INFORMATION
OBTAINED FROM
The
HandBook of Texas ONLINE
PETTY,
TEXAS (Lynn County)
Petty is at the intersection of Farm roads
1328 and 1317, eighteen miles northwest of Tahoka in northwestern Lynn
County. It developed around 1900 as a result of the ranching and
farming operations of W. T. (Bill) Petty, a Lynn County pioneer
rancher and the manager of the T Bar Ranch.
In 1917 a school district was formed, but growth was slow. By 1948
Petty had four businesses, a school, and a population of thirty. Its
population was estimated at 100 in 1960. In 1974 the only remaining
business was a cotton gin. From 1972 to 1990 the population of Petty
was estimated at twenty-four. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974).Donald
R. Abbe
WILSON,
TEXAS (Lynn County)
Wilson is on the Santa Fe Railroad and Farm
Road 400, thirteen miles northeast of Tahoka in the northeastern
quadrant of Lynn County. It was established in 1912 by William Green
of Shiner. Green intended to settle Central Texas German farmers on
the old Wilson County School lands located in Lynn County, hence the
town's name. A small number of Germans did arrive in 1912, beginning a
trickle of German immigration that continued into the early 1950s. The
town grew slowly, reaching a population of 250 in 1930, 400 from 1950
to 1970, and 578 in 1980. The economy of Wilson centered around cotton
production and ginning. The agricultural depression of the 1980s
damaged the local economy. In 1990 the population was 568. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974). Donald
R. Abbe
MORGAN,
TEXAS (Lynn County)
Morgan grew up around a rural school one mile
west of Farm Road 212 and two miles north of Farm Road 211 in
northeast Lynn County. The school district was established on May 13,
1907, and the school functioned until June 20, 1938, when it was made
a part of the Wilson school system. The area is presently populated
with scattered farms.BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974). Charles
G. Davis
O'DONNELL,
TEXAS
O'Donnell is on U.S. Highway 87, the Santa Fe line, and the
Lynn-Dawson county line. It lies mostly in southern Lynn County. It
was established in 1910 by a group of promoters involved with the
construction of the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway from Slaton to Lamesa. The brothers T. J. and A. F. O'Donnell allied themselves with
Charles Doak, former sheriff of Lynn County, and H. E. Baldridge to
form a town on the new railroad; it was to be called O'Donnell City.
In June 1910, lots were sold and a town began; by 1912 the town had a
post office, a gin, a hotel, a real-estate office, and a general
store. At first the local economy was dominated by cotton farming and
ginning. A bank opened at the town in 1919, when the population was
300, and a movement began for incorporation, which occurred on May 5,
1923. By 1930 the town had 1,026 residents; it grew to 1,187 by 1940
and to 1,238 by 1980. O'Donnell was the home of Dan Blocker,
who portrayed "Hoss" Cartwright on the popular television
series "Bonanza" during the late 1950s and the 1960s. In
1990 the population of O'Donnell was 1,102.BIBLIOGRAPHY: Donald R. Abbe, The
History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech University, 1974).
Donald R. Abbe, "The History of Lynn County,"
Panhandle-Plains Historical Review 60 (1987). Donald R. Abbe
WEST
POINT, TEXAS (Lynn County)
West Point was on U.S. Highway 380 and
Farm Road 179, two miles east of the Terry county line in far west
central Lynn County. A school district for West Point existed as early
as 1904. It had a cotton gin and a store-station combination in the
1940s and 1950s. By 1974 only the cotton gin remained in operation.
West Point was still listed as a community in 1990.BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974). Donald
R. Abbe
WELLS,
TEXAS (Lynn County)
Wells is at the intersection of Farms roads
213 and 3112 four miles north of the Dawson county line and six miles
west of U.S. Highway 87 in southwestern Lynn County. Its name comes
from the W. D. Wells family, who gave land for the school and the
community site. Though it began to develop before World War I
and started a school in 1917, the community did not grow much over the
years. In 1949 Wells had a school, three businesses including a gin,
and a population of forty-five. By 1974 only a cotton gin remained. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974).Donald
R. Abbe
GRASSLAND,
TEXAS
Grassland is two miles south of U.S. Highway 380 and two
miles west of the Garza county line in east central Lynn County. It is
Lynn County's oldest community, having been established around the
ranch headquarters of Enos and Thomas Seeds in 1888. Their ranch was
named Grasslands, and in 1889 it became the county's second post
office. By 1900 the ranch had been broken up and sold to farmers. A
small agricultural community, with an economy dominated by cotton
farming and a modest ginning industry, slowly evolved around the site
of the old Grasslands ranch. By 1930 Grassland had seventy-six
residents. From the 1940s through the 1970s the population was
recorded as 200. It had dropped to sixty-one by 1980. In 1974
Grassland still had two cotton gins, a store, and a station. The
population was still sixty-one in 1990.BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974). Donald
R. Abbe
LAKE
VIEW, TEXAS (Lynn County)
Lake View (Lakeview) is at the junction
of Farm roads 211 and 179, two miles east of the Terry county line and
four miles south of the Lubbock county line in northwestern Lynn
County. It began between 1900 and 1905, and a school was established
in 1905. Local tradition has it that its name came about because a
playa was once visible from the school. By 1948 the town had a school,
a store, a cotton gin, a blacksmith shop, and a population of fifteen.
By the mid-1970s the school was gone. A cotton gin, a store-station
combination, and a grain company made up most of the community in
1974. In the 1980s the Lakeview Baptist Church, organized in 1936, was
still active, as was the Anderson grain elevator begun in the
mid-1960s. Lake View was still listed as a community in 1990. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Donald
R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974). Donald
R. Abbe
TAHOKA, TEXAS
Tahoka, (see
also THE CITY WEBSITE) the county seat of Lynn County, is at the
intersection of U.S. highways 87 and 380 near the center of the
county. It was established in 1903 as the county seat of the newly
organized county. The Tahoka Townsite Company, owned by B. G. Sweet,
W. T. Petty, and Tack Alley, was formed in 1903 to establish the first
town on the lower South Plains, south of Lubbock. Tahoka was
incorporated in 1915, and its population had grown to 786 by 1920 and
to 1,620 by 1930. An economy based on cattle ranching and cotton
farming encouraged Tahoka's steady population growth, though the
population of Lynn County overall declined after the 1930s. Tahoka had
a population of 2,129 in 1940, 3,012 in 1960, and 3,262 in 1980.
Cotton production developed into the dominant economic activity around
the city during the 1940s, so Tahoka developed a commercial economy
based on service to the cotton farmer, including a comparatively large
cotton-ginning industry. Its agricultural economy remained relatively
stable, though the city suffered somewhat during the agricultural
depression of the 1980s. In 1990 the population of Tahoka was 2,868. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974). Donald
R. Abbe
NEW
HOME, TEXAS (Lynn County)
New Home is at the intersection of Farm
roads 211 and 1730, six miles west of U.S. Highway 87 in north central
Lynn County. The tiny agricultural community was originally a part of
the Deuce of Hearts Ranch, which was opened for settlement in the
1890s, and the settlement evolved very slowly during the first part of
the twentieth century. At first the community was known as Deuce of
Hearts (or Minor), but when a church was built, a new name seemed in
order. L. G. DePriest suggested New Home because all the homes were
new to their occupants, even though some were dugouts.
Farming began in the area between 1905 and 1910, and an identifiable
community had coalesced there by the 1930s. New Home registered a
population of 10 in 1930, then grew to 200 by 1940, 252 by 1970, and
274 by 1980. Incorporation of the town in 1963 facilitated more
accurate population figures. In the 1980s the community had several
businesses, and in 1985 the New Home Co-op Gin processed 12,000 bales
of cotton; at that time the economy of New Home was closely linked to
cotton production and ginning. In 1990 the population was 175. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974).Donald
R. Abbe
DRAW,
TEXAS.
Draw is at the intersection of Farm roads 213 and 1054,
seventeen miles southeast of Tahoka in southeastern Lynn County. It
took its name from Mooar's Draw, a canyon to the northeast. The
community had a school as early as 1904. Draw's population was
reported as only twenty-five in 1933, but in 1940 its population was
estimated at 100 and continued to be reported at that level through
1960. By 1970 the population had dropped to thirty-five. In 1974 Draw
had a cotton gin and a store. In 1980 and 1990 its population was
thirty-nine.BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974).Donald
R. Abbe
NEW MOORE, TEXAS
New Moore, also known as Nurmoore, is at the
intersection of Farm roads 179 and 213, in southwestern Lynn County.
It began in 1924 and 1925, when the Slash-L Ranch sold off its lands
to incoming farmers. The community was named for G. A. Newman of the
Newman Development Company and for W. McCarty Moore, who bought land
from the ranch. A school district was established in 1924, but little
growth occurred. By 1948 the community had four businesses, a church,
a cotton gin, a school, and a population of fifty. In 1974 it had a
gin, a combination store and station, and a rarely used church. It was
still listed as a community in 1990. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974). Donald
R. Abbe
REDWINE,
TEXAS
Redwine is located in southeastern Lynn County at the
intersection of Farm roads 1054 and 3332, three miles northwest of
Stewart Lake on the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos. It receives
mail from Tahoka. The farming community was named for M. M. Redwine, a
Confederate veteran and native of Georgia, who filed on land and
settled with his family on a ranch southeast of Tahoka in 1903.
Redwine donated land for a school, and in 1913 he and his family moved
to Tahoka. As late as 1948 Redwine had a church, a school, and a
population of ten; no population figures for Redwine were available in
1990. A cemetery remains at the site.BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Frank P. Hill and Pat Hill Jacobs, Grassroots Upside Down: A History
of Lynn County, Texas (Austin: Eakin Press, 1986).
Jeanne
F. Lively
DOUBLE
LAKES
The Double Lakes, two medium-sized natural lakes seven
miles northwest of Tahoka in western Lynn County (at 33°13' N, 101°55'
W), stand at approximately 3,100 feet above sea level. The sandy clay
loam along the lakeshores supports a variety of tall grasses. Either
Double Lakes or Twin Lakes, located five miles to the south in Lynn
County, was the site of several skirmishes between Indians and Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie's troops in the early 1870s. One of these two lake groupings was also the site
where Capt. Nicholas Nolan and the Nolan Expedition
camped in 1877 after traveling eighty-six hours without water. BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. Bailey
Carroll, "Nolan's `Lost Nigger' Expedition of 1877,"
Southwestern Historical Quarterly 44 (July 1940). W. C. Nunn,
"Eighty-Six Hours without Water on the Texas Plains,"
Southwestern Historical Quarterly 43 (January 1940). Ernest Wallace,
Ranald S. Mackenzie on the Texas Frontier (Lubbock: West Texas Museum
Association, 1964).
SKEEN,
TEXAS
Skeen was at the junction of Farm Road 3332 and the Atchison,
Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, seven miles south of Tahoka in south
central Lynn County. Although a rural school once existed, no businesses
were developed as of 1948. No evidence of the rural village remained by
the mid-1980s. Charles G.
Davis
NEW LYNN, TEXAS
New Lynn (sometimes Newlynn) is three miles north of U.S.
Highway 380 and ten miles northeast of Tahoka in northeastern Lynn
County. Though New Lynn was the first school district in the county, the
community was not established until the 1930s. It reported a population
of sixty in 1940, 1950, and 1960. By 1970 its population had dropped to
fifteen, and in 1980 the number stood at eighteen. In the 1980s New Lynn
was clinging to existence, with its cotton production and ginning
operations suffering through the agricultural depression of the time. In
1990 its population was still estimated at eighteen. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech
University, 1974). Donald R. Abbe
Lynn County, Texas
