Valley Creek Station
(site located 2 mi. northwest) Near this site, an important link in the frontier transportation system was an area landmark. The Butterfield Overland Mail maintained a stage stop at the falls and crossing of Valley Creek beginning in 1858. The twice-weekly mail and passenger line stretched from San Francisco to St. Louis, crossing the southwest corner of Taylor County and passing six miles west of present Abilene. The path through Texas, known as the Oxbow Route, added about 600 miles to the 2,800 mile trip. The line moved out of Texas in March 1861, leaving this area sparsely settled. Ranchers later settled near Spring, Cottonwood and Valley creeks, and established the nearby community of Shep in the 1880s. (1968, 2007)
32.1394° N, 100.1079° W
Where to Find It
Shep community, FM 1086, E side 150 feet NW of US 277, NW of Spring Creek bridge.
Nearby Markers
- 8 mi SE Pumphrey Winters
- 8.2 mi SE Drasco Community Drasco
- 10.4 mi SW Fort Chadbourne Bronte vicinity
- 10.4 mi SW Route of the Southern Overland Mail Line Bronte vicinity
- 10.6 mi NE In Vicinity of Coronado's Camp Abilene
- 11.2 mi S Site of Old Communities of Mazeland and Wilmeth Wilmeth