City of Del Rio

Local lore says Spanish explorers said Mass at the site on St. Philip's Day in 1635, which gave the settlement the name San Felipe del Rio. When the post office opened in 1883, the Postal Department shortened it to Del Rio to avoid confusion with San Felipe de Austin. The Handbook dates the incorporation that lasted to November 15, 1911. Growth stayed slow until the 1970s, when the population rose 40.8 percent; Del Rio counted 30,705 people in 1990 and 33,867 in 2000, and by 2014 held almost three-quarters of Val Verde County's residents.

What the plaque says

City of Del Rio Del Rio was selected as Val Verde County seat when the county was organized in 1885, but it was another 20 years before the first city government was established. In 1905, city residents voted to incorporate, and James McLymont was elected first mayor. Although records from the early 1900s are scarce, there are indications that Del Rio unincorporated after 1906. In November 1911, voters elected to incorporate again under the city commission form of government. A home rule charter was adopted in 1918, allowing for greater flexibility in governing. The city commission remained in place until a 1967 election set up a council-manager system of government for Del Rio. (2002)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Whitehead Memorial Museum — 0.6 mi
  A village of old Del Rio buildings set along a working irrigation canal, from an 1870 store to a 1925 doctor's office, with Judge Roy Bean buried on the grounds.
• San Felipe Creek — 0.7 mi
  The spring-fed creek that made Del Rio, rising from the third largest springs in Texas and running past swimming holes and a hike-and-bike trail through town.
• Val Verde Winery — 1.0 mi
  The family winery an Italian immigrant founded on Del Rio's irrigated land in 1883, which outlasted Prohibition by selling table grapes and kept Texas wine alive into the 1970s.
• Amistad National Recreation Area — 9.0 mi
  The American side of the reservoir the United States and Mexico finished in 1969 where three rivers meet, with painted shelters still reachable by boat when the water allows.

More markers nearby

• Old Del Rio High School — steps away
• First United Methodist Church of Del Rio — steps away
• Camp Hudson, C.S.A. — steps away
• Val Verde County Courthouse Square — 0.2 mi