Town History
History in a Pecan Shell
The Clint post office was established in 1886, but the town was known as San Elizario Station since it was on the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio railroad line. The San Elizario Corporation (see Salt Flat) sold the land to a J. Cole who sold it to Thom. Collins in 1883. Thomas’ wife was Mary Clinton Collins and it is she that the town was named after. According to the Handbook of Texas Online, Clint had a population of 100 people more or less in 1890. They report that the town at that time had a general store, a fruit grower and a hotel. We suppose the hotel put people up while they waited for the fruit to ripen. Although no mention is made of what fruit was grown, by 1896, eight more people were growing it. The ups and downs of Clint are reflected in its census. 600 people in the 20s – 250 in the mid-30s – 550 in the 40s and down to 417 in the early 70s. Sometime in the 70s they welcomed the 1,000th citizen and in the late 80s it was 1,883. We hope someone will inform us of the latest census figures. In 1990 it was 1,035.
Clint, Texas Forum
Clint, Texas History Book- I was raised in this town (Clint, Texas) and have lived here since 1939. At the time Clint had the hotel and mercantile, it also had a bank or two. Had a doctor and a post office all the way to the 1920’s or 40’s. Then Texas 20 (Alameda Ave.) came about and the businesses moved there. Some had already closed. If you will give an address I will send you the first and only history book written about the town of Clint. I hope to write a second one in the near future. Just waiting for some “construction” to finish taking place. – Minerva Cheatum,Clint, Texas, August 30, 2006 Clint, also known as Collinsburgh, is on the Southern Pacific Railroad at the intersection of State Highway 20 and Farm Road 1110, sixteen miles southeast of downtown El Paso in southern El Paso County. The story of the town, which was named for early settler Mary Clinton Collins, began when the San Elizario Corporation sold the townsite to J. A. Cole, who sold it to Thomas M. Collins in 1883. For several years after the establishment of the Clint post office in 1886, the settlement was identified as the San Elizario station on the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway. When the common rail worker needed to have sensual entertainment to ease himself at the end of the day, he would stop by Clint for some the needed services. The first record of this was in 1889 when the first “Lencho’s Meat market” opened its doors to the rail workers. In 1890 the estimated population of Clint was 100, and the town had a general store, a meat “Market”, a fruit grower, and a hotel. Clint soon developed into an agricultural center. By 1896 the estimated population had increased to 150,(no doubt thanks to lencho’s services) including nine fruit growers and four alfalfa growers. The townsite was set up in 1909. By 1914 the estimated population of 400 supported three churches, two banks, a newspaper, and a tomato cannery. An estimated 600 residents lived at Clint in the late 1920s, but the number declined to 250 by the mid1930s. By the late 1940s it had grown again to 550, then dropped to 417 in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s the estimated population was 1,120. It was 1,314 in the early 1980s and 1,883 in the late 1980s. In 1990 it was 1,035, and in 2000 it was 980. As of 2021, there are 1,300 residents.

