What is the Lajitas Golf Resort and spa?
The Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa is a 20,000-acre golf resort business in Lajitas owned by Texas businessman Kelcy Warren, who bought the resort from previous owner Steve Smith while the business was going through financial distress. It is located on the Rio Grande, bordering Mexico, between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park.
What happened to Lajitas resort in Texas?
Earlier this year, Mr. Smith's dream officially ended in bankruptcy. Only a few home sites ever sold. The resort couldn't turn a profit. And a federal judge approved the sale of Lajitas earlier this month to Mr. Warren, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based natural gas transportation company Energy Transfer Partners.
Who bought Lajitas in Texas?
Mischer never made much money off the place and held onto it mostly out of love. When he decided to sell, Smith, a 54-year-old Austin-based telecommunications tycoon, showed up unannounced and unknown, stepping out of his helicopter just before the auction began to buy Lajitas on a whim for $4.25 million.
Who runs the Lajitas stables?
Linda Walker, who has run the Lajitas Stables for more than twenty years, guiding horseback tours near the park and into Mexico, is not rich. She’s quieter than Tinsley but on the same page. “It’s a small section of the population that gets it out here,” she said.
Who started Lajitas?
Walter Mischer Sr.The vision for a resort at Lajitas began in the late 1970s, when Houston real estate developer Walter Mischer Sr. first conceived a Wild West-style complex in the area where Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing once pursued Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.
Who owns Terlingua?
Bill Ivey owns the Ghost Town at Terlingua now, but he ran the trading post through the eighties. When I met him for a quick lunch in Alpine in October, his memories of the old store grew the conversation to two hours.
How much does it cost to fly to Lajitas Golf Resort?
Hobby Airport, with flights at $99 each way. The Lajitas service is part of the company's continued expansion in Texas. JSX calls itself a “hop-on jet service” because customers may arrive just 20 minutes before departure at private terminals and simply “hop on” a flight, avoiding the crowds and lines.
Who designed Lajitas Golf Course?
Lanny WadkinsLajitas Golf Resort in Lajitas, Texas The resort's unique destination is rich in Old West history. The resort features our world class 18 hole golf course, Lajitas Texas Golf. "Black Jack's Crossing", designed by PGA Hall of Fame golfer, Lanny Wadkins.
What does Terlingua mean in English?
three tonguesThe name “Terlingua” actually applies to a mining district, and there were three different settlements located here in southwestern Brewster County. The name derives from two Spanish words, tres, and lenguas, meaning “three tongues,” called such for one of two reasons.
Why is Terlingua famous?
Terlingua became famous for its annual chili cook-off and in 1967 was deemed the "Chili Capitol of the World" by the Chili Appreciation Society.
Can you fly into Terlingua Texas?
One of the airports that requires the shortest drive to Terlingua is El Paso International Airport. Once you arrive here, take I-10 east to Van Horn, then Highway 90 to Alpine. After that, you'll drive down Highway 118 South to Study Butte/Terlingua.
Are JSX flights safe?
With JSX, you'll bypass the traditional airport altogether by traveling through a private-jet terminal. You also won't encounter crowds and Transportation Security Administration lines, but you can still feel secure: JSX uses TSA Secure Flight, the same TSA-provided background-check processes that major airlines use.
Is there an airport in Terlingua?
Lajitas International Airport is a privately owned airport for the use of the resort's guests and property owners located 4 miles East of Lajitas and 14 miles West of Terlingua adjacent to Big Bend National Park.
Why is Terlingua a ghost town?
The market for mercury mining steadily declined throughout the 1930s. The Chisos Mining Company, which employed virtually all of Terlingua directly or indirectly, filed for bankruptcy in 1942. After WWII, Terlingua's population declined so sharply that it became a ghost town.
What happened in Terlingua Texas?
Terlingua was a mercury-mining town more than 100 years ago, but the last Census showed just 58 people living there. Felts was found dead in the parking lot of his business. He died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head, according to news reports in Texas.
Is Big Bend National Park Safe?
Big Bend National Park is a safe destination for outdoor enthusiasts such as hikers. A recent study from a law firm found that Big Bend had only 16 deaths among 4.4 million visitors from 2007 to 2018.
Overview
Personal life
Warren married the former Sherry Johnson on May 18, 1980, in Dallas, and they divorced in 1991. He married Amy Hudson on June 3, 2010, in Dallas. He has one son, Klyde Warren.
He lives in Preston Hollow, Dallas on an 8+ acre estate on Park Lane valued at more than $30 million. In 2012, press reports indicated he owned an estate on an island off the coast of Honduras.
Early life
Born in Gladewater, Texas, Warren grew up in White Oak, Texas, the youngest of four sons of Hugh Brinson Warren and Bertie Lee Kirby. His father worked as a field hand for Sun Pipeline, a company now owned by Warren. Warren went to White Oak High School.
He received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1978.
Career
He started his career working for the Lone Star Gas Company. From 1981 to 1992, he worked for Endevco. He served as executive vice-president Cornerstone Natural Gas from 1989 to 1990, and as president and CEO from 1993 to 1996. He has been the co-chairman and co-CEO of Energy Transfer Partners since 2007. He also serves as member of the management council of ETP Enogex Partners LLC, co-CEO of ETC OLP, co-CEO and co-chairman of La Grange Energy and of …
Music
In 2007, he co-founded an independent record label, Music Road Records, with Jimmy LaFave and Fred Remmert. He collects music memorabilia, and has a collection that includes autographs of Jackson Browne and drumsticks signed by the Eagles.
Philanthropy
In 2020, Forbes gave Warren its lowest score for philanthropy, a "1." This indicates he was in the lowest 20% of billionaires rated.
Warren has hosted the Cherokee Music Festival since it began in 2007. It is a nonprofit event to raise money for children's charities and local public service organizations.
In 2012, Warren donated $10 million to help build Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas. It is na…
Political activity
Warren donated $6 million to Governor Rick Perry's presidential campaign. He also donated $103,000 to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. He gave $1 million to Greg Abbott after the 2021 legislative session.
Overview
Lajitas is an unincorporated community in Brewster County, Texas, United States, near the Big Bend National Park.
Economy
The Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa is a 20,000-acre golf resort business in Lajitas owned by Texas businessman Kelcy Warren, who bought the resort from previous owner Steve Smith while the business was going through financial distress. It is located on the Rio Grande, bordering Mexico, between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park.
History
The settlement is named for the Boquillas flagstone found in the area. "Lajitas" translates to "little flat rocks" in Spanish.
Starting in the 1980s as a joke, for many years the purported mayor of Lajitas was Clay Henry III, a "beer-drinking" goat. After two replacements of the original Clay Henry, the trading post and stable where the actual mayor lived is now closed and the goat no longer resides there.
Education
Lajitas is zoned to schools in the Terlingua Common School District.
Media
In the 1970s the community had one telephone, and newspapers were delivered one day later than their normal dates. Additionally there were no televisions, the latter a rarity among communities in the decade.
Infrastructure
Due to the remoteness of the resort, Lajitas is served by the Lajitas International Airport, a private airport with a 5,000 ft (1,500 m) asphalt runway.
In popular culture
Lajitas is mentioned extensively in Red Dirt/Texas Country artist Wade Bowen's song "Day of the Dead" recorded in October 2017. In The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Pete and a coyote sit overlooking the Rio Grande near Lajitas.
Further reading
• Hilton, Evelyn. "Lajitas, TX". TSHA Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.