Yates

Yates, also known as Yates Crossing, is twelve miles northeast of Junction in eastern Kimble County. It was named by Joseph A. Yates, who opened a post office in June 1907 on his land near a ford of the Llano River on the road from London to Fredericksburg. Between the late 1860s and the early 1880s herds of cattle, averaging 1,800 to 2,000 head, crossed the Llano 200 yards downstream at what was called the Beef Trail Crossing. The crossing was part of a feeder trail to the Western Trail used by ranchers in Bandera, Edwards, Kerr, Kimble, Medina, Real, and Uvalde counties. Camp meetings were held by early settlers under the live oaks near Yates. Tully J. Lange became Yates's second and final postmaster in June 1909. By the 1920s Yates was the center of a farming community in the Llano River valley. Throughout the decade Yates had a post office, a general store, a gas station, and a population that reached at least fifty-one. The area was advertised as a vacation spot for tourists and campers. The post office closed in March 1930, and though Yates continues to be shown on maps, its last reported population was ten in 1958.