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Near Plainview in Hale County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
 

Snyder Community

(2 miles west)

 
 
Snyder Community Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Kirchner, November 17, 2015
1. Snyder Community Marker
Inscription. Born in Illinois, Mennonite minister and farmer Peter B. Snyder (1864-1948) was living in Minnesota when a search for inexpensive land led him to Texas. In 1906, he bought property in Hale County from John H. Buntin and urged other Mennonites to join his colony. Snyder and his family traveled by train to Plainview in 1907. They lived briefly in tents before erecting a house in 1908.

Among the first Mennonites to settle this farming community were the families of The Rev. Andrew Brenneman, John and Joseph Hartzler, Joe Guengerich, The Rev. Jonas Kreider, Milton H. Near, and Ferdinand Rastetter. The colonists built a one-room schoolhouse on land donated by H. R. and Alevia Newcomer. Settlers of all faiths attended the school sessions, worship services, and social events held in the building.

Although Snyder planted a peach orchard near his home and sank an irrigation well after 1911, life was harsh. Dust storms, prairie fires, hail, and the severe droughts of 1915 and 1916 discouraged the colonists. Most, including Peter Snyder, left by the mid-1920s to seek better conditions elsewhere. Only the Rastetter Family remained without interruption in this locality. The Snyder School merged with Midway Rural School in 1921 and with the Plainview School District in 1947.
 
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1977 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 4970.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1906.
 
Location. 34° 6.536′ N, 101° 41.789′ W. Marker is near Plainview, Texas, in Hale County. Marker is on Farm to Market Road 400 north of Farm to Market Road 145, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Plainview TX 79072, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Hale County (approx. 3.7 miles away); Emma Grigsby Meharg (approx. 4.8 miles away); Bellview Community and School (approx. 4.8 miles away); W. J. "Jeff" Williams (approx. 4.8 miles away); Rawleigh Porteus Smyth (approx. 4.8 miles away); Edwin Lowden Lowe (approx. 4.8 miles away); Plainview Cemetery and Memorial Park (approx. 4.9 miles away); The Hackberry Groves (approx. 4.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Plainview.
 
Snyder Community Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Kirchner, November 17, 2015
2. Snyder Community Marker
Snyder Community Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Kirchner, November 17, 2015
3. Snyder Community Marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on December 7, 2015, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona. This page has been viewed 548 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on December 7, 2015, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona.

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Mar. 28, 2024