Toyahvale is an unincorporated community in southern Reeves County, Texas, United States. It lies along State Highway 17 and FM 3078 south of the city of Pecos, the county seat of Reeves County. Despite its similar name, Toyahvale is distinct from the town of Toyah, which lies 25 miles (40 km) to the north.[1] Its elevation is 3,323 feet (1,013 m).[2] Although Toyahvale is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 79786.[3]
Toyahvale | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Reeves |
| Elevation | 3,323 ft (1,013 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes | 79786 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1370067 |
Toyahvale's name is a portmanteau: its first half is of a local Indian word for "flowing water", combined with "vale". The community was established after 1884, but its first post office was not opened until 1894; the office closed in 1931, but reopened in 1933. Today, the community lies at the western end of the Pecos Valley Southern Railway and is the location of Balmorhea State Park.[4]
References
- ^ Rand McNally. The Road Atlas '08. Chicago: Rand McNally, 2008, p. 99.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Toyahvale, Texas
- ^ Zip Code Lookup
- ^ Toyahvale, Texas, Handbook of Texas Online, 2008-01-18. Accessed 2008-08-11.
The true meaning of the word 'toyah' is unclear. For the local Indians today it is taken to be a mispronunciation of the word 'ko ye', which means good water, or 'kowa', which means 'home' or 'lodge', There are similar place names in the region, like Coyanosa in Pecos County and Coyame in Chihuahua, Mexico. There is also a very similar word that appears in historic Spanish military logs for the name of the local Indians, 'Taovayas', which later came to be associated with the band of Lipan Apaches that hunted buffalo in the Great Plains, today known as the Kiowa-Apaches. The European settlers who moved into the area in the late-1880's associated word with the oasis nearby and took for granted that it had to do with running water.
External links
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