Palo Pinto County Star (Mineral Wells, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 19, 1979 Page: 4 of 12
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Page 4, Palo Pinto County Star, Thursday, April 19,1979
Santo: A small package of history
Palo Pinto County town settled in 1860#s
by Gregg Doyle
Santo High School
Senior
SANTO — If you ever
happen to be traveling
north on Texas Farm
Road 4 from U.S. 281,
sooner or later you will
top a hill and be looking
down upon a tiny,
peaceful town in Palo
Pinto County called Santo.
Santo is nestled in a nice
little valley between two
streams, Sunday and Palo
Pinto Creeks. As you
travel on through the
town, which only takes a
few seconds, you may not
think much of it. But the
local residents feel that
there is an exciting story
to tell about their little
hometown. Mrs. Ruth
Phillips, a local historian,
and some of her friends
are gathering information
in view of publishing a
book about the town.
Much of the story told
here came from an
interview with Mrs.
Phillips.
The first people of Santo
settled in the southeast
part of Palo Pinto County
around the general store of
J.D.T. Bearden in the
1860's. This was located
about two miles northeast
of the present town site.
Along with the store,
Bearden had a U.S. Post
Office, a stage station,
hotel, eating place and
some corrals. This place
was known as Grand
Ranch.
The stage coach which
ran through Grand Ranch
was called the Granbury -
Graham Stage. It was
owned by either the
Butterfield Stage Co. or
the Carson - Lewis Stage
Co.
In the early 1860's the
settlers survived raids by
Indians by going to a fort
located on Palo Pinto
Creek. The property where
the fort once stood is now
owned by Mrs. Grace
Beddo (Boyd).
The name Santo has not
always been attached to
the community, though. It
went through some four
names before settling on
Santo.
In 1870 the town was
moved to its second
location about one mile
east of the present town.
It was later named
Colgando by G.W. Morgan,
for whom the community
of Morgan Mill is named.
Here the Baptist Church
was organized in 1872. It
was known as Cottonwood
Baptist Church because
the congregation first met
under a big cottonwood
tree. Also, what is
known today as the East
Cemetery was set aside. In
1877 the first person was
buried there, a child
named Alice Johnson.
The plan for the town as
we know it today was
submitted in 1880 and was
given the name of Cresco.
This name did not last
long because it was too
easily confused with the
town of Cisco, 50 miles
down the Missouri - Pacific
Railroad.
Then the name was
changed to Sparta, but the
state informed the people
that there was already a
town with that name. So
the name Santo was tagged
upon the town in honor of
the M-P telegraph operator
or a local rancher (no one
seems certain about this)
and has stuck ever since.
The first school was
started in 1903 and was
called the Cottonwood
School. Later G.D. Adams
started the Adams
Academy on the piece of
ground that the "old
school building," as we
know it stood on. The
school burned in 1915 but
was rebuilt.
Over the years there have
been several different
businesses in Santo. There
have been three or four
hotels, a number of stores,
drug stores, livery stables,
grist mills, a blacksmith
shop and even a theater.
The first saloon was
opened by Jim Owens in
the early 1900's. Two
opened later, one in 1904
and the other in 1914.
There were two
newspapers. The first was
the Santo Herald begun
around 1900. The second,
the Santo Sun, was
published by Miss Pearl
Jones from 1909 to 1915.
Today Santo has an
estimated population of
500. Businesses include a
bank, which was founded
in 1906; a pecan, wool and
mohair company; a U.S.
Post office; two grocery
stores; two gas stations; a
cafe; a feed store; two
small factories; and three
churches. Also Santo
boasts a modern, air -
conditioned school with
physical educational
faciliteis that are among
the finest for schools of its
size. The school with its
average enrollment of 300
has won its District
Library Meet in
Interscholastic League
competition for the past
two years.
The land and cattle are
what drew the first settlers
here in the late 1800's and
it seems as though that is
what most of the folks
around Santo are still
enjoying. Many of the
townspeople work in the
surrounding towns, but
"part-time" ranching is
still very popular.
The town's appearance
except for pavement and
gas pumps, has changed
little in the last 50 years.
The old hitching rings are
still on the sidewalk and
the congregation of "old -
timers" are still sitting out
in front of P.W.
Henderson's feed store
taking over the weather or
the "good ol' days."
If you're not too busy,
stop and listen to them for
a while. There are lots of
stories for them to tell
about Santo.
SANTO-a little town of 500, is nestled in a lovely valley between Sunday and Palo Pinto
Creeks.
■ M ' ' ' -
mm
SANTO SCHOOL—houses
300 students from
kindergarten through 12th
grade.
THE OLD HITCHING—rings are still in place along the sidewalks of Santo.
Miff
Ben Brown,
Plant Superintendent.
"GENERATING PLANTS LIKE THIS
ARE ONE OF THE REASONS THE COST
OF ELECTRICITY HAS GONE UR "
r*
S
Texas Power & Light Company
spent more than $225 million during
1978 to construct generating plants
which use lignite coal and nuclear
materials as fuel. This is a continu-
ing program, begun in 1971, to
phase out use of expensive
natural gas.
Even though the cost of electricity
has gone up, TP&L is making prog-
ress in keeping the cost as low as
possible. For example, in 1978,
lignite-fueled plants saved the aver-
age residential customer $55.00 on
his electric bills. As more and more
power is produced with lignite, TP&L
will pass the savings on to all of its
customers.
Texas Power & Light... dependable
electric service throughout North,
Central and East Texas for more
than sixty-six years.
THE SANTO BUSINESS—district has changed little in 50
years. Ice cream cones and penny candy are still sold at
Jackson's Grocery.
Santo School Honor Roll
TEXAS POWER 8c LIGHT COMPANY
A tax-paying, investor-owned electric utility
Honor students during the
last grading period at the
Santo School include:
First Grade Honor Roll
A
Deanna Hunt, Glenn
McDonald, Misty Barrett,
Christi McPherson, Todd
Randol
B
Billy Bob Cox, Dean
Edwards, Mike Reynolds,
Brandie Garvin, Bryan
Squiers, Dawn Hartsell, Shane
Crawford, Anita Rico
Second Grade Honor Roll
A
J.J. Mayo
B
Serena Doyle, Tina Jones,
Lisa Reynolds, Sheila Young,
Glenn Baker, Jamie Smith
Third Grade Honor Roll
A
James Gresham, Jeana
Long, Damon Marsden,
Chuck McDonald, Jamie
Youngblood, Lori Lewallen
B
Bradly Crawford, Jimmy
Andreatta, Christy Butcher,
Dennis Coupland, Gail
Coupland, Penny Hunt,
Dwayne McQuiston, Kerri
Pilkington, Kristin McKeliars
Fourth Grade Honor Roll
A
Janene Burnum, Bobby
Lewallen, Vicki Martin
B
Christy Barrett, Sherri
Belcher, Kelly Dennis,
Ronnie Edwards, Ricky
Jones, Wesley Kitchen
Fifth Grade Honor Roll
A
Tonya Hunt, Thomas Cross,
Sandy Hunt, Keiri McKellar
B
Amy Foreman. Troy
Houghton, Mark Witschorke,
Kim Gibbs Candy Townsend
Sixth Grade Honor Roll
A
Rodney Price, Texas White
B
Sheri Hallquist, Viola
Spurlock, Terri Mahan, David
Hooper, Christi McCullars,
Carol Chesnut
Seventh Grade Honor Roll
A
John Hoover, Kimberly
McCullars, Teresa Gresham,
Stacy Edwards, Renee
Rodgers
Lia Hill, Rhonda Jones(,
Delisa Chesnut, Candi
Lewallen, Candi Lewalle^
Karen Houghton, Johrf
Pollock
Eighth Grade Honor Roll *
A
Christy Wood, Robing
Cockburn, Julia Warden
B
Wayne Slimp, Annette*
Edwards, Lisa Doyle, Steve:
Bowden, Carl Stover, Robert^
Stover
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Palo Pinto County Star (Mineral Wells, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 19, 1979, newspaper, April 19, 1979; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth417301/m1/4/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boyce Ditto Public Library.