Langtry, Texas

Langtry was originally established in 1882 by the Southern Pacific Railroad as a grading camp called Eagle Nest.{{Cite web |title=Langtry |url=https://texastimetravel.com/cities/langtry/ |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=Texas Time Travel |language=en-US}} It was later renamed for George Langtry, an engineer and foreman, who supervised the immigrant Chinese work crews building the railroad in the area.

Roy Bean arrived soon after completion of the railroad, and set up a tent saloon on company land. He later built a wooden structure for his saloon, which he called The Jersey Lilly after the well-known British actress Lillie Langtry.{{Cite web |title=Langtry |url=https://texastimetravel.com/cities/langtry/ |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=Texas Time Travel |language=en-US}} She was a native of the island of Jersey. (Née Le Breton, Langtry was her married name, and she was not related to George Langtry.) Bean used the saloon as his headquarters when authorized as a justice of the peace and notary public. He called himself the "Law West of the Pecos". After a notable career as justice of the peace, Bean died in 1903.

In 1884, the town was authorized a post office. In 1892, it had a general store, a railroad depot, and two saloons. Langtry began to decline after the highway was moved slightly north in the early 1900s for a more direct east-west route. Once bypassed, the town's businesses lost revenue and jobs. In the 1920s, Southern Pacific moved its facilities away, more jobs were lost, and the town population dwindled to 50.

By the 1970s, its population dipped as low as 40. Tourism to the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center continues to keep the town alive.

Langtry is located along US 90.

There are no transportation services that directly serve Langtry. The nearest transportation option is served by Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, which passes through the town on Union Pacific tracks on the Sanderson Subdivision, but makes no stop. A stop is located 60 miles (96 km) northwest in Sanderson, or 60 miles (96 km) southeast in Del Rio.

It was formerly in the Langtry Common School District, but sometime prior to 1976 the Langtry district merged into the Comstock Independent School District.{{cite news|last=Bryant|first=Don|title=County School Superintendent's Job Diminishing|newspaper=Del Rio News Herald|place=Del Rio, Texas|date=1976-11-24|page=4}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104909662/ Clipping] from Newspapers.com. In 1964 Langtry's student count exceeded 60.{{cite news|title=Four County Schools Are Holding Classes|newspaper=Del Rio News Herald|place=Del Rio, Texas|date=1964-09-08|page=3A}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104912775/ Clipping] from Newspapers.com.

The whole county is served by Southwest Texas Junior College according to the Texas Education Code.[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.130.htm Texas Education Code: Sec. 130.200. SOUTHWEST TEXAS JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.]

{{main|Bonfire Shelter}}

Found on Mile Canyon right near Langtry is Bonfire Shelter, an archeological site that has yielded bones from butchered animals, including bison, driven to their deaths over the cliff by Native Americans thousands of years ago.{{cite web| url = https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bonfire-shelter| title = Bonfire Shelter| last = Turpin| first = Solveig A.| date = November 1, 1994| website = tshaonline.org| publisher = Texas State Historical Association| access-date = May 15, 2024| quote =

}}

• The Westerner (1940) is a film featuring Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean and Gary Cooper as a fictional interloper. It repeated the myth of the town's being named for Lillie Langtry.
• The Wild Bunch (1969) has a passing reference to Langtry as a place where Freddie Sykes (Edmond O'Brien) had been active as a desperado many years before the events depicted the film.
• Lillie (1978), a TV miniseries about Lillie Langtry, was produced by Britain's London Weekend Television, also related the myth of the Texas town's name.
• Judge Roy Bean (1955–1956), a Western television series set in Langtry, but filmed in Pioneertown, California, aired in syndication with Edgar Buchanan in the title role.Billy Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967", West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 89 (2013), pp. 109-110
• The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), a film set in Langtry and starring Paul Newman, sparked new interest in Texas history.
• Roy Bean appears as a main character in Le Juge, part of the Lucky Luke series.
• The Other Roswell: UFO Crash on the Texas-Mexico Border (2008) is a nonfiction book about a reported UFO crash at Langtry in 1955.
• The town plays a major role in R.A. Lafferty's science-fiction novel Fourth Mansions.
• Langtry is mentioned in the Cormac McCarthy novel No Country for Old Men. Langtry could be the hometown of the novel's protagonist Llewelyn Moss.
• Langtry and the surrounding area have long been favorite hunting grounds for legions of amateur and professional herpetologists looking for a variety of reptiles endemic to the area.
• The episode "A Picture of a Lady" in the Western series Death Valley Days depicts Judge Roy Bean renaming the Texas town of Vinegaroon as Langtry in honor of Lillie Langtry. Stars Peter Whitney as Judge Roy Bean, and his friend Doc Paul Fix
• Langtry inspired the fictional town of Langtree in the video game Wandersong.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lootpots.com/articles/an-interview-with-wandersong-creator-greg-lobanov-16012019/|title=An interview with Wandersong creator Greg Lobanov|date=16 January 2019}}

Langtry has a hot semiarid (BSh) climate.

{{Weather box|location = Langtry, TX 1981-2010, extremes 1969-2017

| single line = Y

| collapsed = Y

| Jan high F = 63.8

| Feb high F = 68.4

| Mar high F = 76.5

| Apr high F = 84.9

| May high F = 91.7

| Jun high F = 96.1

| Jul high F = 97.9

| Aug high F = 98.2

| Sep high F = 92.5

| Oct high F = 83.3

| Nov high F = 72.6

| Dec high F = 64.2

| year high F =

| Jan low F = 35.4

| Feb low F = 40.3

| Mar low F = 48.9

| Apr low F = 57.4

| May low F = 67.3

| Jun low F = 73.8

| Jul low F = 75.8

| Aug low F = 75.8

| Sep low F = 69.3

| Oct low F = 58.8

| Nov low F = 46.4

| Dec low F = 36.3

| year low F =

| Jan record high F = 93

| Feb record high F = 100

| Mar record high F = 100

| Apr record high F = 110

| May record high F = 110

| Jun record high F = 113

| Jul record high F = 111

| Aug record high F = 113

| Sep record high F = 112

| Oct record high F = 104

| Nov record high F = 99

| Dec record high F = 90

| year record high F =

| Jan record low F = 13

| Feb record low F = 11

| Mar record low F = 21

| Apr record low F = 29

| May record low F = 42

| Jun record low F = 53

| Jul record low F = 55

| Aug record low F = 62

| Sep record low F = 40

| Oct record low F = 26

| Nov record low F = 15

| Dec record low F = 9

| year record low F =

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation inch = 0.63

| Feb precipitation inch = 0.72

| Mar precipitation inch = 0.87

| Apr precipitation inch = 1.06

| May precipitation inch = 1.89

| Jun precipitation inch = 1.61

| Jul precipitation inch = 1.60

| Aug precipitation inch = 1.59

| Sep precipitation inch = 1.83

| Oct precipitation inch = 1.86

| Nov precipitation inch = 0.72

| Dec precipitation inch = 0.43

| year precipitation inch =

| Jan snow inch = 0.4

| Feb snow inch = 0.0

| Mar snow inch = 0.0

| Apr snow inch = 0.0

| May snow inch = 0.0

| Jun snow inch = 0.0

| Jul snow inch = 0.0

| Aug snow inch = 0.0

| Sep snow inch = 0.0

| Oct snow inch = 0.0

| Nov snow inch = 0.0

| Dec snow inch = 0.0

| year snow inch =

| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

| Jan precipitation days = 4

| Feb precipitation days = 3

| Mar precipitation days = 3

| Apr precipitation days = 3

| May precipitation days = 5

| Jun precipitation days = 4

| Jul precipitation days = 3

| Aug precipitation days = 3

| Sep precipitation days = 4

| Oct precipitation days = 4

| Nov precipitation days = 3

| Dec precipitation days = 2

| year precipitation days =

| unit snow days = 0.1 in

| Jan snow days = 0.1

| Feb snow days = 0.0

| Mar snow days = 0.0

| Apr snow days = 0.0

| May snow days = 0.0

| Jun snow days = 0.0

| Jul snow days = 0.0

| Aug snow days = 0.0

| Sep snow days = 0.0

| Oct snow days = 0.0

| Nov snow days = 0.0

| Dec snow days = 0.0

| year snow days =

| source 1 = NWS Nowdata for Langtry (Austin/San Antonio Area)

}}

File:Langtry,_Texas._(6756777367).jpg|Langtry ca. 1880s.

Image:Pecos River east of Langtry IMG_0298.JPG|{{center|Scenic Pecos River east of Langtry: Judge Roy Bean claimed to have been "The Law West of the Pecos".}}

Image:Judge Bean historical marker IMG_0305.JPG|{{center|Judge Bean historical marker in Langtry}}

Image:Old_langtry_tx.jpg|{{center|Judge Roy Bean holding court at The Jersey Lilly}}

Image:JerseyLilly.JPG|{{center|The Jersey Lilly saloon (September 2005)}}

Image:Inside Judge Bean's saloon IMG_0303.JPG|{{center|Inside Judge Bean's saloon in Langtry}}

Image:Lilly Langtry Restaurant IMG_0306.JPG|{{center|A restaurant named for Lillie Langtry in Langtry, Texas}}

Image:Langtry windmill IMG_0304.JPG|{{center|The windmill at the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center}}

File:Sunset Route, Mile Creek Canyon, Texas.jpg|Sunset Route, Mile Creek Canyon (3 miles east of Langtry, Texas, postcard, circa 1908)

File:Sunset Route, Mile Creek Canyon, near Langtry, Texas.jpg|Sunset Route (postcard, circa 1908)

• {{portal-inline|Texas}}

{{reflist|22em}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Handbook of Texas|id=hll17|name=Langtry, Texas}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150215023200/http://jaynesjersey.com/lillielang.htm "Lillie Langtry"], JaynesJersey
• [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068853/ The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean], IMDb - film
• [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048879/ Roy Bean], IMDb - 1956 TV show

{{Val Verde County, Texas}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Unincorporated communities in Val Verde County, Texas

Category:Unincorporated communities in Texas

Category:Ghost towns in West Texas

Category:Texas culture