Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Services in Valera, TX

Valera is an unincorporated community in Coleman County that doubled as a census-designated place for the first time in the 2020 census.

The town grew up around a train depot after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway built its line about eight miles southwest of Coleman in 1904.

In its prime, Valera's business district along the tracks had a post office, a hotel, a bank, a flour mill, a cotton gin, an opera house, grocery stores and a blacksmith shop — and even a water well in the middle of the street.

Dr. H. H. Mitchell, who arrived in Valera in 1905, was the town's only doctor; he helped establish the first school, was a deacon in the Baptist church, and served as president of the First State Bank.

Valera Cemetery was created in 1922 when Minnie K. Harris deeded more than five acres of land for it, and today it holds more than 300 marked graves, including veterans of the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, and Korea.

In 1936, Valera joined with the Bowen, White Chapel and New Central communities to build Centennial School — only the second rural high school in Coleman County — named to honor the Texas Centennial.

Valera area students are now served by the Panther Creek Consolidated Independent School District, whose campus sits about eight miles south of town on FM 503.

The 2020 census counted 94 residents in Valera, living in just 30 households.

Coleman County, Valera's home county, is named for Robert M. Coleman, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and a soldier at the Battle of San Jacinto.