Carson County Historical Markers
Jackson General Store,
White Deer
Marker Location: On corner of Highway 60 and Main Street, White
Deer.
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Text: Oldest business house in White Deer. Moved in 1908
to present location, from old White Deer original townsite, where
it was the only supply center for early settlers. Property of
J.C. Jackson, Carson County Judge, 1935-1941; Precinct 4 County
Commissioner, 1947-1965.
John A. Holmes (1886-1929),
Panhandle
Marker Location: 6th Street about 12 blocks east of Main Street,
Panhandle Cemetery, Panhandle
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Text: Born in Mississippi; received law degree from
University of Texas. Became County Attorney of Roberts County.
Elected District Attorney of 31st Judicial District in 1922. In
1928, appointed District Attorney of 84th District by Governor of
Texas to relentlessly prosecute criminals who infested oil fields
during Borger's boom years. Often threatened by gangsters, he was
shot to death by gunmen at his home in Borger.
Last Great Panhandle Cattle Drive
to Montana, Panhandle
Marker Location: 5th and Elsie Streets, SH 207, Square House
Museum, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: Each spring and summer after 1880, many Texas herds
went up the trail to Northern states for fattening. For the
cowboys, trail drives meant hard work. They had to turn
stampedes, ford rivers and quicksand streams, and fight Indians
and cattle thieves. They endured hunger, thirst, and other
physical hardships. The Last Great Texas Panhandle Drive was
organized here at N Bar N (N-N) Headquarters. Ranch manager was
J.L. Harrison; trail boss, T.L. (Tom) Coffee. 100 cowboys drove
10 herds, each with 2500 cattle, or a total of 25,000 beeves, to
Montana from April to September 1892. The cattle belonged to
Niedringhaus Brothers, German tinsmiths of St. Louis, who put
into ranching a fortune made in enamel granite household wares.
From 1882 to 1886, N Bar N leased range in Carson and neighboring
counties from the Francklyn Land & Cattle Company, a British
syndicate backed by Cunard Steamship Line. Afterward this range
belonged to White Deer Land Company. The N Bar N outfit left here
because White Deer Land Company wanted the range cleared of large
herds. By 1907 the 650,000 acres of its land was offered for sale
to small ranchers and farmers. It was fenced and the steam plow
introduced to turn the rich, grassy sod.
Last Great Panhandle
Cattle Drive to Montana, White Deer
Marker Location: US 60, E. City Limits, White Deer.
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: (same as text given above)
Methodism in Panhandle, Panhandle
Marker Location: 600 Main Street, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1990
Marker Text: The town of Panhandle became an important stronghold
for Methodism in this part of Texas in the late 19th Century. The
county's first congregation was the Northern Methodist,
established in 1889. It was attended by residents of all faiths.
A Southern Methodist congregation was organized in 1903, and both
churches served as community gathering places. The two
congregations merged in 1919 and eventually became the First
United Methodist Church of Panhandle. Methodists in Panhandle
have maintained a strong community involvement.
Old County Bookmobile,
First "Inside Service" Bookmobile in Texas, Panhandle
Marker Location: 5th and Elsie Streets (fronting Elsie), SH 207,
at Square House Museum, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Text: In use 1938-1957. Based at the county library on
this site. A bright red, visible for miles, this first Bookmobile
in Texas was called "The Library Bus." It stopped at
ranches, schools, oil camps; circulated 2,000 books a month;
served in era of sparse settlement, World War II growth and later
industrialization. There were private and rental libraries in
early Texas; the Republic had a National Library, but most county
libraries were founded or instigated by local citizens--as was
this pioneer Bookmobile. Texas still has 51 Bookmobiles in other
counties.
Oldest Bank in the Texas
Panhandle, Panhandle
Marker Location: 3rd Street and Euclid Street intersection,
Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: Second commercial bank opened in the Panhandle of
Texas. Oldest in continuous service. Founded by James Christopher
Paul, pupil of Sam Houston's son, lawyer Temple Houston. Early
settlers throughout the High Plains area were among the first
depositors. On May 6, 1927, during great oil boom, Judge Paul and
associates opened a second bank, the First National. On December
31, 1942, the two merged. Many present accounts are held by heirs
of early depositors. A son of Judge Paul still serves on the
Board of Directors.
Panhandle, Panhandle
Marker Location: 117 South Main, Panhandle (in front of Police
Station).
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: In 1880s, capital of Panhandle area. Settled when
slaughter of buffalo sent Indians to live on reservations.
Terminus of Santa Fe Railway, 1887. Here immigrant trains brought
colonists, who plowed old Indian range into wheat fields and
civilization. Settlers banked here, saw the dentist, got
supplies, lumber, mail, windmills, fencing. Was made county seat
when Carson County was organized in 1888. Nearby is site of first
oil well in area, drilled 1921. Also nearby, Pantex Farms of
Texas Technological University, on site of World War II Ordnance
Plant.
Panhandle Cemetery, Panhandle
Marker Location: 6th Street about 12 blocks east of intersection
with Main Street, Panhandle
Year Marker Erected: 1990
Marker Text: The oldest documented graves in this cemetery date
to 1889, three years after the founding of Carson City (later
renamed Panhandle), the first town in the county. Among those
buried here are Civil War veterans and area pioneer families.
Gravestone designs range from simple to elaborate, and the
cemetery also contains many unmarked graves. The Panhandle
Cemetery has also served people in surrounding communities.
Additional land acquisitions have increased the size of the
graveyard over the years, and a small chapel was built in 1965.
Panhandle Herald
Marker Location: 319 Main Street, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: Published since 1887. Oldest newspaper in the Texas
Panhandle, second oldest business in the area. Founded by H.H.
Brookes. Principal owner 1926-58, David M. Warren, oil man,
banker, a Regent of the University of Texas. Don and Norene
Peoples owners at 75th Anniversary. In Memoriam - David M. Warren
(1894-1958) by Mrs. David M. Warren, David M. Warren, Jr.,
Randolph J. Warren.
Pioneer Dugout
Marker Location: 5th and Elsie Streets, SH 207, at Square House
Museum, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Text: In the 1874-1888 era the High Plains (a sea of
grass) had no native timber, stone, or adobe building materials.
Homes were dugouts, or, if settlers' wagons went some 300 miles
for lumber, half-dugouts. Dugouts were warm in winter, cool in
summer. Some were carpeted and cloth-lined. Some had an extra
room, for the schoolteacher or other guests. The cooking and
heating stoves burned buffalo chips, cow chips. This exact
replica of a Carson County half-dugout was donated by Opal
Purvines to honor her parents, the John F. Weatherlys, and other
pioneer families.
Polish Settlers of White Deer,
White Deer
Marker Location: FM 294 N (North Main Street), on grounds of
Catholic Church, White Deer (2 blocks north of intersection with
Highway 60).
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Marker Text: In 1854, 100 Polish families (800 persons) came to
America in one small sailing ship--a voyage of 9 weeks. None
spoke English. From Galveston they walked 200 miles to Panna
Maria in South Texas, arriving for Christmas Eve Mass. There they
toiled at manual labor. In 1909, in response to White Deer Land
Co. offers, they migrated here. Later the colony had additions
from Washington State, Nebraska, Wisconsin. Their first Catholic
Church, completed May 13, 1913, was on this site. Today their
descendants include some of the most outstanding citizens of
Texas.
Purvines Ranch Home, Panhandle
Marker Location: Square House Museum, SH 207, 5th and Elsie
Streets, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Marker Text: Built 1906-08 in land of lumber scarcity by Carroll
and Kate Purvines, (from Illinois) of cement blocks they made by
hand, using local sand. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1964
State National Bank, Groom
Marker Location: 114 Main Street, Groom
Year Marker Erected: 1972
Marker Text: Founded in 1904 as a private bank by John Walter
Knorpp (1867-1952), member of an established banking family of
Missouri, New Mexico, and Texas, and Eugene Sherwood Blasdel
(1878-1930), oil and grain business developer of this region. In
1905 Blasdel sold his interest to Knorpp. A state charter was
obtained in 1908, but surrendered in 1926 for national charter.
Patronage from diligent, thrifty early settlers advanced the
career of this bank. On its Board of Directors have been members
of the pioneer Britten, Fields, Fraser, Harrell, Johnson, Krizan,
Slay, and Steele families. I.C. Unsell was cashier from 1908 to
1932. Cecil Culver (born 1903), who came to the bank in 1929 as
assistant cashier, purchased the controlling interest from Knorpp
and became president in 1951. Adjusting to the crises in the
region, State National Bank weathered the panic of 1907, the
adversities of the 1930s Dust Bowl, two World Wars, and other
national and international experiences. It continues to bolster
the cattle, grain, oil, beef feedlot, and other agribusiness
interests, and the cultural facilities of Groom and surrounding
area.
Temple Lea Houston
(August 12, 1860-August 15, 1905),
Panhandle
Marker Location: 5th and Elsie Streets, SH 207, at Square House
Museum, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1976
Marker Text: Born in the Texas Governor's Mansion, the eighth and
last child of Sam Houston (1793-1863) and his wife Margaret;
educated at Baylor University, Texas A&M, and in a law
office, Temple Houston came in 1881 to this region as District
Attorney for the 35th Judicial District. He married Laura Cross
of Mobeetie, 1882. Tall and handsome, he resembled his father--a
fact cited when he ran for the Texas Senate in 1884. He won, and
was seated before reaching legal age for the office. While
serving in the Senate, he built a home near "Panhandle
City." During his two terms, he became a leader in spite of
his youth, advancing legislation favorable to frontiersmen in
this area. When a new capitol was dedicated in Austin in 1888, he
made the major speech, taking pride that lands in the Panhandle
had paid for the magnificent building. Amid the ovations of that
day were pleas that he run for Governor or United States
Congressman, but he declined. About 1893 he moved to Oklahoma and
gained added fame as a lawyer and orator. Thus the fledgling of
"The Raven" became a legend in his own time. He was the
father of two daughters and three sons. The Oklahoma Historical
Society has honored him by placing a marker at his grave in
Woodward.
Terminus of the Santa Fe Railroad
- Panhandle, Texas, Panhandle
Marker Location: On US 60, east city limits, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Text: Originally "Carson City", town name was
changed 1887 when this site appeared to be the future metropolis
of the Panhandle: it was to be at the junction of Santa Fe (under
name "Southern Kansas") and Fort Worth & Denver
City Railroads. Plans changed, however, and the F.W. & D.C.
took a route 16 mi. south, bypassing Panhandle. (Amarillo was
soon founded on the F.W. & D.C.) Even so, Panhandle became a
major shipping center. During great ranching era and again in
1926 oil boom, it moved more freight than any other town on Santa
Fe line except Chicago.
Texas Panhandle Pioneers-
John F. Weatherly Family, Panhandle
Marker Location: 5th and Elsie Streets, SH 207, Square House
Museum, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: Among first landowners in area. In 1898 started
ranch 25 miles to the north. Ran country store, post office,
phone exchange. Moved 1915 to Panhandle. The 1924 discovery of
oil on their ranch led to the founding of Borger. They gave land
to every church and school, and for a park, there. Weatherly (b.
1865, Tenn.) was a church, civic, Masonic leader; one of
organizers of Hutchinson County. He died in 1944. His wife,
Maggie Marie Deahl Weatherly (b. 1875, W.Va.), built Weatherly
Hall at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth; educates
missionaries and others; endows churches and Girl Scout work.
Texas Panhandle Pioneers-
The Simms Brothers
Marker Location: 5th and Elsie Streets, SH 207, Square House
Museum, Panhandle
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Text: Permanent citizens, forgers of local civilization.
Walter Franklin (1869-1963), George Leonard (born 1875) and
Dormer D. Simms (born 1884) moved to Texas in 1886 and to this
county in the early 1900's. They arrived later than visiting
hunters, soldiers and others who in the 1870's cleared this land
of buffalo and hostile Indians, and started ranching. But unlike
the early ranchers who ran cattle on state-owned range, these
pioneers bought land and worked to pay for it. (To tide them over
drouths, such settlers sold buffalo bones and earned bounties for
wolf-scalps.) In the 1905-1906 winter, the Simms Brothers used
mule-drawn plows and walked from Washburn (18 mi. SW) to Higgins
(115.4 mi. NE), constructing a 4-furrow railway fireguard. John
Sparks, an early local teacher and a Simms brother-in-law, worked
with them and led the group in gospel singing at nightly
campfires. Also in the crew were Jim Calhoun and John Sterling.
Family land ownership was preserved. Years later, oil and
industry brought great prosperity to this region. A fourth
generation now lives on the land. Frank Simms married Minnie Pugh
Williams; George married Alice Jane King; and Dormer married
Gertrude Talbot. Descendants are leaders in Texas business.
The Square House, Panhandle
Marker Location: 5th and Elsie Streets, SH 207, Square House
Museum, Panhandle.
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Marker Text: The Niedringhaus brothers of St. Louis sent lumber
by ox-cart from Dodge City and built this square house on their
"N Bar N" Ranch here in Carson County in the mid-1880s.
In 1887 a railroad official occupied the pioneer cottage while
the Southern Kansas Railway was being extended from Kiowa,
Kansas, to Panhandle City. This was later the home of some
distinguished settlers: pioneer banker and Treasurer of Southern
Kansas Railway Company, James Christopher Paul; rancher-judge
J.L. Harrison; innkeeper James B. Wilks; and sheriff Oscar L.
Thorp. The oldest house in town, it was purchased in 1965 and
restored as the Carson County Museum. Recorded Texas Historic
Landmark - 1966
Thomas Cree Homesite, Panhandle
Marker Location: From Panhandle, take Hwy. 60 about 4.5 miles
southwest (on Highway R.O.W.).
Year Marker Erected: 1980
Marker Text: After serving as a Teamster in the Civil War
(1861-65), Thadium (Thomas) B. Cree worked for the Union Pacific
Railroad. In 1888 he and his wife came to the High Plains. They
acquired this land and, with no trees for lumber, they built a
dugout home. Cree traveled 35 miles at his wife's request to find
a sapling and planted it here. He watered it from a nearby lake
that he dug from a buffalo wallow. The tree never grew but lived
many years despite blizzard, heat, and drought. Gov. John
Connally dedicated an Historical Marker in 1963 to the first tree
in the Panhandle.
White Deer, White Deer
Marker Location: At base of White Deer Statue on Main Street,
downtown White Deer.
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: Name taken from nearby creek, so called by an Indian
legend of White Deer feeding there. Site of county's first water
well, drilled at N Bar N Ranch, 1887. Also headquarters for White
Deer Land Co. (formerly Francklyn Land and Cattle Co., a British
syndicate with 630,000 acres of Panhandle land), which in 1902
sold its acreage for small farms and ranches. Located .5 mile
east on railroad in 1906, it became supply town for settlers.
Present townsite founded in 1908. Oil boom came in 1920s. Is
shipping point for grain and cattle.