Caps is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Taylor County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. It is located southwest of Abilene near the intersection of

U.S. Highway 277 U.S. Route 277 (US 277, US-277) is a north–south United States Highway that is a spur route of U.S. Route 77. It no longer connects to its parent route, US 77, although it does intersect another one of its spurs ( U.S. Route 377). It runs ...

and FM 707. The community is part of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area. Caps was first settled in the early 1880s. The area was known as ''Border's Chapel'' until 1905. That year, residents gathered to select a new name for the community. A man reportedly threw his cap in the air and said, "Let's call it caps," and the idea was approved. In 1935, Butterfield School was constructed between the communities of Caps and View. The name was chosen in honor of the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...

line, a semi-weekly mail and passenger stage service from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and Memphis,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, across northern Texas to

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

that operated from 1858 to 1861. The school opened in 1936 and served students in grades one through ten. The opening of the

Camp Barkeley Camp Barkeley was a large United States Army training installation during World War II. The base was located southwest of Abilene, Texas, near what is now Dyess Air Force Base. The base was named after David B. Barkley, a Medal of Honor recipi ...

military installation in 1940 shifted area commercial activity to U.S. Highway 277. When it closed in 1945, the site became a commercial feedlot. Aircraft noise from

Dyess Air Force Base Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about southwest of downtown Abilene, Texas, and west of Fort Worth, Texas. The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing assigned to the Global Strike Command Ei ...

, which opened in 1953, forced two Caps community churches to move closer to Abilene. In 1978, Butterfield School consolidated with the Wylie Independent School District. It remained operational until its closure at the end of the 2005–2006 school year. A dispute over territorial rights between the city of Abilene and the View-Caps Water Supply Corporation began in 1979 and became known as one of Abilene's longest legal battles. Caps had a population of approximately 300 in 1985, up from 75 in 1965. A year later in 1986, the city of Abilene annexed a portion of the community, fifty of which were View-Caps water customers. In 1990 and 2000, the community had a population of around 100 residents.

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External links

* * Unincorporated communities in Texas Unincorporated communities in Taylor County, Texas Abilene metropolitan area 1880s establishments in Texas {{TaylorCountyTX-geo-stub