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Double Mountains (Texas)

Coordinates: 33°03′44″N 100°27′15″W / 33.06222°N 100.45417°W / 33.06222; -100.45417
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Double Mountains
Double Mountains, viewed from the south
Highest point
Elevation2580+ feet (786+ m)[1][2]
Prominence540 ft (160 m)[1]
Coordinates33°03′44″N 100°27′15″W / 33.06222°N 100.45417°W / 33.06222; -100.45417[3]
Geography
Double Mountains is located in Texas
Double Mountains
Double Mountains
Double Mountains location in Texas
LocationStonewall County, Texas, U.S.
Parent rangePlains of Central Texas[1]
Topo mapUSGS Double Mountains
Geology
Rock ageCretaceous (Comanche Series)[4]
Mountain typeErosional remnant
Climbing
Easiest routeDrive/hike

Double Mountains is the name of a pair of flat-topped buttes located 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Aspermont in Stonewall County, Texas.[5] While the Handbook of Texas gives their elevation as either 2,000 ft (610 m)[6] or 2,400 ft (732 m),[5] United States Geological Survey maps give the elevation of the western mountain as 2,523 ft (769 m) [7] and that of the eastern mountain as between 2,580 and 2,600 ft (786 and 792 m).[1][2] Together, the mountains form part of the high ground dividing the watersheds of the Salt Fork and Double Mountain Fork Brazos River.[8]

Rising some 500–800 feet (150–250 m) above the surrounding plains,[2][6] the higher eastern mountain is the highest point in Stonewall County[5] and the most topographically prominent point for almost 160 miles (257 km), the nearest more prominent peak being Mount Scott in Oklahoma.[9] As such an isolated geographical feature, the mountains are visible from a great distance, and feature commanding views from their tops.[2]

Their prominence has long made them important regional landmarks,[6] dating back at least to 1788, when Jose Mares opened a trail from San Antonio to Santa Fe; thereafter, the mountains were waymarkers "for every westward expedition and a rendezvous for buffalo hunters."[8] They were also cited by the surveying party of Randolph B. Marcy in 1849.[6]

Although paved roads do not lead directly to the mountains, they are accessible via paved Farm to Market Roads 2211 and 610 and dirt county roads; a steep dirt road leads up to the summit of each of the pair of mountains. A prominent radio tower stands on the eastern summit.[2]

At one time, Comanche leader Quanah Parker and his band lived on or near the mountains,[10] and according to one source, the mountains were once a sacred place to the Comanches.[11]

Town of Double Mountain

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A town of Double Mountain once existed a few miles north of the hills. Established in 1886, the community featured a post office, sheriff, schoolhouse, and Methodist and Baptist churches for several years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but had become a ghost town by the 1980s.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Double Mountains, Texas". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Stonewall County High Point Trip Report". Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  3. ^ "Double Mountains". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  4. ^ Patton, L.T. 1930. The geology of Stonewall County, Texas. The University of Texas Bulletin No. 3027, 76 pp.
  5. ^ a b c "Handbook of Texas Online — Stonewall County". Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Handbook of Texas Online — Double Mountain". Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  7. ^ "Double Mountain (in Stonewall County Texas) Place Profile". Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  8. ^ a b Hodge, Larry; Syers, Ed (2000). Backroads of Texas (4th ed.). Lanham, MD: Lone Star Books.
  9. ^ "Prominence Ladder from Double Mountains". Retrieved 2015-01-18.
  10. ^ "Quanah Parker - Biography of the Famous Leader". Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  11. ^ "Brazos River Canyonlands - Double Mountain". Retrieved 2008-08-22.
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