Lometa

Lometa's founders meant to avoid Senterfitt's reputation. A group of leading citizens, among them A. L. Horne, John W. Stephens and W. B. Floyd, vowed never to allow an open saloon. Mary Rahl moved her hotel over from Senterfitt, and Mrs. J. C. Jackson's Jackson House catered to railroad officials and passengers. Drought held the town back for its first three years. The Lometa Enterprise began publication in May 1894, and W. M. Wittenburg, a licensed sheepmaster from Germany, had brought a flock of Delaine sheep to the area in 1879.

What the plaque says

Lometa In 1885, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GC&SF) extended its tracks northwest from Temple. For its first station west of Lampasas, a site in open ranch land was chosen. Frank Longfield conveyed right-of-way in June 1885. The GC&SF bought another 200 acres the following month and built a small depot. This was the beginning of Lometa. The new town was platted in May 1886 and named Montvale for the area's hills and valleys. Because Texas already had a Montvale Post Office, the name was changed to Lometa, a variation of lomita, Spanish for little mountain. Because of business opportunities near the railroad, many residents of Senterfitt (2.5 mi. w) moved to the new town, and Lometa became a thriving trade center. An 1892 directory lists a cotton gin and grist mill, three churches, a school, and telegraph service in a town of 200 people. Development of GC&SF's Eden Branch and the Scholten Railroad brought prosperity and increased trade in the 1910s. Lometa incorporated in July 1919 with a municipal government led by a mayor and five aldermen. In 1939, the Lower Colorado River Authority provided efficient electrical service. Lometa became a major shipping point for cattle, wool and mohair, and livestock and agriculture dominated the economy for decades. The town's location on state and federal highways has continued the steady stream of trade and travel established by earlier roads and rail lines. Lometa is still an active town hosting the annual Diamondback Jubilee. The school system, churches, civic organizations and a regional park continue to enrich community life. (2011)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Colorado Bend State Park — 13 mi
  Old ranch country on the Colorado above Lake Buchanan, where a spring-fed creek drops 70 feet over fern-covered travertine at Gorman Falls.
• Hancock Springs Park — 17 mi
  Lampasas's city park on Sulphur Creek, with a spring-fed swimming pool that holds about 69 degrees all year, the walls of the old bathhouse and a golf course.

More markers nearby

• Scholten Railroad — 0.6 mi
• Operation Long Horn — 1.0 mi
• Site of Lometa Reservoir — 1.9 mi
• Phantom Hill Road — 2.1 mi