White Deer, Texas
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 35° 26.071 W 101° 10.367
14S E 302768 N 3923399
A depot was built in 1888. The site was initially known as "Paton" (after John Paton), then "Whig", before being renamed White Deer in January 1899
Waymark Code: WMTVYF
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/12/2017
Views: 0
County of town: Carson County
Location of town: east-central on county's eastern border;crossroads of US-60 & FM-294
County is central in the Panhandle, on the southern side
Location of Icon: Statue on pedestal, center of Main St., White Deer
Elevation: 3,366 ft (1,026 m)
Population: 978 (2013)
"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." ~ State Historic Survey Committee, 1966
"A Timeline of significant events in White Deer history:
"An English ranching company started operations in the early 1880s.
1887: the Southern Kansas Railway of Texas arrives - Hqs for the Diamond F Ranch constructed
1888: Depot built, post office granted
1889: Town renamed White Deer
1890s: British shareholders begin selling land for small farms and ranches to settlers.
1908: Town moves to be closer to the railroad
1909: Polish farmers transmigrate from Central Texas
1919: Oil is discovered
1926: Peak of oil boom
1928: Population peaks at nearly 3,000
1931: Fire causes severe damage and the town suffers tornadoes in
1947 and 1951
"Like Snyder, Texas' statue of an albino buffalo, and Muleshoe's statue of a (non-albino) mule, White Deer has a city mascot of a white deer." ~ Texas Escapes