USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 35
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THE CITY OF EL PASO
The city of El Paso is the subject of some historical confusion, owing to a singular transposition of names. While the English colo- nies in America were yet in their infancy, El Paso del Norte, on the south bank of the Rio Grande, was an important town, and at the time of the Texas Revolution it had a population of several thousand. At that time the present site of the city of El Paso, on the north bank of
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the Rio Grande, contained only the imposing hacienda of Juan Maria Ponce de Leon.
Following the Mexican war the settlement on the north bank be- came a principal relay station on the Overland Mail Route, and a small settlement grew up under the name of Franklin, named for the first postmaster, Franklin Coons.
Late in the fifties the far-seeing statesmanship of Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, projected the line of the first transcontinental railroad through "The Pass." Roused by this action, the owners of the "Ponce Grant" mapped the nucleus of the future city through the agency of a young engineer, Anson Mills, since distinguished as a soldier and a diplomat, who gave to the plat the name of El Paso.
In 1889 the Mexican town of El Paso del Norte changed its name to Juarez, to commemorate the Mexican president of that name, and the American city became the sole heir to the historic name.
The American Civil war, crushing out, for the time, the prospect of a southern transcontinental railway, the little settlement slumbered for a generation. It was incorporated in 1873, but the corporation lapsed and was not restored until 1881, when the building in of the Southern Pacific Railway from the west, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway from the north and the Texas & Pacific Railway from the east, gave the impetus for the steady growth which mounted in 1890 to a population of 10,000, in 1900 to 16,000, in 1910 to 39,000 and in 1920 to 78,000.
The city is the center of an immense jobbing trade, covering trans- Pecos Texas, New Mexico and Southern Arizona, besides being the gateway for trade with the Republic of Mexico.
El Paso is the home of extensive manufactories, having the largest commercial smelter in North America, the immense planing mills and box factories of the Pearson Milling Company's great iron foundries and cement works, and innumerable lesser industrial plants. The city is the financial, commercial, recreational, educational and religious center of an area as large as Texas.
All of the leading religious denominations have flourishing con- gregations, filling handsome houses of worship, and several denomina- tions maintain commodious hospitals and sanatoriums. The Baptist Sanatorium, now in course of construction, will represent a construc- tion cost of $1,000,000, and is expected to be the largest denomina- tional institution of that character in the United States. In 1914 the city became the seat of the Catholic bishopric, the Right Reverend Anthony J. Schuler being consecrated as the first bishop.
El Paso established the first free public kindergarten in Texas. Its public school system has kept pace with the best progress of the state, and its high school has few superiors. In addition to the public school system there are a number of denominational and secular train- ing schools for the training of both sexes. The State School of Mines, a flourishing branch of the State University, is located at El Paso.
The El Paso Public Library houses the most important collection of government publications to be found in the Southwest, and through-
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the comprehensive system of co-operation with Eastern Libraries un- dertakes to supply all of the needs of serious students in any field.
The Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway, the Texas & Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, the El Paso & Southwestern Railway, the Mexican Central Railway and the Northwestern Rail- way of Mexico radiate from the city in all directions.
In company with the fertile, irrigated valleys surrounding it, the city has shared the benefits of the immense government irrigation reservoir at Elephant Butte. Having its inception, like so many other Western towns, under the shadow of Fort Bliss, its progress as a military center has kept pace with its other development. In 1915 it witnessed, in the mobilization of 50,000 troops of the National Guard, the largest concentration of troops which the United States had effected in a generation, and today the vast military depots at Fort Bliss can completely equip for field service two divisions of the Amer- ican army.
El Paso equipped and sent to the world war three companies of infantry, which saw service in France-Companies A and B of the First Texas Infantry, and Company K of the Fourth Texas Infantry. In all, more than 4,000 men from El Paso were enlisted in the army, navy and marine corps during the World War.
FISHER COUNTY
The development of Fisher County is quite accurately measured by the population statistics. At the census of 1880 only 136 persons were enumerated within the thirty miles square of territory which had been created by the Legislature in 1876. The county was at that time unorganized and a county government was instituted in 1886. In 1881, the Texas & Pacific Railway was built across Western Texas, and about three miles of the track was laid in Fisher County, along the southern border. On this mileage was established one station, Eskota, but the principal shipping point for a number of years was at Sweet- water. A large immigration followed, but chiefly stockmen, and by 1890 the population was 2,996. Between 1881 and 1900 no new rail- roads were built, and the pastoral characteristics were continued and little farming attempted. By 1900 the population was 3,708.
During the present century there have been many developments. Population increased by 1910 to 12,596, more than 300 per cent. By 1905 the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway was in operation from Sweetwater through the country north toward Red River. About 1907 the Texas Central Railway was extended from Stamford west to Rotan in Fisher County. In 1911 the Texico-Coleman, a cut off of the Santa Fe System, crossed the southwestern corner of the county. In the meantime, the Orient Railway having been built to the east of the county seat of Roby, a short line, known as the Estacado & Gulf, was graded from McCaulley on the main line of the Orient to Roby, a distance of twelve miles, and the track was laid from McCaulley to within three miles of Roby, but was never completed. In 1915 the material of this road was taken up and a road built with it from Roby
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to North Roby, a distance of four miles, on the main line of the Texas Central Railway. This road is now (1920) in operation. In 1907 the Texas Central was extended from Stamford to its present terminus at Rotan, twelve miles northwest of Roby. Rotan is now the largest town in the county. The principal towns, in 1920, are, in the order of their size, Rotan, Roby, McCaulley, Sylvester, Royston, Longworth, Eskota and North Roby.
In 1903 the assessed valuation of property in the county was $2,292- 832; in 1909, $7,291,558; in 1913, $6,124,199; in 1920, $6,692,625. In 1910 the county had 1,839 farms and ranches, as compared with 519 in 1900. The total area of the county is 566,400 acres, four-fifths of which were occupied in farms in 1910, and approximately 139,000 classified as "improved land." The stock interests were enumerated as fol- lows: Cattle, 9,244; horses and mules, 5,803. In 1909, 62,681 acres were planted in cotton; 11,201 acres in hay and forage crops; 10,532 acres in kaffir corn and milo maize; 3,553 acres in corn, and a limited acreage in oats, wheat and peanuts. About 45,000 orchard fruit trees were enumerated.
ROBY
The town of Roby was established in 1886 on land owned by D. C. and M. L. Roby of Mississippi, and in this way got its name. It was organized in 1886, and Roby and Fisher, four miles north on the Clear Fork, were in the race for the county seat. At this time a two-story frame building was erected for a court house, and a few years later a substantial two-story rock jail was built, which still stands in good condition. In 1910 a modern brick court house was erected. All the original business buildings were of wood and most of them are gone now. In their stead are now brick. The town has two banks, one national and one state, both strong institutions, ten business houses, well stocked with goods, a number of smaller business houses, a con- crete garage, three gins, four church buildings, a light plant and water works and a large two-story concrete school building. The Woodmen and Odd Fellows own their own hall together. The Masons own their hall, in which meet the Blue, Roval, Arch Council and Eastern Star Lodges.
The Canadian and Del Rio Highway No. 4 runs north and south through the county and the towns of Roby and Rotan. This highway is about finished across the county. Roby is the center of one of the finest bodies of land in this part of the state. The poorer land of the county is on or near the boundaries.
FLOYD COUNTY
Located in the heart of the Staked Plains region of Texas, Floyd County had an unusual development in advance of railroad facilities. In 1909 the Pecos & Northern Texas was constructed east from Plain- view to Floydada, the county seat of Floyd County.
The development of the county up to 1910 is indicated by the following statistics taken from the report of the last census. At that time there were 620 farms in the county, as compared with 286 in 1900. The total area of the county is 647,040 acres, of which 311,118 acres
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were in farms and ranches, and about 73,000 acres cultivated, against about 19,000 acres in 1900. The county produces a great variety of crops. In 1909, 15,335 acres were planted in hay and forage crops ; 10,981 acres in kaffir corn and milo maize; 4,568 acres in corn; 2,956 acres in cotton ; 1,562 acres in oats ; a limited acreage in wheat, while the horticultural interests were represented by about 31,000 orchard fruit trees and about 4,000 grape vines. The number of cattle in 1910 was 15,896; of horses and mules, 6,400; hogs, 4,200, and poultry, 25,192.
These figures indicate that the county at that time was not far behind many older and eastern counties of the state, and since then, with the advent of the railroad, the progress along agricultural lines has been much greater. Practically all this development has taken place in the last twenty years, and the first crop of cotton was planted about ten years ago.
Floyd was one of the counties created on August 21, 1876, and a local government was organized May 28, 1890. When the census of 1880 was taken, only three inhabitants were found in the county. In 1890 the population was 529; in 1900, 2,020; in 1910, 4,638, and in 1920. 9,758. The value of property in the county in 1903 was assessed at $1,743,965 ; the rapid increase of wealth during the next ten years was indicated by the figures for 1913, which were $6,544,336; in 1920. $8,305,300. The rapid development of the county is shown by the fact that it now ranks second in the state in point of hog production and fourth in poultry production. The county has shipped for the past three years, the heaviest tonnage of wheat of any county in the Pan- handle.
FLOYDADA
Floydada, the county seat, had a population in 1910 of 664, and has greatly improved since the railroad came. It now has two banks, with deposits averaging slightly under $2,000,000; five churches, two of which are magnificent buildings, and its schools are affiliated with the Texas University. Grain, cotton, hogs, cattle, poultry and dairy products are the principal commodities shipped from Floydada. Sev- eral large mercantile establishments make it a desirable trading point.
The second town in the county is Lockney, also on the railway.
FOARD COUNTY
Ford County was created from adjacent counties March 3, 1891, and organized April 27, 1891. At that time the town of Crowell was started and was given the honor of the county seat. No towns were developed of any importance until recent years, and until the comple- tion of the Orient Railroad through the center of the county in 1909, the nearest shipping points were at Quanah and Vernon, to which towns the farm crops and the cattle from the ranches were sent. A number of large ranches are still operated in the county, but the live stock industry has undergone many changes in recent years, and the modern stock farming and diversified agriculture are now the chicf resources. Foard County is in the wheat region of Northwest Texas. but cotton is the largest single crop, and the area of cultivated land is being extended every year.
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In 1900 the population of the county was 1,568; in 1910, 5,726; in 1920, 4,747. At the last census, Crowell, the county seat, had a popula- tion of 1,341. Other towns are Foard City, Thalia, Rayland and Mar- garet. The total area of the county is 391,680 acres, it being one of the smaller counties in Northwest Texas. The last census reported 290,704 acres in farms, with about 73,000 acres as "improved land," as compared with about 24,000 acres in 1900. There were 718 farms in 1910 and 210 in 1900. The number of cattle in 1910 was 15,879; in ยท 1920, 12,402 ; horses and mules, about 5,208. The largest crop in 1909 was cotton, 21,356 acres ; corn, 9,155 acres; wheat, 6,667 acres ; kaffir corn and milo maize, 3,495 acres; oats, 2,298 acres; hay and forage crops, 2,509 acres, and about 10,000 orchard fruit trees were enum- erated. The total assessed valuation of the county in 1903 was $1,614,- 770; in 1913, $4,254,831 ; in 1920, $16,509,405.
The progress of the county as a whole is reflected in the growth of the county seat town from a country hamlet, before the railroad came, to a new-built little city, with many of the municipal and business facilities of older and larger cities. Crowell has an electric light plant. water works, telephone system, a court house costing $60,000, several school buildings, grain elevator, cotton gins, and a large variety and number of commercial establishments to supply the needs of the tributary country.
GAINES COUNTY
Created in 1876, Gaines County was organized in 1905. It was at one time the haunt of a number of Seminole Indians, who frequented the delightful valley afterwards named Seminole Draw. The county seat and chief center of the county is Seminole. New Mexico forms the western boundary of the county, and the surface is elevated, a rolling prairie except where traversed by the draws, and practically the only water supply is that found at convenient distance under ground. Successful experiments have demonstrated the feasibility of irrigation from this source, and within less than ten years a consider- able acreage has been developed for agricultural purposes, either through dry farming or by irrigation. Gaines has long been regarded as one of the best live stock sections of West Texas.
In 1880 only eight inhabitants were found by the census enum- erators ; the population in 1890 was 68; in 1900, 55; in 1910, 1255 and in 1920, 10,918. The town of Seminole was founded about the time the county was organized, and there are one or two other small village centers.
The total area of the county is 985,600 acres, of which about 500,- 000 acres were reported in 1910 as occupied in farms or ranches. At that time about 20,000 acres were classified as "improved land," as compared with only 55 in 1900. The number of farms increased from 6 in 1900 to 206 in 1910. The number of cattle in 1910 was 34,249 and of horses and mules, about 1,250. In 1920, the number of cattle was 20,916; horses and mules, 2,919. In 1909, 4,255 acres were planted in hay and forage crops; 3,709 acres in corn, and a limited acreage in kaffir corn and milo maize. The settlers have given some attention to fruit growing, the possibilities of which are promising, and the last VOL. II-21
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census reported about 2,000 orchard fruit trees. In 1913 the assessed value of property in the county was $2,803,880. In 1920 the assessed valuation was $4,043,510. The county has two railroads, one from Midland to Seminole, a distance of sixty-five miles (known as the Mid- land Northwestern Railway Co.), the other from Lubbock to Sea- graves (Blythe, Postoffice). The terminus of the latter road is twenty miles north of Seminole, the county seat.
SEMINOLE
Seminole, the county seat of Gaines County, is located in the center of the county. In 1919 the Commissioners' Court authorized the issu- ance of warrants for the building of a modern, fireproof court house and jail building. This building, completed and furnished, will cost approximately $100,000. The town has a nice, modern school building. thoroughly equipped and sufficiently large to care for the needs of the town. The school has an enrollment of 125 pupils for the 1920- 1921 term. Since the organization of the county the town has main- tained a nine-months term of school each year, with a sufficient num- ber of teachers to render the best service. There are three churches. three parsonages, one bank, electric light plant, telephone system, lum- ber yard and businesses of every description to the needs of the people.
In addition to the raising of cattle and hogs, corn, maize, kaffir corn, cane and other forage crops, the experiments in the county during the years of 1919-1920 prove the county to be very fine for the production of cotton and broom corn.
GARZA COUNTY
While formal boundaries were given to Garza County in 1876, it remained without county government for more than thirty years, and was organized in 1907. Its development has been greatly promoted since the completion of the Texico-Coleman cut-off of the Santa Fe System in 1911. This railroad crosses the county from southeast to northwest.
Until recent years, the entire area was given over to the grazing of cattle. With the completion of the railroad came the advance guard of farmers, and now many cares are in cultivation. Farming and fruit growing reaches its highest state of development in the vicinity of Post, one of the new and prosperous towns in the state. Post was named in honor of the late C. W. Post, who acquired the ownership of about 300,000 acres in that locality and did a great deal for the town and surrounding country by introducing improved methods of farming as well as cattle raising. The chief agricultural crop is cot- ton, and Post has a cotton mill.
How rapidly the county has been settled in recent years is indi- cated by population statistics. In 1880 the number of inhabitants was 36, and in 1890, only 14 ; in 1900, 185, and the last census, 1920, reported 4,253 inhabitants. Besides Post, the county seat, there are several railway stations and small trading centers. The last enumeration re- ported 18,310 cattle and 2,645 horses and mules. The total area of the county is 556,800 acres. While the greater part is occupied by farmers and ranchmen, the amount of land in cultivation in 1900 was given as
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545 acres, and by 1910 this class of land had increased to 16,400 acres. There were thirty-eight farms and ranches in the county in 1900, and eighty-one in 1910. In 1909, 7,118 acres were planted in kaffir corn and milo maize ; 660 acres in cotton and 654 acres in corn. The assessed wealth of the county in 1900 was $1,915,395; in 1913, $3,004,174, and in 1920, $4,613,810.
POST
Post, the county seat of Garza County, is located three miles from the cap rock of the Plains, on the main line of the Santa Fe Railway. It has a population of 1,700. The assessed valuation of property in 1920 is $1,040,000. A cotton mill for making sheets exclusively, giv- ing employment to 300 and utilizing 5,000 bales of cotton yearly, is located here. The output has a worldwide territory, being sold all over the United States and in foreign countries.
The town has one of the best water works systems in Texas. The water is pumped from wells in the plains, mostly by electricity from the powerful engines from town, into immense reservoirs made of concrete and absolutely mosquito-proof. The water has a 300-foot fall, which gives it a 100-pound pressure. The town is regularly laid out, wide streets, with sixty-five miles of shade trees. It has four churches, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Christian. It has two school buildings, costing $50,000, fully equipped. Domestic science and manual training are taught, and it has an enrollment of 600 pupils. The trustees are among the best business men of the town. Educating the children is foremost in the hearts and minds of its citizenship. Post has two strong banks, the First National and the First State, which would be a credit to any town of 10,000 inhabitants. It has a Rock Sanitarium, equipped with the best facilities money could buy. It has electric lights, flashlight, telephone system, brick plant, has a cold storage plant, sewers for the business part of town and the south side. Some of the stores, offices and banks are steam-heated. The mer- chants are up to date and carry good stocks, and garages are here on every main street to care for tourists, as this is a favorite route on account of the fine roads. Post has fine golf links. A beautiful lake with shade trees nearly all around it, neatly built bathhouses and boats, etc., are there. It is the only resort of the kind in this section of the country and consequently in season visitors are here from ad- joining counties. Tourists know it, from California to the Gulf.
The ladies must not be overlooked, for they are a determined set in the little town. Whenever they start something they put it over, if not through one club another will. They have a hustling Mothers' Club, a welfare club, a culture club, a supervised playground and numerous other clubs, all working to the one aim of the upbuilding of the town.
Post has Fair Grounds, with building, race tracks, etc., where a county fair is held annually.
Post has a volunteer fire company, motor trucks and other equip- ment, and with the splendid water system, insurance is cut to the minimum.
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The town was laid out, promoted and named for C. W. Post, whose name, connected with "Postum" and Grape Nuts," is a household word.
GLASSCOCK COUNTY
Lying at the foot of the Plains region of West Texas and originally a part of Tom Green County, Glasscock County was created April 4, 1887, but the county government was not organized until March 28, 1893. It was named in honor of George W. Glasscock, a participant in the Texas Revolution and a prominent citizen of Williamson County, whose first name is now carried in the county seat of Wil- liamson.
While the county still has a meager population, its development has been fairly rapid since the beginning of the present century. Up to that time its level area was occupied only by cattlemen with their outfits, and in 1890 the population enumerated by the census was 208, and in 1900 only 286. At the last census the population was 555. While the county has no railroad, it is included in the belt of country developed by the Texas & Pacific Railway, and the chief market towns and shipping centers are Midland and Big Springs on that road. The chief topographical feature of the county is the North Concho River, with several tributaries, but the main source of water supply is the underground sheet of water found beneath most West Texas coun- ties, and for a number of years the farmers and stockmen have used wells driven by windmill power to pump water for stock and also, to some extent, to irrigate the small truck and other crop fields. The county seat is Garden City, and there are one or two other small vil- lage centers.
At the last census 165 farms were enumerated as compared with 49 in 1900. The total area of the county is 554.240 acres, of which 356,720 acres were reported as included in farms, and of that amount "improved land" was only 1,100 acres. Naturally, the stock interests are the chief resources. The last census enumerated cattle, 12,114; horses and mules, 1,204, and sheep, 12,960. While the growing of vegetables and fruits has proved profitable through the aid of irriga- tion, the chief crops are those adapted to dry farming methods. In 1909, 1,966 acres were planted in kaffir corn and milo maize; 1,811 acres in cotton ; 1,577 acres in hay and forage crops, and 259 acres in corn. About 2,000 trees were enumerated in orchard fruits.
In 1903, the valuation of property was $1,032,391 ; in 1909, $1,944,- 123 : in 1913, $1,926,038; in 1920, $2,019,072.
GRAY COUNTY
This county was one of the last of the Panhandle counties to be organized, a county government being instituted in 1902.
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