Historical Markers in Floyd County
Texas·16 places
History
Camp Resolution of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition
In an effort to establish a western trade route and expand Texas jurisdiction, Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar sent an expedition of merchants, along with a military escort, to Santa Fe in 1841. The group left Brushy Creek north of Austin in June and in August arrived in this vicinity, where they established campsites at the confluence of the Los Lingos and Quitaque creeks (1 mi. E).
History
Commercial Hotel
Alabama native William P. Daily (1865-1941) and his family arrived in Floyd County in 1911, settling briefly in the Muncy community (5 mi. N). After moving to Floydada to open a feed, coal, and wagon yard, Daily recognized the need for a hotel here. Construction began in 1912, and the hotel opened in January 1913, with 21 guest rooms.
History
Coronado in Blanco Canyon
From 1540 to 1542, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado led the first organized European exploration of the southwest in search of the fabled "cities of gold." With a company of more than a thousand men and women and thousands of horses and mules, cattle and sheep, Coronado trekked north from Culiacan, Mexico, through land that became Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
History
Della Plain
A severe drought in the mid-1880s brought Baylor County rancher T. J. Braidfoot to this area in search of better conditions for his cattle. In 1887, with the support of J. R. McLain of Seymour, he founded the settlement of Della Plain at this site. Other early contributors to the town's development included Seymour residents I. R. Darnell and Dr. L. T. Wilson. Named for J. S.
History
Dolphin Ward Floyd
When this county was created in 1876, it was named in honor of Dolphin Ward Floyd (1804-1836). A native of North Carolina, Floyd left his home in 1825 and arrived in Gonzales, Texas, about 1832. He married Esther Berry House and they had two children. In February 1836, Floyd, along with 31 other Gonzales residents, answered Lt. Col. William B. Travis' call for help at the Alamo in San Antonio.
History
First National Bank of Floydada
The James B. Posey Bank, established in Floydada in the 1890s, became the Floyd County Bank in 1900 when L.T. Lester joined Posey as a partner. In 1903, with the granting of a federal charter, the name changed once again to First National Bank. Lester served as first president, and the original stockholders included Posey, Lester, Columbus Surginer, Will W. Nelson, R. C. Andrews, J. R.
History
Floyd County
Floyd County, formed from Young and Bexar territories. Created August 221, 1876. Organized May 28, 1890, Named in honor of Dolphin Ward Floyd, a captain who died at the Alamo. County seat, Floyd City, 1890; Floydada, since 1892. (1936)
History
Floydada Chapter No. 31, Order of the Eastern Star
The Floyd City Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star (O.E.S.), was organized in early 1898 when members of the Floyd City Lodge No. 712, A. F. & A. M. and their families petitioned the Grand Chapter of Texas O.E.S. for a charter. Mrs. Ella B. Starks was named worthy matron and Mr. J. L. Crabtree was appointed worthy patron.
History
Floydada Lodge No. 712, A. F. & A. M.
Organized by eighteen charter members in April 1891, this Masonic Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Texas on December 11th that year. Formed just one year after the town of Floyd City (later renamed Floydada) became Floyd County seat, the lodge has grown with the community. Early meetings were held in rented quarters over a general store.
History
John Ellison Burns
Trained as a blacksmith by his father in Alabama, John Ellison Burns (1853-1940) brought his hand-forged tools to Texas in 1874. He settled in the new town of Lockney in 1900 and opened a blacksmith shop. As his business expanded he hired his three sons and ten craftsmen to service the freight wagons that hauled farm commodities to the railroad in Lockney.
History
Organization of Floyd County
Floyd County was created by the Texas Legislature in 1876. The Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company began building westward from Wichita Falls, resulting in increased settlement of the area. Ranchers T. J. Braidfoot and J. R. McLain formed a partnership in 1887 to establish a town they hoped to promote as county seat.
History
Roots of the Catholic Faith in West Texas
Spaniards first introduced the Catholic faith into this region when conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado passed through in a 1540s expedition to conquer the fabled cities of gold. He and his men rested at a campsite in Blanco Canyon, southeast of present-day Floydada. The South Plains would come under the care of the Mexican Diocese of Linares.
History
Site of Original Headquarters of the Quitaque Ranch
Established by the Baker brothers in 1877; bought in 1880 for Mrs. Cornelia Adair by Charles Goodnight. Together with the Palo Duro ranches it embraced more than one million acres acquired by Goodnight in 1887, later broken into smaller tracts.
Military
The Battle of Blanco Canyon
Of all the confrontations between the United States Army and Indians in Texas, the Battle of Blanco Canyon is identified as one of the most decisive clashes in the U.S. cavalry's campaigns against the Comanches. Indians inhabited the canyons and plains as far back as 12,000 years, and various bands and tribes populated what is now Floyd County due to the area's abundant resources.
History
The J. A. Baker Store
Opened 1894; one of the Texas South Plains' oldest mercantile houses still owned by founding family. James Artemas Baker (1859-1917), founder of this store and town of Lockney, was born near Dallas and lived in Hamilton from 1879 to July 1890, when he moved here.
Architecture
Zimmerman House
Oregon native Fred Zimmerman, Sr. (1885-1954) came to the Texas Panhandle in 1916. He acquired a number of farm properties in the area and began a thirty-eight-year career of farming and ranching in Floyd and Deaf Smith counties. In 1930 Zimmerman hired Wichita Falls architect Ray C. Arnhold to design this house.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
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