Lajitas, Texas

Lajitas, Texas
Unincorporated community
Lajitas, July 2014
Lajitas, July 2014
Lajitas, Texas is located in Texas
Lajitas, Texas
Lajitas, Texas
Location within Texas
Coordinates: 29°15′42″N 103°46′36″W / 29.26167°N 103.77667°W / 29.26167; -103.77667
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
CountyBrewster
Elevation
2,342 ft (714 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
79852
Area code432
GNIS feature ID1339481

Lajitas is an unincorporated community in Brewster County, Texas, United States, near the Big Bend National Park. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 75 in 2010.[1]

History

The settlement is named after the Boquillas flagstone found in the area. "Lajitas" translates to "little flat rocks" in Spanish.[2]

Starting in the 1980s as a joke, for many years the purported mayor of Lajitas was Clay Henry III, a "beer-drinking" goat.[3] After two replacements of the original Clay Henry, the trading post and stable where the actual mayor lived is now closed and the goat no longer resides there.[4][5] The election included incumbent human mayor Tommy Steele, as well as a trading post wooden Indian, and a dog named Buster. Since Clay Henry, goats have been mayors of the community ever since.[6]

Geography

Lajitas is located on the eastern end of the Big Bend Ranch State Park. It is located on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande at San Carlos ford of the old Comanche Trail, in the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert in southwestern Brewster County.[1] It is also located 95 mi (153 km) south of Alpine and 50 mi (80 km) east of Presidio.[7]

Columnar basalt that is similar to that of the Devils Postpile National Monument in California can be found in a high desert dry river falls area just north of Lajitas.

Climate

Lajitas has a hot arid climate with very hot summers and mild winters.

Climate data for Lajitas, Texas, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1978–present
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 89
(32) 		98
(37) 		103
(39) 		109
(43) 		115
(46) 		115
(46) 		113
(45) 		113
(45) 		110
(43) 		104
(40) 		97
(36) 		91
(33) 		115
(46)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 83.5
(28.6) 		89.9
(32.2) 		95.5
(35.3) 		101.5
(38.6) 		107.8
(42.1) 		110.8
(43.8) 		108.5
(42.5) 		106.3
(41.3) 		104.0
(40.0) 		99.7
(37.6) 		90.1
(32.3) 		83.0
(28.3) 		111.4
(44.1)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 67.9
(19.9) 		74.0
(23.3) 		82.0
(27.8) 		90.3
(32.4) 		97.5
(36.4) 		102.4
(39.1) 		100.6
(38.1) 		99.6
(37.6) 		94.7
(34.8) 		88.1
(31.2) 		76.4
(24.7) 		68.1
(20.1) 		86.8
(30.5)
Daily mean °F (°C) 50.5
(10.3) 		55.9
(13.3) 		63.7
(17.6) 		72.1
(22.3) 		80.9
(27.2) 		87.9
(31.1) 		87.4
(30.8) 		86.4
(30.2) 		81.1
(27.3) 		72.0
(22.2) 		59.5
(15.3) 		50.7
(10.4) 		70.7
(21.5)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 33.0
(0.6) 		37.9
(3.3) 		45.4
(7.4) 		53.9
(12.2) 		64.3
(17.9) 		73.4
(23.0) 		74.3
(23.5) 		73.2
(22.9) 		67.5
(19.7) 		55.9
(13.3) 		42.7
(5.9) 		33.3
(0.7) 		54.6
(12.5)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 23.1
(−4.9) 		26.2
(−3.2) 		32.5
(0.3) 		41.1
(5.1) 		51.4
(10.8) 		64.7
(18.2) 		68.4
(20.2) 		66.8
(19.3) 		56.9
(13.8) 		41.2
(5.1) 		30.1
(−1.1) 		21.6
(−5.8) 		19.3
(−7.1)
Record low °F (°C) 14
(−10) 		5
(−15) 		19
(−7) 		29
(−2) 		35
(2) 		59
(15) 		61
(16) 		53
(12) 		47
(8) 		27
(−3) 		21
(−6) 		4
(−16) 		4
(−16)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 0.36
(9.1) 		0.24
(6.1) 		0.30
(7.6) 		0.31
(7.9) 		0.88
(22) 		1.28
(33) 		1.86
(47) 		1.22
(31) 		1.32
(34) 		0.90
(23) 		0.37
(9.4) 		0.25
(6.4) 		9.29
(236.5)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 0.1
(0.25) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.4
(1.0) 		0.5
(1.25)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 2.1 1.6 1.6 1.5 3.2 4.3 6.3 4.5 5.1 3.4 2.4 1.7 37.7
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1
Source 1: NOAA[8]
Source 2: National Weather Service[9]

Economy

The Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa is a 20,000-acre golf resort business in Lajitas owned by Texas businessman Kelcy Warren, who bought the resort from previous owner Steve Smith while the business was going through financial distress.[10] It is located on the Rio Grande, bordering Mexico,[11] between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park.[12] The Robert E. Lee on Traveller statue is on display at the resort.

Education

Lajitas is zoned to schools in the Terlingua Common School District.[13] In 1912, Lajitas had a school with 50 students.[1]

Media

In the 1970s the community had one telephone, and newspapers were delivered one day later than their normal dates. Additionally, there were no televisions, the latter a rarity among communities in the decade.[13]

Frank Q. Dobbs directed his first film, Enter the Devil, in Lajitas in 1972.[14]

Infrastructure

Lajitas Cemetery

Airport

Due to the remoteness of the resort, Lajitas is served by the Lajitas International Airport, a private airport with a 6,503-foot (1,982 m) concrete runway.[11] There is regular service between Lajitas and Dallas Love Field on JSX.[15]

Military bases

The 90th Fighter Squadron of the United States Army Border Air Patrol had a sector that traveled to Lajitas from Eagle Pass. The 11th Bomb Squadron operated from Marfa Field along the Rio Grande to El Paso.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Lajitas, TX from the Handbook of Texas Online
  2. ^ "Old Cemetery In Lajitas, Texas, A Tiny Town That Abuts Big Bend National Park In Southwestern Brewster County, On A Bluff Overlooking The Rio Grande River In The Northern Part Of The Chihuahuan Desert". Library of Congress. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  3. ^ Cannon, B. (2004). Texas: Land of Legend and Lore. Wordware Publishing, Incorporated. p. 204. ISBN 978-1-55622-949-7.
  4. ^ "Mayor Clay Henry III: A Word About the Mayor". Lajitas Resort & Spa. Archived from the original on May 7, 2009. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  5. ^ RoadsideAmerica.com staff (May 2011). "Clay Henry - Famous Beer-Drinking Dead Goat". RoadsideAmerica.com. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  6. ^ "Meet Lajitas' Mayor: Clay Henry III". www.nationalparkreservations.com. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  7. ^ "Lajitas, Texas". Texas Escapes Online Magazine. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  8. ^ "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Lajitas, TX". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  9. ^ "NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Midland". National Weather Service. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  10. ^ Fenton, Tom (September 14, 2015). "Lajitas Resort: Why you better go now - El Paso Inc.: Publishers Column". El Paso Inc. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Black Jack's Crossing Golf Club, Bradley S. Klein, Business Jet Traveler, August 2012.
  12. ^ Texas: Bordering on the bizarre, by Russell Baillie, New Zealand Herald, 5:00 PM Thursday, Mar 16, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Thomas, Les (December 19, 1976). "Last bastion of silence: Town enjoys lack of TV". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 2B. - Clipping from Newspapers.com. It states the students attend Terlingua Common School.
  14. ^ Villafranca, Armando (February 19, 2006). "Death: Frank Q. Dobbs, producer, director and writer for television and movies". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  15. ^ "Where We Fly". JSX. April 15, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  16. ^ Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
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