Valley Spring is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Llano County
Llano County () is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,243. Its county seat is Llano, and the county is named for the Llano River.
History
The Tonkawa tribe were t ...
,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, United States.
According to the
Handbook of Texas
The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...
, the community had an estimated population of 50 in 2000.
Valley Spring is situated along
State Highway 71 in northwestern Llano County, approximately 12 miles northwest of
Llano.
History
The area was originally settled by the O.C.J. Phillips family in 1854 and was known as Phillips Ranch in the early years. Phillips son, W.O., established a cotton gin and sawmill on the ranch in 1860. Locals started referring to the community as Whistleville after the mill's summoning work whistle.
Less than a mile from Whistleville, Davie Owen opened a competing mill and gin. The community surrounding Owen's mill was known as Bugscuffle. When a post office was established in 1878, it was located at the Bugscuffle establishment, which was renamed Valley Spring after the area's terrain and numerous springs.
Four years later, the stage route from
Llano to
Brady
Brady may refer to:
People
* Brady (surname)
* Brady (given name)
* Brady (nickname)
* Brady Boone, a ring name of American professional wrestler Dean Peters (1958–1998)
Places in the United States
* Brady, Montana, a census-designated plac ...
was changed in 1882 and Mr. Owen built a store on the new route at the present-day site of Valley Spring.
The population had reached 100 by the 1930s, but had declined to 50 by the late 1960s. It remained at level through 2000.
Valley Spring has a post office with the ZIP code 76885.
USPS – Cities by ZIP Code
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Education
Public education in the community of Valley Spring is provided by the Llano Independent School District. Zoned campuses includ
Llano Elementary School
(grades PK-5)
Llano Junior High School
(grades 6-8), and Llano High Schoolbr>
(grades 9-12).
Notable people
* James Fields Smathers (1888-1967), inventor of the electric typewriter
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Llano County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
Populated places established in 1854
1854 establishments in Texas