[link]

• Close City, Texas, the original site of Post City, Texas
• Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
• Justiceburg, Texas
• Llano Estacado
• West Texas

References[link]

External links[link]

• Photos of the Llano Estacado

Texas portal

v t e Municipalities and communities of Garza County, Texas, United States County seat: Post City Post Unincorporated communities Close City Justiceburg Southland

v t e  State of Texas Austin (capital) Topics Architecture Climate Cuisine Geography Government History Languages Literature Sports Texans Transportation Symbols Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Ark‑La‑Tex Big Bend Blackland Prairies Brazos Valley Central Texas Coastal Bend Cross Timbers Deep East Texas East Texas Edwards Plateau Golden Triangle Hill Country Llano Estacado Northeast Texas North Texas Osage Plains Panhandle Permian Basin Piney Woods Rio Grande Valley Southeast Texas South Plains South Texas Trans-Pecos West Texas Metropolitan areas Abilene Amarillo Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos Beaumont–Port Arthur Brownsville–Harlingen College Station–Bryan Corpus Christi Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington El Paso Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Laredo Longview Lubbock McAllen–Edinburg–Mission Midland Odessa San Angelo San Antonio–New Braunfels Sherman–Denison Texarkana Tyler Victoria Waco Wichita Falls Counties There are 254 counties in Texas. (See Table of Texas counties or List.)

State of Texas
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Lone Star State
Motto(s): Friendship
Official language(s)	No official language (see Languages spoken in Texas)
Spoken language(s)	English 68.7% Spanish 27.0%[1]
Demonym	Texan Texian (archaic) Tejano
Capital	Austin
Largest city	Houston
Largest metro area	Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex[2]
Area	Ranked 2nd in the U.S.
- Total	268,581[3] sq mi (696,241 km2)
- Width	773[4] miles (1,244 km)
- Length	790 miles (1,270 km)
- % water	2.5
- Latitude	25° 50′ N to 36° 30′ N
- Longitude	93° 31′ W to 106° 39′ W
Population	Ranked 2nd in the U.S.
- Total	25,674,681 (2011 est)[5]
- Density	98.1/sq mi  (37.9/km2) Ranked 26th in the U.S.
Elevation
- Highest point	Guadalupe Peak[6][7][8] 8,751 ft (2667.4 m)
- Mean	1,700 ft  (520 m)
- Lowest point	Gulf of Mexico[7] sea level
Before statehood	Republic of Texas
Admission to Union	December 29, 1845 (28th)
Governor	Rick Perry (R)
Lieutenant Governor	David Dewhurst (R)
Legislature	Texas Legislature
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) John Cornyn (R)
U.S. House delegation	23 Republicans, 9 Democrats (list)
Time zones
- most of state	Central: UTC −6/−5
- tip of West Texas	Mountain: UTC −7/−6
Abbreviations	TX Tex. US-TX
Website	www.texas.gov

Texas (ⁱ/ˈtɛksəs/) (Alibamu: Teksi ^[9]) is the second most populous and the second most extensive of the 50 United States, and the most extensive state of the 48 contiguous United States. The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas.^[10] Located in the South Central United States, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south, and borders the US states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²), and a growing population of 25.7 million residents.^[11]

During the Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas: La Provincia de Texas.^[12] Antonio Margil de Jesús was known to be the first person to use the name in a letter to the Viceroy of Mexico in July 20, 1716. The name was not popularly used in daily speech but often appeared in legal documents until the end of the 1800s.

Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, while San Antonio is the second largest in the state and seventh largest in the United States. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and fifth largest United States metropolitan areas, respectively. Other major cities include El Paso and Austin—the state capital. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify Texas as a former independent republic and as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico. The "Lone Star" can be found on the Texas state flag and on the Texas state seal today.^[13]

Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, Texas contains diverse landscapes that resemble both the American South and Southwest.^[14] Although Texas is popularly associated with the Southwestern deserts, less than 10% of the land area is desert.^[15] Most of the population centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests, and the coastline. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, and finally the desert and mountains of the Big Bend.

The term "six flags over Texas" came from the several nations that had ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas. France held a short-lived colony in Texas. Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845 it joined the United States as the 28th state. The state's annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state, Texas declared its secession from the United States in early 1861, joining the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. After the war and its restoration to the Union, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation.

One Texas industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle. Due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The state's economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated an economic boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry in the mid-20th century. As of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57.^[16] With a growing base of industry, the state leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace, and biomedical sciences. It leads the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product.

Geography[link]

Guadalupe Mountains

Texas is the second largest U.S. state, behind Alaska, with an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²). It is 10% larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, though it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were a country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile and Zambia.

Texas is in the south-central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers. The Rio Grande river forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south. The Red River forms a natural border with Oklahoma and Arkansas to the north. The Sabine River forms a natural border with Louisiana to the east. The Texas Panhandle has an eastern border with Oklahoma at 100° W, a northern border with Oklahoma at 36°30' N and a western border with New Mexico at 103° W. El Paso lies on the state's western tip at 32° N and the Rio Grande.^[17]

Hill Country

With 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions, and 11 distinct ecological regions, regional classification becomes problematic with differences in soils, topography, geology, rainfall, and plant and animal communities.^[18] One classification system divides Texas, in order from southeast to west, into the following: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province. The Gulf Coastal Plains region wraps around the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast section of the state. Vegetation in this region consists of thick piney woods. The Interior Lowlands region consists of gently rolling to hilly forested land and is part of a larger pine-hardwood forest. The Great Plains region in central Texas is located in spans through the state's panhandle and Llano Estacado to the state's hill country near Austin. This region is dominated by prairie and steppe. "Far West Texas" or the "Trans-Pecos" region is the state's Basin and Range Province. The most varied of the regions, this area includes Sand Hills, the Stockton Plateau, desert valleys, wooded mountain slopes and desert grasslands.

Texas has 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers.^[19][20] The largest of these rivers is the Rio Grande. Other major rivers include the Pecos, the Brazos, Colorado, and Red River, which forms the border with Oklahoma. While Texas has few natural lakes, Texans have built over 100 artificial reservoirs.^[21]

The size and unique history of Texas make its regional affiliation debatable: it can be fairly considered a Southern or a Southwestern state, or both. The vast geographic, economic, and cultural diversity within the state itself prohibits easy categorization of the whole state into a recognized region of the United States. Notable extremes range from East Texas which is often considered an extension of the Deep South, to Far West Texas which is generally acknowledged to be part of the interior Southwest.

Geology[link]

Shaded Relief Map of the Llano Estacado

Texas is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. The continental crust forms a stable Mesoproterozoic craton which changes across a broad continental margin and transitional crust into true oceanic crust of the Gulf of Mexico. The oldest rocks in Texas date from the Mesoproterozoic and are about 1,600 million years old. These Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks underlie most of the state, and are exposed in three places: Llano uplift, Van Horn, and the Franklin Mountains, near El Paso. Sedimentary rocks overlay most of these ancient rocks. The oldest sediments were deposited on the flanks of a rifted continental margin, or passive margin that developed during Cambrian time. This margin existed until Laurasia and Gondwana collided in the Pennsylvanian subperiod to form Pangea. This is the buried crest of the Appalachian Mountains–Ouachita Mountains zone of Pennsylvanian continental collision. This orogenic crest is today buried beneath the Dallas–Waco—Austin–San Antonio trend.

The late Paleozoic mountains collapsed as rifting in the Jurassic period began to open the Gulf of Mexico. Pangea began to break up in the Triassic, but seafloor spreading to form the Gulf of Mexico occurred only in the mid and late Jurassic. The shoreline shifted again to the eastern margin of the state and the Gulf of Mexico passive margin began to form.

Palo Duro Canyon

Today 9 miles (14 km) to 12 miles (19 km) of sediments are buried beneath the Texas continental shelf and a large proportion of remaining US oil reserves are located here. At the start of its formation, the incipient Gulf of Mexico basin was restricted and seawater often evaporated completely to form thick evaporite deposits of Jurassic age. These salt deposits formed salt dome diapirs, and are found in East Texas along the Gulf coast.^[22]

East Texas outcrops consist of Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments which contain important deposits of Eocene lignite. The Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sediments in the north; Permian sediments in the west; and Cretaceous sediments in the east, along the Gulf coast and out on the Texas continental shelf contain oil. Oligocene volcanic rocks are found in far west Texas in the Big Bend area. A blanket of Miocene sediments known as the Ogallala formation in the western high plains region is an important aquifer.^[23] Located far from an active plate tectonic boundary, Texas has no volcanoes and few earthquakes.^[24]