This is the third article of the ghost town series. Previous articles can be found below:
- Ghost towns of the Concho Valley: Tom Green County
- Ghost towns of the Concho Valley: Coke and Sterling County
- Ghost towns of the Concho Valley: Mason County
- Ghost towns of the Concho Valley: Kimble County
- Ghost towns of the Concho Valley: Crockett and Sutton County
- Ghost towns of the Concho Valley: McCulloch County
SAN ANGELO, Texas – Everything is bigger and better in Texas, including the number of ghost towns. According to Texas Highways, the Lone Star State is home to 511 ghost towns which happens to be the most a state has.
Of these ghost towns, Concho County and Schleicher County are home to a total number of four.
Erskine, Texas
Erskine, originally known as Kickapoo Springs is located in southwestern Concho County, 28 miles southwest of Paint Rock.
This town originated near Kickapoo Creek in 1883, earning a post office the same year. According to the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), Erksine had a general store, hotel, and a population of 70 with local employment centering around livestock and wool. In 1887 post office was moved to the community of Vigo.
Loveless, Texas
Established just eleven miles south of Eden in southeastern Concho County, Loveless was a little settlement named after the A.C. Loveless family who had a ranch in the vicinity.
By 1936, Loveless had a school, a few buildings, and a cemetery. The THSA shares the school taught grades one through seven with one teacher in 1940. The daily attendance was seven kids.
In 1955, the school consolidated with the Eden School District. The cemetery was the only thing to remain of Loveless in 1963.
Ruth, Texas
Ruth, Texas was established in southwestern Concho County, just ten miles southwest of Eden. The TSHA says in 1908 Ruth was one of five Concho County communities with a windmill.
A post office was located in the town from 1908 to 1917 with a grocery stop and drugstore combination coming to Loveless in 1914. By 1936, Loveless was abandoned.
Thorpe, Texas
Thorpe was a small town of people that raised cattle eighteen miles northwest of Eldorado in Schleicher County. A post office operated under Postmaster William H. Williams from 1907 to 1915 according to the TSHA.