Lajitas, Texas | |
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![]() Lajitas, July 2014 | |
Coordinates: 29°15′42″N103°46′36″W / 29.26167°N 103.77667°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Texas |
County | Brewster |
Elevation | 2,342 ft (714 m) |
Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
ZIP codes | 79852 |
Area code | 432 |
GNIS feature ID | 1339481 |
Lajitas is an unincorporated community in Brewster County, Texas, United States, near the Big Bend National Park. According to the Handbook of Texas , the community had a population of 75 in 2010. [1]
The settlement is named after the Boquillas flagstone found in the area. Lajitas translates to "little flat rocks" in Spanish. [2]
Starting in the 1980s as a joke, for many years the purported mayor of Lajitas was Clay Henry III, a "beer-drinking" goat. [3] After two replacements of the original Clay Henry, the trading post and stable where the actual mayor lived is now closed and the goat no longer resides there. [4] [5] The election included incumbent human mayor Tommy Steele, as well as a trading post wooden Indian, and a dog named Buster. Since Clay Henry, goats have been mayors of the community ever since. [6]
Lajitas is located on the eastern end of the Big Bend Ranch State Park. It is located on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande at San Carlos ford of the old Comanche Trail, in the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert in southwestern Brewster County. [1] It is also located 95 mi (153 km) south of Alpine and 50 mi (80 km) east of Presidio. [7]
Columnar basalt that is similar to that of the Devils Postpile National Monument in California can be found in a high desert dry river falls area just north of Lajitas.
Lajitas has a hot arid climate with very hot summers and mild winters.
Climate data for Lajitas, Texas, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1978–present | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 89 (32) | 98 (37) | 103 (39) | 109 (43) | 115 (46) | 115 (46) | 113 (45) | 113 (45) | 110 (43) | 104 (40) | 97 (36) | 92 (33) | 115 (46) |
Mean maximum °F (°C) | 83.5 (28.6) | 89.9 (32.2) | 95.5 (35.3) | 101.5 (38.6) | 107.8 (42.1) | 110.8 (43.8) | 108.5 (42.5) | 106.3 (41.3) | 104.0 (40.0) | 99.7 (37.6) | 90.1 (32.3) | 83.0 (28.3) | 111.4 (44.1) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 67.9 (19.9) | 74.0 (23.3) | 82.0 (27.8) | 90.3 (32.4) | 97.5 (36.4) | 102.4 (39.1) | 100.6 (38.1) | 99.6 (37.6) | 94.7 (34.8) | 88.1 (31.2) | 76.4 (24.7) | 68.1 (20.1) | 86.8 (30.5) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 50.5 (10.3) | 55.9 (13.3) | 63.7 (17.6) | 72.1 (22.3) | 80.9 (27.2) | 87.9 (31.1) | 87.4 (30.8) | 86.4 (30.2) | 81.1 (27.3) | 72.0 (22.2) | 59.5 (15.3) | 50.7 (10.4) | 70.7 (21.5) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 33.0 (0.6) | 37.9 (3.3) | 45.4 (7.4) | 53.9 (12.2) | 64.3 (17.9) | 73.4 (23.0) | 74.3 (23.5) | 73.2 (22.9) | 67.5 (19.7) | 55.9 (13.3) | 42.7 (5.9) | 33.3 (0.7) | 54.6 (12.5) |
Mean minimum °F (°C) | 23.1 (−4.9) | 26.2 (−3.2) | 32.5 (0.3) | 41.1 (5.1) | 51.4 (10.8) | 64.7 (18.2) | 68.4 (20.2) | 66.8 (19.3) | 56.9 (13.8) | 41.2 (5.1) | 30.1 (−1.1) | 21.6 (−5.8) | 19.3 (−7.1) |
Record low °F (°C) | 12 (−11) | 5 (−15) | 19 (−7) | 29 (−2) | 35 (2) | 59 (15) | 61 (16) | 53 (12) | 47 (8) | 27 (−3) | 21 (−6) | 4 (−16) | 4 (−16) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.36 (9.1) | 0.24 (6.1) | 0.30 (7.6) | 0.31 (7.9) | 0.88 (22) | 1.28 (33) | 1.86 (47) | 1.22 (31) | 1.32 (34) | 0.90 (23) | 0.37 (9.4) | 0.25 (6.4) | 9.29 (236.5) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.4 (1.0) | 0.5 (1.25) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 6.3 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 37.7 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
Source 1: NOAA [8] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: National Weather Service [9] |
The Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa is a 20,000-acre golf resort business in Lajitas owned by Texas businessman Kelcy Warren, who bought the resort from previous owner Steve Smith while the business was going through financial distress. [10] It is located on the Rio Grande, bordering Mexico, [11] between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. [12] The Robert E. Lee on Traveller statue is on display at the resort.
Lajitas is zoned to schools in the Terlingua Common School District. [13] In 1912, Lajitas had a school with 50 students. [1]
In the 1970s, the community had one telephone, and newspapers were delivered one day later than their normal dates. Additionally, televisions were a rarity among communities in the decade. [13]
Frank Q. Dobbs directed his first film, Enter the Devil, in Lajitas in 1972. [14]
Due to the remoteness of the resort, Lajitas is served by the Lajitas International Airport, a private airport with a 6,503-foot (1,982 m) concrete runway. [11] Regularly scheduled service between Lajitas and Dallas Love Field is available on JSX. [15]
The 90th Fighter Squadron of the United States Army Border Air Patrol had a sector that traveled to Lajitas from Eagle Pass. The 11th Bomb Squadron operated from Marfa Field along the Rio Grande to El Paso. [16]