ESTELLINE SALT SPRINGS. Estelline Salt Springs is a group of brine springs less than a mile east of Estelline at the Childress county line in east central Hall County (at 34°33' N, 100°25' W). The springs are located on the floodplain of the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River; they became active around the turn of the century when they washed out a funnel in the alluvium. They were used by servicemen stationed at Childress during World War II. In 1964 the United States Corps of Engineers built a dike around the springs to stop the flow and prevent the salt from entering the river. Since then the springwater has apparently grown more saline. Salt minnows or killifish swim in the milfoil growing there, and the surrounding flats support hardwoods and grasses. An endemic saltwater crab was known to live only at these springs, but may not have survived since the springs have been confined.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Gunnar Brune, Springs of Texas, Vol. 1 (Fort Worth: Branch-Smith, 1981).
