Valentine, Texas does a good job of capitalizing on the name. You can address your valentines, stick them in a big envelope, and mail them to Valentine, TX to be postmarked as valentines from Valentine. There’s even a Valentine’s Day party! For the last several years, the Big Bend Brewing Company has hosted Valentine’s in Valentine–which is clearly the biggest event in town.
Valentine, Texas got its start when a Southern Pacific Railroad crew, laying a ribbon of steel and cross ties eastward from El Paso, founded a tiny community in Jeff Davis County on February 14, 1882. Considering the date, the name seemed appropriate. Trains began running the next year, and by 1886 Valentine added a post office to make things “official.”
By 1890 Valentine, Texas boasted two saloons, a general store, a hotel, a meat market, and a population of 100 souls. By the turn of the 20th century, the population had risen to 140. The little town became a shipping point for local cattle ranchers, but it was never very big. In the early 1900s the population reached 500 a couple of times, but in the 2000 census there were only 187 residents. Even at that, though, Valentine can brag that it’s the largest (and only) incorporated municipality in Jeff Davis County in remote west Texas!
