Rio Vista, TX

Rio Vista sits in southern Johnson County on State Highway 174, with the Nolan River and Mustang Creek shaping the town’s name and setting. The place began as Grange Hall, then Kimbell, before the railroad laid out Rio Vista in 1881 and the first train arrived in 1885. Henry Briden built the first house in Johnson County near the Nolan River in 1849, and the town later became an agricultural and cotton-shipping center. A 1914 fire wiped out much of the business district. Highway 174’s rerouting in the 1950s brought a new stretch of growth through town, and Rio Vista ISD remains part of the local map.