Lometa's Story Runs from Salt Kettles to Railroad Trade

Before Lometa had a depot, salt was made west of the future town near the Colorado River. During the Civil War, a horse-powered lift raised brine to a 40-foot scaffold. The water trickled through cedar boughs to grow stronger, then boiled in iron kettles. Fifty bushels of brine produced about one bushel of salt.

A different kind of trade arrived in 1885, when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe chose a station site in open ranch land west of Lampasas. A small depot went up, and the new townsite was platted as Montvale in May 1886. Texas already had a Montvale post office, so the name changed to Lometa, drawn from the Spanish lomita. Business by the tracks pulled many people from Senterfitt, about two and a half miles west. The center of the community shifted toward the railroad.

An 1892 directory counted about 200 residents, a cotton gin and gristmill, three churches, a school, and telegraph service. Lometa went on to ship cattle, wool, and mohair. The salt works and depot belonged to different eras, but both show western Lampasas County turning local resources into trade.