Castolon began as an Army cavalry post in 1916, during the height of deprdations along the border of Texas that occurred during the Mexican Revolution. After the Army left in 1921, the La Harmonia store opeend in the od Barracks building, and the small cross-border community of Castolon sprang up around it.
The US National Park Service obtained the land for Big Bend National park in 1944, but Castolon continued for another 18 years. By 1961 most of the residents had left this remote area, and store closed.
Today he remnants of La Harmonia Store and the cavalry Post are operated by the National park Service as the Castolon Visitor Center. A display of derelict farming equipment of the farm that used to employ local residents is nearby to explore.
From the National Park Service website: (
visit link)
"History of the Castolon Area
In the early 1900s, people began to live and farm along the banks of the Rio Grande, downstream from Santa Elena Canyon. The fields were fertile and the community grew. Farmers in the area raised corn, beans, wheat, squash, tomatoes, and melons. In 1901, Cipriano Hernandez started the first store in the area and sold goods to his neighbors and to the mining community in Terlingua. He operated the store out of his home, which is today known as the Alvino House (named for Alvino Ybarra who lived there with his family from 1918 to 1957).
From about 1912 to 1920, revolution raged in Mexico. Many Mexican families moved north of the river to avoid the bloodshed and bandit raids. The raids, including the Glenn Springs raid in 1916, brought the U.S. military to defend the border. The National Guard established camps at Glenn Springs, La Noria (northeast of Rio Grande Village), Lajitas (west of the park), and Castolon (Camp Santa Helena). In response to a later revolution (the Escobar Rebellion of 1929), the Air Corps established a landing field at nearby Johnson's Ranch.
Camp Santa Helena, established in 1916, utilized troops from the 5th, 6th, and 8th cavalries. The men lived in tents and the construction of a permanent post began in 1919. By the time the buildings were completed in 1920, the Revolution was over, and the men were ordered to roll up their tents and take new assignments elsewhere. The new buildings were most likely never occupied by the soldiers. They included an enlisted mens' barrack, officers' and non-commissioned officers' quarters, a latrine, a granary and tack shed, and a stable (which burned sometime before 1933).
In 1921, the La Harmonia Company Store moved into the new barracks building and began its eighty-year history of serving as a frontier trading post (from 1918 to 1921, the store was located in "Old Castolon" accross from what is today Cottonwood Campground). The La Harmonia Company was also involved in farming and ranching. In the early 1920s, La Harmonia began farming cotton, a not-so-prosperours endeavor that continued for two decades. In 1961, the National Park Service acquired the La Harmonia Company holdings and began operating the store as a concession operation.
In addition to the store, Castolon includes the oldest known adobe structure in Big Bend National Park (the Alvino House), another store building (Old Castolon), and numerous adobe ruins that were once homes for the many Mexican American and Anglo families that lived in the area. There are two cemeteries in the Castolon area."
More from the Ghosttowns website here: (
visit link)
"CASTOLON or SANTA HELENA
NAME: Castolon or Santa Helena
COUNTY: Brewster
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 2
CLIMATE: Warm winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Winter, spring, fall COMMENTS: In the Chisos Mountains.
REMAINS: Many Structures.
Located just above the flood plain of the Rio Grande close to the Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park, Castolon was an agriculture and ranching community on the American side of the river. It was first settled in 1903. Land ownership in the area changed hands a number of times until much of it came under the control of a Wayne Cartledge in 1919. Cartledge was responsible for introducing scientific agriculture to the valley as well as cotton production. The Madero Revolution in Mexico in 1910 prompted the residents of Castolon to request protection from the U.S. Army as Mexican bandits began attacking settlements on the American side of the international boundary. In 1911 a troop of cavalry was stationed in Castolon. In 1919, the War Department began construction of a permanent army post to include barracks, officer's quarters, etc. The construction of the post was completed in early 1920 but was never occupied by the troops. The army vacated the area due to restoration of order along the border. Cartledge purchased the fort buildings from the government in 1925 which aided in the development of the town. The end came in 1944 with the creation of the Big Bend National Park with all private lands coming under federal ownership. Most of the structures from the former town remain intact. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth"