PACIFIC, TEXAS. Pacific, earlier known as Twohig and as Artesia, was twelve miles south of Cotulla on the International and Great Northern line in west central La Salle County. The town was originally named for John Twohigqv and was probably settled in the late 1870s. It was granted a post office in 1883 and in the 1880s had a debating society and a ladies' club. In 1890 it consisted of a population of twenty-five, a schoolhouse, two general stores, and a railroad depot. The settlement had seventy-five people, a meat market, and a Baptist church by 1896. The town name was changed to Artesia in 1903, perhaps to advertise the artesian wells in the area that could be used to irrigate crops. By 1908 Artesia had two schools, and by 1915, a Methodist church, a real estate agent, and two onion growers. By 1915 the population of Artesia had dropped to sixty; perhaps some residents had moved to Artesia Wells, a new town established in 1907 just two miles north. Artesia subsequently changed its name to Pacific. It lost its post office in 1921. By 1936 nothing remained of the town but the railroad depot, which was gone by 1964.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Annette Martin Ludeman, La Salle: La Salle County (Quanah, Texas: Nortex, 1975). Paul S. Taylor, "Historical Note on Dimmit County, Texas," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 34 (October 1930).
John Leffler
