Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Rio Vista, TX

Rio Vista is a small city in Johnson County, on Highway 174 about seven miles south of Cleburne and twenty miles south of Fort Worth.

The townsite of Rio Vista was laid out in 1881, after the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was completed a mile east of the older settlements of Grange Hall and Kimbell, which then declined as residents moved to the new railroad town.

Rio Vista's Spanish name means 'river view,' a reference to its views over both the Nolan River and Mustang Creek.

Near Rio Vista, Henry Briden built a log cabin at the Nolan River in 1849 that was the first house in Johnson County.

The Nolan River is named for Philip Nolan, the American horse trader who was killed near present-day Rio Vista by Spanish forces in 1801.

Rio Vista's public school system began in 1896, and by 1900 the town had churches, schools, a bank, a meat market, a blacksmith shop, a saloon, a general store, a cotton gin, and a livery stable.

A fire in 1914 destroyed 24 buildings in Rio Vista, but the town rebuilt.

Rio Vista has always been an agricultural community, producing crops such as cotton, corn, milo, wheat, hay, and peanuts.

The rerouting of State Highway 174 through Rio Vista in the mid-1950s set off a spurt of growth on the west side of the highway.

Rio Vista had 1,008 residents at the 2020 census — up from just 284 in 1960 — and its median age was a young 32.8 years.