Goforth - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

GOFORTH, TEXAS. Goforth, twelve miles northeast of San Marcos, was once the center of cotton production in eastern Hays County. It was named for landowner and merchant J. T. Goforth. In 1881 the community built its first school, called Prairie Hill. A post office operated at Goforth from 1890 to 1902. Although population estimates for the community fell from 100 in 1892 to twenty in 1896, by 1900 Goforth's ginning company had established itself as one of the busiest in Central Texas. In the early 1900s the prosperous farms and ranches of eastern Hays County supported a variety of businesses and services at Goforth, but soil exhaustion and erosion began reducing local agricultural yields, and a flood in 1913 accelerated the decline. Area farms and businesses failed, and Goforth lost population. The community persisted as the site of a school for local Mexican Americans until 1948, when the school closed. The 1981 county highway map showed only a cemetery at the townsite.
Reference: Texas State Historical Association (visit link)

The driving directions are important, particularly if you don't know the area. Official directions are from the NW: "From IH-35 take FM 2001E approx 4.5 miles to CR 157/Goforth Road approx. 1.5 mi." Marker will be on your right. Attempting from the SW will discover that Goforth Road winds with confusing turns.

Marker Number: 10277 Marker Text: Once the center of cotton-producing activity in Hays County. Goforth became a ghost town during the 1920s. The community was established in the 1870s by James Taylor Goforth (1849-1915), who operated a general store at this site. Goforth's store served as a social center and as a banking facility for many of the farm families in the area. Business activity in Goforth was at its height between 1880 and 1906. The town boasted a drugstore, doctor's office, meat market, stable, and blacksmith shop. A U. S. Post Office opened in 1890, with J. T. Goforth as postmaster. In 1894, J. M. Butterworth purchased Goforth's store, but closed it three years later when the Goforth Supply Company was organized. The town's founder later formed a gin and milling company that operated one of the largest cotton gins in the area. Despite the fact that rail lines had bypassed Goforth, the community flourished until soil erosion and worn out farmland combined to bring extensive crop failure in 1925. A worm infestation in 1926 caused total abandonment of area farms. The supply company closed that year with stock still on the shelves. Although little evidence remains of the townsite, Goforth is an important part of Hays County history. (1985)

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