Runnels City, TX
N 31° 48.379 W 099° 57.064
14R E 409977 N 3519361
A Texas Centennial Marker stands in a pullout on the west side of FM 2887, 5.5 miles north of Ballinger, noting this as the general area of Runnels City, which died after the railroad set up operations in Ballinger in the 1880s.
Waymark Code: WM14ETK
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 06/24/2021
Views: 0
The Texas Centennial Marker provides a sound byte:
First county seat of Runnels County. Established in 1880 as Runnels City. Declined after removal of the county seat to Ballinger in 1888
The Handbook of Texas Online (see below) elaborates a bit, but not too much:
Runnels City, or Old Runnels, is a ghost town five miles north of Ballinger in Runnels County. It was designated the county seat when the county was organized in 1880. Its population was 250 in 1882, but the Santa Fe Railroad bypassed the town in 1886. When the railroad offered residents building sites and a general relocation of buildings in Ballinger, people in Runnels City accepted, and in 1887 Ballinger became the county seat. By 1947 a rock hut and ruined two-story rock building were the only remnants of Runnels City.