Tularosa, Texas

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Tularosa, also known as Whistler, was a ranch community twenty miles northeast of Brackettville in northeastern Kinney County.

History

The first people to settle at the site were probably members of the William Sam Hutchinson family; they arrived around 1875. A post office called Whistler was established in the community in 1881, and at this time local ranchers shipped wool from the community. Warren Garret, who served as postmaster in 1884, was also the owner of a general merchandise and livestock store there. In 1884 Whistler had an estimated population of forty, and that year a school called Tularosa was established in the community to serve the surrounding ranches. Early teachers at the school boarded at the Schwandtner ranch home. In 1890 the community had a post office, the Tularosa School, and a general store, and in 1894 the post office name was officially changed to Tularosa. The Tularosa School operated an average of four to five months a year until around 1900, when it shifted to a more extended school year. In 1909 eleven students attended the Tularosa School for nine months. The community was still dominated by sheep ranching in 1914. After the 1926–27 school year, Tularosa's last, students in the area were bused to Brackettville. The Tularosa school building was moved to a new site in 1932 and named the River School. There is no record of the Tularosa community after 1932, and by 1946 only scattered dwellings were in the area.