Water Valley 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 Tom Green 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. According to the ''

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

'', the community had an estimated population of 120 in 2000. The community is part of the

San Angelo metropolitan area The San Angelo metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a metropolitan area in West Texas that covers two counties - Tom Green and Irion. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 111,823, with a 2014 estimate of 118,182. Counties * Irio ...

Geography

Water Valley is situated along U.S. Highway 87 in northern Tom Green County, approximately 22 miles northwest of San Angelo and 64 miles southeast of Big Spring.

Climate

History

Among the early settlers was Captain William Turner, who arrived ''circa'' 1878. He established the Whitbarrow Ranch and built a stone house that later served as a rest home for soldiers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The community was founded by two men known as Phelin and Glynn. They dammed the North Concho River and dug an irrigation ditch that opened up the area to settlers, most of whom were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

immigrants. From 1885 to 1888, the local post office was known as Yandell, Argenta, or Stella. It was known as Rethaville, Mayes Store, or Mayesville from 1888 to 1889. The community was renamed Water Valley in 1889. By 1914, Water Valley had a population of 175, a general store, a gin, and two cotton buyers. Around the same time, the Water Valley Independent School District was formed. The number of residents stood at 140 in 1940. That figure peaked at 180 in the mid-1950s, before declining to approximately 120 during the later half of the 20th century. Although Water Valley is unincorporated, it has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, with the ZIP code of 76958.Zip Code Lookup
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Education

Public education in Water Valley is provided by the Water Valley Independent School District. The district covers northwestern Tom Green and southwestern Coke Counties. Water Valley High School fields teams in basketball, football, volleyball, and tennis. The Pride of Water Valley Band and FFA chapter are also staples in the community.

References

External links