What’s Up With All The Sheep In San Angelo?

I know you've seen them all around town and probably wondered, "what do they represent to our city?" Thanks to Lucie Hofheins with Downtown San Angelo Inc., I hope to provide a few answers.

San Angelo was once known as the inland Wool Capital of the world. Even today, there are still many sheep ranches still in business.

On April 25, 1935, the West Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association was formed in San Angelo. The organization staged the1st Miss Wool contest in 1952, which was named the "Miss Wool of Texas Pagent." Sadly, the annual contest went away in 1972.

Fast forward to October 13, 2007, when Downtown San Angelo Inc.'s Promotions Committee came up with an idea to revive the event. Realizing they couldn't repeat the old concept of "Miss Wool," they decided to have some fun with it and do a tongue and cheek event, where the "Miss Wool" contestants would be fiber glass sheep.

They started by purchasing 20 sheep and from there the numbers quickly grew. They enlisted individuals and businesses to sponsor each sheep. By working with the sponsors and the art community they tied everything together with a sheep theme. The result was the "Sheep-Spectacular," complete with a parade, "Shepherds Shindig," dinner and dance.

That's how it all started. Today you can see the results all over our city.

Keep in mind that each sheep bears a special name along with a plaque listing details.

Here's a list to help you spot some of the Ewes.