Santo Tomás, Texas
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Santo TomásHandbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Santo Tomás, Texas" (accessed May 23, 2007)
/ref> was a coal-mining town near Laredo in west central Webb County,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, United States. The town was founded in 1801 by Antonio Gonzales and was named in honor of Saint Thomas. During the colonial era, the land was used primarily for ranching. Pure quality cannel
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
was found and extracted in 1873. In June 1882, the narrow-gauge Rio Grande and Pecos Railroad was built to transport the coal. By 1900, the town grew and had a population of approximately 1,000. By 1920, all the mines had closed and the population of Santo Tomás decreased to 18. Today, Santo Tomás is a
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
near the Colombia-Solidarity International Bridge.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santo Tomas, Texas Laredo–Nuevo Laredo Geography of Webb County, Texas Ghost towns in South Texas