Castolon

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Castolon Historic District

| nrhp_type = hd

| image = Castolon Army Compound officer's quarters NPS.jpg

| caption = Army Officers' Quarters, Castolon

| location = Along Rio Grande at jct. of Park Rtes. 5, 9, and 35, Big Bend National Park, Texas

| coordinates = {{coord|29|7|48|N|103|30|47|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Texas#USA

| locmap_label = Castolon Historic District

| locmap_relief = yes

| architect =

| architecture =

| added = September 6, 1974

| area = {{convert|800|acre}}

| refnum = 74000276{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

}}

Castolon, also known as La Harmonia Ranch and Campo Santa Helena, was a small community in southwestern Texas, United States, located in what is now Big Bend National Park along the Rio Grande. The location was first settled in 1901 by Cipriano Hernandez, who farmed the area and built the original Castolon Store, now known as the Alvino House.

History

The area began to attract refugees from nearby Mexico who were fleeing the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The Castolon area was the site on a U.S. Army encampment, called Campo Santa Helena, to house units patrolling the Mexican–American border. However, by the time the camp was complete in 1920 the border was quiet and the camp buildings were never used by the Army. In 1921 the La Harmonia Company was established in the barracks, operating a trading post and farming cotton.{{cite web|title=History of the Castolon Area|url=https://www.nps.gov/bibe/historyculture/castolon_history.htm|work=Big Bend National Park|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=20 July 2011}} The La Harmonia Company was established in 1918 by Howard Perry, who owned the Chisos Mining Company in Terlingua, in partnership with Wayne Cartledge. Cartledge and his son Eugene chose the name and managed the company. The La Harmonia Company lasted until 1961, when it was sold to the National Park Service.{{cite web|title=La Harmonia Store|url=https://www.nps.gov/bibe/historyculture/laharmonia.htm|work=Big Bend National Park|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=20 July 2011}} The store was heavily damaged in a fire in May 2019.

=2019 Fire=

On May 22, 2019, a fire started a day earlier in Mexico jumped the Rio Grande. Due to strong winds, temperatures around 110 °F, and low humidity, the fire spread rapidly.

A sudden wind direction change with strong gusts "showered embers across the Castolon Historic District, igniting the latrine building and barracks (which housed the La Harmonia Store and Visitor Center)". This resulted in widespread damage to both buildings.{{cite magazine |author= |title=Big Bend National Park |url=https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/news/upload/2020-Paisano-for-website.pdf#page=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920073421/https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/news/upload/2020-Paisano-for-website.pdf#page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 20, 2020 |magazine=The Paisano |publisher=National Park Service |date=2020 |access-date=2020-11-04}}

Description

Castolon is divided into two areas. "Old Castolon" comprises the Old Castolon Store, a cafe-residence and a shed. The Army Compound includes a barracks, now the Castolon Store, a recreation hall, latrine, two officers' residences, a granary and tack room, and the Magdalena, Garlick and Alvino residences. The Magdalena and Garlick houses post-date the Army construction and are associated with La Harmonia Ranch, while the Alvino house pre-dates the Army. All of the buildings are built with adobe walls, and most are roofed with corrugated metal roofing. A few use traditional vigas, latillas and a soil roof covering.{{cite web|last=Battle|first=David G.|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Castolon|url={{NRHP url|id=74000276}}|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=20 July 2011|date=February 1974}}

Castolon was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 6, 1974.

Climate

Coordinates: {{Coord|29.13444|N|103.515|W}}
Elevation: {{Convert|2169|ft|m|0}}{{Cite web|publisher=Western Regional Climate Center, Desert Research Institute|title=US COOP Station Map|url=http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/coopmap/|accessdate=May 5, 2015|archive-date=May 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503151618/http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/coopmap/|url-status=dead}}

{{Weather box

|location = Castolon, Texas, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1947–present

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high F = 92

|Feb record high F = 98

|Mar record high F = 105

|Apr record high F = 109

|May record high F = 115

|Jun record high F = 117

|Jul record high F = 115

|Aug record high F = 114

|Sep record high F = 110

|Oct record high F = 105

|Nov record high F = 99

|Dec record high F = 93

|Jan avg record high F = 84.4

|Feb avg record high F = 91.0

|Mar avg record high F = 98.0

|Apr avg record high F = 103.5

|May avg record high F = 109.3

|Jun avg record high F = 112.9

|Jul avg record high F = 110.5

|Aug avg record high F = 108.5

|Sep avg record high F = 104.8

|Oct avg record high F = 100.5

|Nov avg record high F = 92.1

|Dec avg record high F = 83.6

|year avg record high F = 113.3

|Jan high F = 68.9

|Feb high F = 75.4

|Mar high F = 83.3

|Apr high F = 92.2

|May high F = 99.9

|Jun high F = 104.3

|Jul high F = 102.2

|Aug high F = 101.7

|Sep high F = 96.0

|Oct high F = 89.3

|Nov high F = 77.7

|Dec high F = 69.1

|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 52.4

|Feb mean F = 58.5

|Mar mean F = 65.8

|Apr mean F = 74.6

|May mean F = 83.4

|Jun mean F = 89.4

|Jul mean F = 88.8

|Aug mean F = 88.5

|Sep mean F = 82.9

|Oct mean F = 74.2

|Nov mean F = 61.6

|Dec mean F = 52.9

|year mean F =

|Jan low F = 35.9

|Feb low F = 41.6

|Mar low F = 48.3

|Apr low F = 57.0

|May low F = 67.0

|Jun low F = 74.5

|Jul low F = 75.4

|Aug low F = 75.2

|Sep low F = 69.8

|Oct low F = 59.1

|Nov low F = 45.6

|Dec low F = 36.8

|year low F =

|Jan avg record low F = 24.8

|Feb avg record low F = 28.2

|Mar avg record low F = 35.1

|Apr avg record low F = 43.9

|May avg record low F = 54.8

|Jun avg record low F = 65.5

|Jul avg record low F = 68.3

|Aug avg record low F = 68.3

|Sep avg record low F = 58.5

|Oct avg record low F = 43.6

|Nov avg record low F = 31.6

|Dec avg record low F = 24.7

|year avg record low F = 21.9

|Jan record low F = 7

|Feb record low F = 5

|Mar record low F = 22

|Apr record low F = 28

|May record low F = 44

|Jun record low F = 56

|Jul record low F = 60

|Aug record low F = 64

|Sep record low F = 47

|Oct record low F = 29

|Nov record low F = 21

|Dec record low F = 7

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 0.36

|Feb precipitation inch = 0.33

|Mar precipitation inch = 0.29

|Apr precipitation inch = 0.37

|May precipitation inch = 0.79

|Jun precipitation inch = 1.38

|Jul precipitation inch = 1.71

|Aug precipitation inch = 1.51

|Sep precipitation inch = 1.55

|Oct precipitation inch = 0.81

|Nov precipitation inch = 0.48

|Dec precipitation inch = 0.28

|year precipitation inch =

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

|Jan precipitation days = 2.5

|Feb precipitation days = 1.9

|Mar precipitation days = 1.4

|Apr precipitation days = 1.8

|May precipitation days = 3.9

|Jun precipitation days = 4.8

|Jul precipitation days = 6.4

|Aug precipitation days = 4.9

|Sep precipitation days = 4.7

|Oct precipitation days = 3.4

|Nov precipitation days = 1.8

|Dec precipitation days = 2.4

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|unit snow days = 0.1 in

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|source 1 = NOAA

{{cite web

|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00411524&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Castolon, TX

|access-date = January 22, 2023

}}

|source 2 = National Weather Service

{{cite web

|url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=maf

|publisher = National Weather Service

|title = NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Midland/Odessa

|access-date = January 22, 2023

}}

References

External links

[https://home.nps.gov/bibe/learn/historyculture/castolon.htm Castolon] at Big Bend National Park (and subpages)
{{cite web |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrc31 |title=Castolon, TX |last=Kohout |first=Martin Donell |website=TSHA Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/hh:@field%28SUBJ+@od1%28TEXAS--Brewster--Castolon%29%29 Several buildings of Castolon] have been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Big Bend National Park

Category:Tourist attractions in Brewster County, Texas

Category:Populated places established in 1901

Category:1901 establishments in Texas

Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas