|
 County Line Community
N 33° 49.440 W 102° 01.664
13S E 775094 N 3746615
The state historical marker for the County Line Community, a former farm town near the Lubbock and Hale County lines on the West Texas Staked Plains.
Waymark Code: WM17N52
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/12/2023
Views: 0
This historical marker is located along the south FM 179 at the intersection with the FM 597 in very rural Lubbock County, near the Hale County line. The marker is near a church building.
Marker Number: 22409
Marker Text:
In 1901, W.G. Murray, John H. Pettit and the J.G. Hardy family purchased land in this area. These early farming families started a local school, built with lumber hauled from the nearest railhead at Canyon City. In 1903, Hale and Lubbock County Commissioners officially established the school district. Murray donated a five-acre tract to Lubbock County in May 1906 for a school, church and cemetery. The multi-room schoolhouse was also a place of worship for Baptist, Methodist and Church of Christ congregations and further served as a community center.
Although the community would ultimately be named for its proximity to the Lubbock and Hale county boundary, both it and the school were known by several names throughout the early 20th century, including Murray, Pettit and Harral, all prominent neighbors. The Murrays founded a cattle and sheep enterprise, J.H. Pettit established a ranch, and L.A. Harral was a charter member of the Baptist church and a school board member. Joe Ed Hart built the first cotton gin in the area in the 1920s. The County Line Community Club, organized in 1924, was the first of several social groups. Orville Vaughn built the first store, and by 1940, several grocery stores, blacksmith shops and garages opened in County Line. After the discovery of the nearby Anton-Irish Clearfork Field in 1945, oil became an important part of the economy.
A 1936 court case regarding boundaries and elections was ruled in the school's favor, but in 1940 County Line School consolidated with Abernathy. Even after the school closed, the community continued to function for another fifty years until modernization resulted in a dwindling local population. Social clubs and a few businesses including two cotton gins continued through the early 1990s. Now only the church and cemetery remain as physical evidence of a once vibrant community.
(2019)
Marker is property of the State of Texas
|
Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
|