Site of Old Crowther Ranch

Crowther was sold in New England. The Boston and Texas Corporation started it as a real estate project around 1900 to 1902, advertising in Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania and selling farmland for ten to twelve dollars an acre and town lots for ten to a hundred. The developers cleared land and built a reservoir and irrigation works on the 1,600-acre townsite. Samuel Crowther, an Englishman who owned the land, was first postmaster in 1902. A three-story hotel stood by 1905, and about 300 people lived there at the peak. By 1920 every business had closed.

What the plaque says

Site of Old Crowther Ranch Townsite of 1600 acres established by 1902. Named in honor of Samuel Crowther on whose land it was located. Purchased by S.A. Hopkins in 1903. Extensive promotion failed to develop community into oil and farming center despite early oil discoveries. Became a ghost town by 1921. Bought by George T. Jambers, 1933. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Choke Canyon State Park — 7.7 mi
  A reservoir state park on the Frio River in two units, built after a 1982 dam, with birds, alligators and fishing on land people have crossed for more than 10,000 years.
• Atascosa County Courthouse — 26 mi
  The only surviving Mission Revival courthouse in Texas, built in 1912-13 on Jourdanton's town circle after a county seat vote that some residents still call a theft.

More markers nearby

• Town of Whitsett — 5.0 mi
• Calliham — 7.9 mi
• First Producing Gas Well in McMullen County and First Gas Pipeline to San Antonio — 7.9 mi
• Townsite of Wentz — 11 mi