Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Historian traces San Angelo’s rise in the 1880s and 1890s to horse racing and boosterism
Summary
A lecture at the Tom Green County Historical Society recounted how San Angelo used horse racing, fairgrounds and aggressive boosters between the late 1880s and mid-1890s to attract settlers and investment, spotlighting breeders such as John R. Nasworthy and the famed racehorse Charlie Wilson.
Unidentified Speaker, a presenter at the Tom Green County Historical Society meeting at Fort Concho, told an audience that horse racing helped put San Angelo on the map in the late 19th century. "I always like the things that are obscure about history," the presenter said, and then turned to how racing, promoters and new communications linked the Concho Valley to the nation.
The talk laid out three conditions the town needed to succeed: rail access, telegraph communications and successful horsemen who could represent the community. The speaker noted the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad reached San Angelo on 08/07/1888, and that Western Union later absorbed a local telegraph line, broadening the town’s news reach.
Local boosters and promoters were central to that strategy, the presenter said. He named early boosters and newspapermen…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
