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Zephyr
Brownwood Bulletin
A history of...
Zephyr, located on U.S. Highway 84, is 12 miles east of Brownwood in southeast Brown County and is another unincorporated community that has a cost of living more than 16 percent below the U.S. average. Zephyr was originally on the banks of Blanket Creek, a mile east of the present site. The town was supposedly named in 1850 by land surveyors after they were trapped there by a blue norther. Their ironic name for the fierce wind stuck, and the town was named Zephyr. The Lazarus Vann family arrived in 1863 and was joined in 1876 by 10 or 12 more families. J.M. Wilson opened a small store in 1878; a post office in the store opened a year later. A school was founded in 1876. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway completed the line from Brownwood to Lampasas in 1885, missing the town by about a mile. Wilson moved his store and the
Visitors Guide 2015
Population Ă? 879* *Population as of 2012, based on zip code.
post office to the present site, and the next year Zephyr became a station on the railroad. In 1909, a tornado demolished the town, leaving more than 30 people dead and many injured. Rebuilding followed, and the population BULLETIN FILE PHOTO in 1940 was 750. Zephyr is a tiny hamlet named in A high school was 1850 by land surveyors after they built in 1940 and is were trapped by a blue norther. still in use. In 1958, Zephyr was voted an independent school district so that the few students there would not have to be bussed to a nearby school. As of 1989, churches in the town included the First Baptist, United Methodist and the Church of Christ. Cotton was the mainstay of the economy until the boll weevil devastation and market conditions led to the closing of the last gin in Zephyr in the early 1940s. In 1989, the town was primarily a farming and ranching community. From 1925 to 1950 it had a population of 750 but declined to 270 throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The population was 198 in 1980 and has remained relatively stable. However, rural development has swelled the number of residents who use the schools and post office.