Cornudas, Texas
Posted by: 
Raven
N 31° 46.776 W 105° 28.274
13R E 455383 N 3516103
A tiny and almost abandoned community in the West Texas desert, on U.S. Highway 62/180 about 52 miles east of El Paso.
Waymark Code: WMXMJC
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/29/2018
Views: 1
Cornudas is a tiny unincorporated community located on U.S. Highway 62/180 in Hudspeth County, about 52 miles east of El Paso and in the middle of the West Texas desert: the nearest "true" inhabited area is Sierra Blanca on IH-10 which is 45+ miles south of here. The community was named for the Cornudas Mountains, a small collection of mountain cones situated several miles to the north and right at the state border with New Mexico.
The settlement was founded by 1938 when Mrs. Willie Tinnin was appointed postmistress of a local post office that closed within a year. The community served several nearby cattle ranches and a natural gas pumping ("booster") station owned by El Paso Natural Gas, located 6 miles south of here on Farm Road 2317. The booster station still exists to this day, although most of the homes and scattered businesses of Cornudas have left town in recent decades: all that is left is the old May's Cafe, owned and operated by May Carson -- the town's mayor and one of only 5-6 remaining residents of this community.
Back in the 1980's, Cornudas still had enough residents to have a small school located nearby: it was for 1st and 2nd grades only, while 3rd-12th grade students had to be bused all the way to Sierra Blanca. The El Paso Natural Gas booster station #2 also had a recreation hall which was used for dances, pot luck suppers, and sometimes -- when they could get a preacher -- church services... once the pool table and jukebox were moved out of the way, that is.
At Station #2 there were twelve company houses, four duplexes, the recreation hall, the schoolhouse, and the teacher's house. About two miles east of Station #2 were Cornudas Station's five personally-owned houses. The Cornudas Station compressor is still there but all of the houses have been sold and relocated by now.
Cornudas continues to be shown on maps of this desolate part of Texas, although it is pretty much a ghost town by now save for May's Cafe -- located right here at this waymark. May Carson has run the old cafe for years and has quite a following of truckers, helicopters, convoys and even wagon trains: when in the area, try out her Cornudas Chile Burger!
For more information, check out:
* The
Texas State Historical Association website
*
TexasEscapes.com