(San Angelo Trip Part II)
Last month I shared my trip to San Angelo State Park with you. It had been the sole reason for our trip out there…well, I did tell my husband about the historic fort we could visit as a way to get him even more interested in the road trip. I ended up finding the town itself pretty neat and thought I would share more of our trip.
“a West Texas oasis” is the description of San Angelo in the Texas State Travel Guide, a wonderful free publication put out by Texas Highways Magazine (www.texashighways.com).
Where history meets geography meets art is how I would describe the town.
Here is a multiple choice quiz:
Which of these three things can be found in San Angelo?
- Statues of painted sheep
- International water lily collection
- Air Force Base
I you guessed “all 3”, you are correct!
According to Wikipedia a Spanish mission was founded here in 1632 to convert the native peoples (Wikipedia say “to serve the native people”). As the years went by the area was under the rule of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and the U. S. The city itself began in 1867.
Today there are at least 99,853 people in the town and at least 121,516 if you include the area surrounding the town (2020 U.S. Census). Goodfellow Air Force Base is here, as is the historic Fort Concho (1867). There is a growing art and music community, Angelo State University, and several reservoirs based on the damming of the Concho river. The surrounding area includes farming, agriculture, an oil and gas industry, and the wonderful state park we visited. Here are some of the things we saw:
Historic Fort Concho
Buffalo Soldier Exhibit In Fort Concho Museum
Old Barracks In Fort Concho Museum
Ground Squirrel Near The Fort
Flowers On Fort Grounds
Pond At International Water Lily Collection
More Water Lilies
Mural Of Willie Nelson
One of Many Decorated Sheep Statues In Town.
This one is on the grounds of a mortuary. We shopped at a grocery (HEB) that had one in its parking lot.
The train museum was closed the day we were there. And we also didn’t visit the downtown Concho River Walk. Maybe some day I will go back and explore more.
Lastly, I want mention that San Angelo was one of many smaller cities that had it’s own nice turnout of folks on the recent No Kings Saturday protest.
For more info: discoversanangelo.com
Photos by B. McCreary
Natural Musings 