Donley County Towns
Source: The Handbook of Texas Online
CLARENDON, TEXAS
HEDLEY, TEXAS
HOWARDWICK, TEXAS
ASHTOLA, TEXAS
JERICHO, TEXAS
LELIA LAKE, TEXAS
GILES, TEXAS
BOYDSTON, TEXAS
ROWE, TEXAS
ELMORE, TEXAS
CLARENDON, TEXAS
Clarendon, on U. S. Highway 287 in central Donley County, is the
county seat and chief commercial and shipping center of the
county. Rev. Lewis Henry Carhart, a Methodist minister, promoted
the colonization of the town through a partnership with his
brother-in-law, Alfred Sully, of New York. The promoters bought
railroad land scrip entitling them to 343 sections of land, most
of which was in
Donley County.
In 1878 the Clarendon Land Investment and Agency Company, an
English firm, began backing Carhart. The original site of
Clarendon was on a flat at the junction of Carroll Creek and the
Salt Fork of the Red River. There, on October 1, 1878, Carhart
and his brother-in-law, W. A. Allen, established a
"Christian Colony."
Although tradition maintains that Clarendon was named in honor of
Carhart's wife, Clara, it has also been argued that the name was
borrowed from Clarendon, England, to compliment the British
backers. The townsite was platted, and construction from such
available materials as rock, adobe, and pickets began
immediately.
A post office was opened, and stagecoach communication with
Mobeetie and Tascosa established. Supplies were freighted down
the cattle trails from Dodge City. Soon Carhart and his
associates attracted a substantial population.
The church atmosphere in Clarendon (at one time the town had
seven Methodist ministers) and the absence of bars caused the
rowdier Panhandle inhabitants to call it "Saint's
Roost." Indeed, the first edition of Edward E. Carhart's
Clarendon News (August 2, 1879) declared the town "a
sobriety settlement."
A public school was opened, and W. A. Allen made plans to
establish a Methodist college, initially called Allenton Academy.
In 1880, after L. H. Carhart left to resume his ministerial
duties in East Texas, another of his brothers-in-law, attorney
Benjamin Horton White, provided equally effective leadership for
the colony.
When Donley County was organized in 1882, Clarendon became the
county seat and White was elected the first county clerk. A rock
building originally used as a hotel was converted into a
courthouse. White subsequently built a two-story frame hotel.
Several stores, a meat market, a blacksmith shop, and a doctor's
office were among the town's businesses by 1885.
In 1887, when the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway planned its
line six miles south of the townsite, Clarendon's citizens voted
overwhelmingly to move their homes and businesses to the tracks.
Clarendon became a railroad division point and cultural center
for the Panhandle, complete with an opera house.
The first bank was organized in 1889, and a permanent
brick-and-stone courthouse was completed in 1890. Homer Mulkey
opened a photography studio in 1895. Although saloons and
gambling dens flourished briefly in the Feather Hill section of
town, these were shut down and cleared away in 1898 to make room
for Clarendon College, which opened in the fall of that year.
At about the same time, the Catholic populace built St. Mary's
Academy. By then Clarendon had 200 residences, forty-six business
establishments, six churches, and forty-five windmills. The
town's reputation as a conservative bastion and the "Athens
of the Panhandle" continued into the twentieth century.
In 1901 Clarendon was incorporated. The last legal hanging in the
Panhandle occurred there on June 3, 1910. The city's independent
school district purchased Clarendon College in 1927 and made it
into a junior college.
Since the town is located in a draw, its streets were frequently
flooded until the 1930s, when the Work Projects Administration
built dams and terraces to turn the water away.
The building of several gins and hatcheries attested to the
town's increased importance as an agribusiness center. In 1950
Clarendon had eighteen businesses, ten churches,
and a population of 2,577. By then the manufacture of cotton bags
and covers had been added to the local light industry.
In addition, Clarendon was a manufacturing center for farm and
road equipment and leather goods. The population decreased from
2,172 in 1960 to 1,974 in 1970. In 1980 Clarendon had a
population of 2,220 and seventy business establishments.
Clarendon Lake is located to the northeast, and a small municipal
airport is located southeast of town. The Clarendon Press,
longtime publisher of western Americana, is in Clarendon. The
two-story ranch home and studio of Clarendon's most famous
citizen, western artist-illustrator Harold Dow Bugbee, which was
built by his father in 1912, is northeast of town.
Pete Borden's Boot and Saddle Shop contains an antique gun
collection. The Donley County Museum features prehistoric
specimens of local "Clarendonian Age" fossil beds, in
addition to geological and historical artifacts.
The original Saint's Roost townsite was inundated in 1968 by
Greenbelt Reservoir. At that time the old cemetery was moved
south on State Highway 70. In 1990 the population of Clarendon
was 2,067.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Virginia Browder, Donley County: Land O' Promise
(Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex, 1975). Willie Newbury Lewis,
Between Sun and Sod (Clarendon, Texas: Clarendon Press, 1938;
rev. ed., College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1976).
H. Allen Anderson
HEDLEY, TEXAS
Hedley, on U.S. Highway 287 in southeastern Donley County, had
its beginning in controversy. It was said that Isaac (Nat) Smith,
who owned a large parcel of land and had given the land for the
townsite of Rowe, had stipulated the kind of house that should be
built when someone bought a few acres for a homestead.
This, plus the gyp water and sandy soil, may have prompted the
populace in 1906 to propose moving the townsite a mile southeast,
despite the fact that a depot, a church, a school, a bank, a gin,
and several stores had already been erected. By 1907 the move had
begun; houses and stores were mounted on blocks and tackle and
hauled by horse and mule teams.
That same year a post office opened, and the new settlement was
incorporated and named for J. E. M. Hedley, who was influential
in getting the Fort Worth and Denver Railway to move its depot
and loading pens from Rowe to the new location around 1909. Rowe
subsequently was abandoned.
In 1908 Thomas Durham started the Hedley Herald, which later
became the Hedley Informer, the only hand-set weekly newspaper
surviving in Texas in the 1980s. The community's first school
building was erected in 1910. Three churches were also built
there. Fraternities and civic clubs were organized, and several
doctors opened practice in the town.
By 1935 Hedley reported a bank and some seventeen other
businesses. It also emerged as a cotton-producing center. The
West Texas Cotton Oil Company built a new gin complex there
during the 1950s.
Improved highways and economic changes influenced Hedley's
population decrease from 807 in 1930 to 380 in 1980, and its
number of businesses dropped to seven by 1984. Hedley, however,
in the 1980s continued to host a Cotton Festival every October.
In 1990 its population was 391.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Virginia Browder, Donley County: Land O' Promise
(Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex, 1975).
H. Allen Anderson
HOWARDWICK, TEXAS
Howardwick, known originally as Sherwood Shores, is just off
State Highway 70 seven miles north of Clarendon in west central
Donley County. It began in the late 1960s as a resort development
on the north shore of Greenbelt Lake.
The resort, which includes a senior citizens' trailer park, was
struck by a tornado on April 18, 1970. Fourteen residents were
killed, and several mobile homes were destroyed or severely
damaged.
The community built a marina and other facilities for fishing,
sailing, boating, swimming, and picnicking. Trailer hookups and
campsites are available for campers at various lakeshore
locations.
The Clarendon Country Club, which features an eighteen-hole
championship golf course, is located nearby. Howardwick had a
population of 185 in 1984 and 211 in 1990.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Virginia Browder, Donley County: Land O' Promise
(Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex, 1975).
H. Allen Anderson
ASHTOLA, TEXAS
Ashtola, on U.S. Highway 287 nine miles northwest of Clarendon in
western Donley County, was established in 1906 as a section house
on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway. The townsite was
originally named Southard and was granted a post office in March
1906, with Thomas F. Lewallen as postmaster.
Two stores and a one-room schoolhouse were added by 1908. In 1916
W. A. Poovey, acting on the request of postal authorities, sought
to have the town's name changed to Poovieville, but the name
Ashtola was chosen instead. The town served the SJ and other area
ranches.
By 1930 it had three stores, a brick school building, and a
population estimated at twenty-five. About that time the local
ladies organized a home demonstration club, which later became
the Ashtola Needle Club.
After automobiles became popular, Ben Lovell opened a filling
station and a gristmill. The mill remained in operation until
1973. The post office was discontinued in 1956. In 1958 the
Ashtola school district was consolidated with that of Clarendon,
and the school building was subsequently remodeled into a
community center.
Between 1949 and 1966 Ashtola had an estimated population of
fifty. In 1968 the population was estimated at twenty-five. From
1970 to 1990 it was estimated at twenty.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Virginia Browder, Donley County: Land O' Promise
(Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex, 1975).
H. Allen Anderson
JERICHO, TEXAS
Jericho, just off Interstate Highway 40 in northern Donley
County, was established in 1902 as a station on the Chicago, Rock
Island and Gulf Railway.
It was granted a post office that year and was named for the
biblical city in Palestine. At its height in the 1930s, Jericho
had three stores, a grain elevator, a tourist court, and a garage
and filling station.
Jericho's population was estimated to be 100 in 1933 and fifty by
1939. Its post office was discontinued in 1955, and by the 1980s
little remained at the townsite.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Virginia Browder, Donley County: Land O' Promise
(Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex, 1975). Fred Tarpley, 1001 Texas
Place Names (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1980).
H. Allen Anderson
LELIA LAKE, TEXAS
Lelia Lake, on U.S. Highway 287 in central Donley County, was
established in the late 1880s as a flag station on the Fort Worth
and Denver City Railway. It was originally named Lelia after
Lelia Payne, the sister-in-law of G. A. (Gyp) Brown, the town's
founder and the first judge for Donley County.
When the community's post office was established in December
1906, however, the word Lake was added to its name to distinguish
it from Lela, Texas, in Wheeler County. The railroad section
house and depot were the townsite's first buildings.
In 1894 the first school was opened at the community. By 1915
Lelia Lake had several stores, two banks, two gins, a lumberyard,
a barbershop, and a resident physician. In 1925 its population
was estimated at 150. Two years later the estimate had risen to
300, and by 1929 it was 500. Four churches were established by
1930.
The Great Depression closed the banks, however, and by 1933 the
population had dropped to 150. Lelia Lake gained some publicity
in 1940, when the family of D. E. Leathers, son of one of the
town's pioneers, was selected as the Typical American Family by
the Texas Chamber of Commerce in Fort Worth.
The town has been noted for watermelon production and as a
grain-shipping point. The population of Lelia Lake decreased from
500 in 1947 to 300 in 1950 and 125 in 1970. In 1984 the community
had three businesses, a town hall, a gin, a church, and a post
office. In 1990 the community's population was still reported as
125.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Virginia Browder, Donley County: Land O' Promise
(Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex, 1975).
H. Allen Anderson
GILES, TEXAS
Giles, just off U.S. Highway 287 in southeastern Donley County,
grew up around water tanks and stock pens on the Fort Worth and
Denver City Railway near Browder Springs. During droughts in
traildriving days, these springs offered the only watering place
between the Red River and the Canadian River.
The settlement was reportedly named for Giles Flippins, a pioneer
rancher who was later killed in a gunfight in Indian Territory.
With the advent of the railroad in 1887, cattle-shipping pens
were built on the site to accommodate the needs of the Diamond
Tail, Shoe Bar, and other area ranches. R. E. Montgomery,
townsite agent for the railroad, surveyed the area early in 1888.
A section house was built one mile northwest, and Edgar L. Mevis,
a railroad employee, opened a general store. A post office opened
at the community in 1888. Annie Rhone Mevis served as
postmistress and became legendary for her kindness to those in
need. Once she allegedly hid the notorious Tom (Black Jack)
Ketchum when he was on the lam.
By 1895 Giles had the store, a depot, a pump station, a hotel,
and several residences. At its height the community comprised
some twenty buildings, including a small saloon across the tracks
from the store. This saloon was later turned into a one-room
schoolhouse, which doubled as a church until a church building
was built in 1906. A gin opened at the community in 1912. In 1927
Giles had an estimated population of thirty-six.
After the advent of automobiles and improved roads, Giles
declined as a shipping point. Its post office closed in 1939. In
1968 its population was estimated to be twenty, and in 1970 it
was estimated to be twelve. Nevertheless, in 1984 the community
still hosted an annual picnic.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Virginia Browder, Donley County: Land O' Promise
(Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex, 1975). Virginia Browder Rogers,
The Giles Chronicle: Vignette of Panhandle History, 1887-1956
(Clarendon, Texas: Clarendon Press, 1956).
H. Allen Anderson
BOYDSTON, TEXAS
Boydston, near Interstate Highway 40 and the Donley county line
twenty-four miles south of Pampa in southwestern Gray County,
began in northern Donley County. Henry S. Boystun was the first
settler in the area. A post office named Boydston opened in 1891.
In 1903 the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway built through
the area and constructed a siding just across the county line
from the settlement; the community's post office was subsequently
moved to the new Gray County location.
Sources disagree upon whether the town was named for Boystun or
for H. S. Boyd, an official of the railroad. John Fraser had
opened a general store in Boydston by 1910.
In 1930 the community had a store and a population of ten. By
1941 it reported two businesses and a population of forty,
figures that remained stable through 1964. After 1940 local
residents' mail was sent through Groom.
The completion of Interstate Highway 40 led to the community's
demise. By 1980, when the railroad ceased operations there, only
a cow shed and two abandoned grain elevators remained at the
site.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Arthur Hecht, comp., Postal History in the Texas
Panhandle (Canyon, Texas: Panhandle-Plains Historical Society,
1960).
H. Allen Anderson
ROWE, TEXAS
Rowe, in southeastern Donley County, was established in 1890 as a
shipping point on the Fort Worth and Denver City railroad. It
took its name from Alfred Rowe, the English immigrant owner of
the RO Ranch. The townsite was boosted by Isaac Smith, who first
farmed this area. A post office was granted in April 1892.
In 1903 R. E. Montgomery, townsite agent for the railroad,
platted and named the streets. Soon the town had a church, a
schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, a general store, a hardware
store, a bank, a gin, and a newspaper, in addition to the depot
and cattle-loading pens. Two doctors had opened practice in Rowe
by 1902.
Overall, the town showed great promise as a business center.
However, disputes arose between Smith and other town leaders,
probably concerning use of the land and Smith's degree of control
over the community. These disputes, gyp water, and over-sandy
soil prompted many residents to propose moving the town a mile to
the southeast.
By 1907 the populace had begun moving their homes and businesses,
including the post office, to this new location, which they named
Hedley. Rowe thus passed into oblivion.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Virginia Browder, Donley County: Land O' Promise
(Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex, 1975).
H. Allen Anderson
ELMORE, TEXAS
Elmore was established as a post office in extreme northwestern
Hall County on May 4, 1891, with Andrew J. Jasper as postmaster.
This office was discontinued on August 31, 1898, and mail sent to
Clarendon in Donley County after the community failed to develop.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Inez Baker, Yesterday in Hall County (Memphis,
Texas, 1940). Arthur Hecht, comp., Postal History in the Texas
Panhandle (Canyon, Texas: Panhandle-Plains Historical Society,
1960).
H. Allen Anderson
(information from The Handbook of Texas
Online --
a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and
culture.)