GALVAN CREEK. Galvan Creek rises in south central Bexar county (at 29°11' N, 98°34' W) and runs southeast for 27½ miles to its mouth on the Atascosa River, just east of Pleasanton in Atascosa County (at 28°58' N, 98°27' W). Near the creek's source the terrain is flat to rolling with local escarpments, surfaced by mostly deep, fine sandy loams that support brush and grasses. Closer to the creek's mouth locally active dune blowout areas begin to appear, and bunch grasses grow in the sand along the creek banks. Land in the area is left as forest or cultivated as dry crop land. Galvan Creek was known as Arroyo de Galvan until around 1879. The area was settled as early as 1858, and in the 1870s the creek had a steam gristmill on its banks about six miles north of Pleasanton.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Margaret G. Clover, The Place Names of Atascosa County (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1952).