A community called San Felipe del Rio grew up starting in 1868, but when the post office opened here in 1872, the name was shortened to Del Rio. It became the county seat when Val Verde County was organized in 1885, and the town also became the county’s commercial center. In the mid-twentieth century, government installations, including Laughlin Air Force Base (1943 founded), contributed both population and employment, as did a small manufacturing base and tourism that grew up around the recreational uses of Amistad Reservoir. Like other West Texas counties on the Edwards Plateau, Val Verde County is sheep-ranching and wool-producing country.
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