Clara, TX
N 34° 05.506 W 098° 41.815
14S E 527959 N 3772372
Clara, TX, was located in the area of today's TX 240 and FM 1813, about ten miles north of Iowa Park, TX. There are multiple reasons for the town's decline when its residents moved elsewhere.
Waymark Code: WMVF63
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/10/2017
Views: 3
While the Handbook of Texas Online has a good overview (see Related Web Page), the entry on Clara at the
Texas Escapes website has some old photos, some memories, and even an old map with Clara (and Bacon!) on it. A 1978 Texas Historical Marker out on TX 240 provides some background:
Herman Specht migrated in 1870 to Galveston from Germany. In 1884 he married Clara M. Vogel Lange (1853 - 1912), a wealthy widow, adding to earlier property holdings in Galveston. He began buying extensive tracts of land in northern Wichita County, which eventually totaled 21,000 acres. In 1886 he platted the town of Clara which he named for his wife. The streets were named for Texas heroes. He donated the site for the Trinity Lutheran Church. Specht advertised for German colonists from other states to settle here.
Specht built his home in Iowa Park in 1890 and ran a ranch at Clara where he grew wheat. North of the church site, he had a large experimental nursery for unusual plants. The 1891 drought wiped out the nursery and Specht's crops. the 1900 Galveston storm destroyed the remainder of their vast holdings.
Clara included a church, schools, store, garage, and post office. Hampered by an inadequate water supply, the town began to decline with the consolidation of the school with the Burkburnett schools. During the oil boom of the 1920s, many residents moved to Wichita Falls. Good roads and cars made it possible to shop elsewhere. The town finally vanished except for the church, rectory, and cemetery.
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Besides the historical marker, Texas Escapes and other sites refer to the church rectory. If it is still here -- there is a house across the road from the church -- it has been altered significantly, and does not resemble the photo on Texas Escapes. While both the Trinity Lutheran Church and the Clara Cemetery are still active, these are about the only remaining bits of the town, and there are a few homes to be seen in the area.
When visiting the church, be careful of dogs from the adjacent home: A few of them are simply protective barkers, but at least one will approach you, looking like he means business. Stand your ground, let him know you're not a threat, and if all else fails, go onto the church grounds and close the gate behind you: He'll go sniff your car instead.