What is the history of Langtry, Texas?
The town was originally established in 1882 by Southern Pacific as a grading camp named “Eagle Nest.” It was later renamed for George Langtry, an engineer and foreman who had supervised a Chinese work crew building the railroad. Roy Bean soon after arrived and set up a tent saloon on railroad land. In 1884 a post office opened, and in 1892 the town was reported to have a general store, a railroad depot, and two saloons (one of them Bean’s “The Jersey Lily”). The Lilly was named after the Jersey actress Lillie Langtry, who was unrelated to George Langtry. After Bean’s death in 1903 the town began to decline after the highway was moved slightly north for a more direct route, thus bypassing the town. In the 1920s Southern Pacific moved its facilities away from the town, and the town population dwindled to 50. By the 1970s the population dipped as low as 40. Tourism to the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center continues to keep the town alive and has helped to increase its population back up to 14
