LOWAKE, TEXAS. Lowake is on Ranch roads 1929 and 381, nine miles northwest of Paint Rock in extreme northwestern Concho County. The community was established as a speculative venture in 1909, when the Concho, San Saba and Llano Valley line built track from Miles (Runnels County) to Paint Rock, establishing Lowake at the midway point. The community was named after two farmers, Lowe and Schlake, who donated land for the townsite. Lowake received a post office in 1909. Its population was reported as ten in 1925, fifty in 1927, and ten again in 1933. In 1936 the community had a school, a seasonal industry, another business, and several scattered buildings. In 1940 the school, which encompassed grades one through eleven, had three teachers and about forty-four students. The Lowake school had been consolidated with the Paint Rock school district by 1955. The population of Lowake rose to a high of 120 in 1961. In 1963 Lowake had a post office, five businesses (one of which was a steakhouse known for miles around), and a community hall. From 1970 to 2000 the population of Lowake was reported as forty.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Vernon Lee Rucker, A Proposed Reorganization of the Concho County, Texas, Public Schools (M.Ed. thesis, University of Texas, 1940).

Mary M. Standifer