San Solomon Springs -- Balmorhea TX
N 30° 56.702 W 103° 47.070
13R E 616109 N 3424143
The San Solomon Springs and cienega -- restored to the beautiful place it was when the WPA writers saw it in the 1930s.
Waymark Code: WMV1DQ
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/07/2017
Views: 6
The waymark coordinates are for the restored cienega, which was allowed to go dry and then restored in 2005, so it is much more like what the WPA writers enjoyed when they were here.
From Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State:
"BALMORHEA, 262 m. (3,205 alt., 283 pop.), once a cowtown, is now the market center for a 10,000-acre irrigated tract watered from nearby San Solomon Springs, which flow an average of more than 24 million gallons daily."
From the Handbook of Texas online:http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rps01
"SAN SOLOMON SPRINGS.
San Solomon Springs (also known as Mescalero or Head Springs), the seventh largest group of springs in Texas, rises in southwestern Reeves County (at 30°57' N, 103°47' W) and flows into a swimming pool in Balmorhea State Park in Toyahvale. The Jumano and Mescalero Indians used the water to irrigate corn and peach trees. The springs flowed at an average rate of 230 gallons per second in 1900 and 1978. The springs are the home of several rare freshwater animals including the Comanche Springs pupfish and the Leon Springs pupfish, the original habitats of which have been destroyed, as well as the Pecos gambusia or mosquito fish, a small crustacean, and two kinds of aquatic snail. The terrain surrounding the springs is characterized by steep to gentle slopes with variable soil types. Vegetation consists primarily of scrub brush and sparse grasses." [end]
Book: Texas
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 642
Year Originally Published: 1940
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