DOWNING, TEXAS. Downing, on State Highway 16 ten miles northeast of Comanche in northern Comanche County, was founded in the early 1880s. At a meeting to name the town and apply for a post office Walter Henry Loudermilk suggested that the town be called Dawning because of the beautiful sunrise. The post office department in Washington made an error in the spelling, and the town was named Downing. William C. Davis was appointed the first postmaster on November 26, 1888. On May 11, 1911, the post office was consolidated with that of Comanche. The population of Downing was reported as 103 in 1940; subsequently, like other rural towns in the state, it began to decline. In 1980 and 1990 twenty residents remained in the community. The population was thirty in 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Comanche County Bicentennial Committee, Patchwork of Memories: Historical Sketches of Comanche County, Texas (Brownwood, Texas: Banner Printing, 1976).

Tracey L. Compton