This milk truck recalls the development of Preston Dairy Products Company. Brothers Hugh and Brack Preston started the firm in the 1920's as a small dairy operation. Three generations of the Preston family led the company through continued . . . — — Map (db m287387) HM
Few details exist about early education for Burkburnett's African American children. Documents show an African American school for the 1920-21 school year with one student. Enrollment steadily increased and, in 1927, land was purchased for a school. . . . — — Map (db m287392) HM
When the Northwest Extension of the Burkburnett oil field opened in 1919, prospectors thronged this area. Bridgetown sprang up at the Texas end of a mile-long Red River toll bridge built for oil field traffic. It became the largest and wealthiest of . . . — — Map (db m187183) HM
One of the most famous Texas boom towns. Name was given to post office at request of President T.R. Roosevelt after his 1905 wolf hunt with rancher Burk Burnett in this area. Townsite was laid out in 1907 by Joseph A. Kemp and Frank Kell, . . . — — Map (db m74822) HM
The Burkburnett Masonic Lodge No. 1027 AF & AM was chartered in 1910, only three years after the city's founding. J.A.D. Smith, W.O. Willingham and S. Hawkins were among the founders. Eastern Star formed in 1921. By the 1930s, it could claim 400 . . . — — Map (db m287399) HM
In the 1870s, Samuel Burk Burnett started the 6666 (Four Sixes) ranch in Wichita County. Cattle operations were near the center of the county. Drought in the 1880s led Burnett and other ranchers to lease thousands of acres of grazing land from the . . . — — Map (db m187185) HM
In 1924, fourteen individuals met at the Bradley's Corner Community Center for the purpose of organizing a missionary Baptist church. The Reverend J.L. Walters served as the church's first pastor after a short period of regular meetings at the . . . — — Map (db m287406) HM
On February 6, 1923, Charley Lee Coe made a great sacrifice. Charley was an oil field driller and lived with his wife, Helen (Rosencrants), and three children in Newtown and then in Burkburnett. On the day he was to take his daughter to the Wichita . . . — — Map (db m287389) HM
Burkburnett township's Methodists began attending church services on Sixth Street in the early 1900s, in a one-room frame building that was a combination school, church, and social gathering place. M.W. and Lula Majors, who moved to the new town of . . . — — Map (db m287380) HM
In 1918, cotton farmers Shields and Cassie Fowler considered leaving their land due to oppressive drought conditions. Aware of small but successful oil finds in the area, however, Cassie suggested they drill a well on their land. With help from . . . — — Map (db m187179) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m186739) HM
Tennessean and former Union soldier under Gen. Grant. Came to Texas 1867, here 1878. First permanent settler here. Helped build church, school, Masonic lodge. His cattle brand (Half Circle D) was the second registered in the county. Married twice, . . . — — Map (db m287379) HM
Pioneer settler, financier and philanthropist. Came to Texas in 1876 and to this area in 1879, living at first in a dugout. Operating a store and owning extensive lands, he amassed a fortune that he left as a rich legacy for Texas children. He gave . . . — — Map (db m287401) HM
During the 1930s Burkburnett's African American citizens sought to establish a cemetery because segregation prohibited them from using Burkburnett Memorial Cemetery. The Colored Citizens' League of Burkburnett formed in September 1933, with Ben . . . — — Map (db m287395) HM
Oil exploration and production in this area was minimal until April 17, 1919, when the Bob Waggoner Well No. 1 blew in at 4,800 barrels per day. It was the first well in what became known as the Northwest Extension Oilfield, comprised of . . . — — Map (db m187182) HM
Roy B. Jones founded the Panhandle Refining Company in 1918 to process oil production from the Burkburnett pool. The next year, the company was reorganized with the assets of Brown & Jones, 6666 Oil Company, the Trojan Oil Company, and the Panhandle . . . — — Map (db m287386) HM
The first African Americans to this area were brought by settlers Mabel Gilbert and family in the 1850s. By the 1920s, a 3-mile square portion of the original township of Burkburnett was settled by African Americans and was known as "the Colored . . . — — Map (db m287394) HM
A native of Missouri, Samuel Burk Burnett came to Texas with his family soon after the Civil War. He married Ruth Loyd of Fort Worth in 1870, and in partnership with her father, Martin B. Loyd, established the famous Four Sixes (6666) Ranch in 1875. . . . — — Map (db m287403) HM
A pioneer leader in Wichita County, Simon Peter Hawkins was born in Crockett County, Tenn. He married Sara A. Hardin (1852-1937) in 1869. They had eight children. With his brother-in-law John G. Hardin, Hawkins moved his family to Johnson County, . . . — — Map (db m287398) HM
First called Getty's Creek, this stream was renamed by cowboys and settlers who found near its mouth, on Red River, remains of a military outpost garrisoned by the U.S. Tenth Cavalry from 1873 to 1875.
Most of the Negro soldiers and white . . . — — Map (db m186743) HM
City's oldest business institution, organized May 15, 1907. Joseph A. Kemp, one of townsite owners, was president; John G. Hardin, merchant (and later oil magnate and executive of this bank), vice president; H.D. Creath, cashier. S.B. Burnett, for . . . — — Map (db m287384) HM
A natural border of the Louisiana Territory when it was acquired by the United States in 1803, the Red River later served as a boundary between the states of Texas and Oklahoma. The exact location for the line of separation was challenged in 1920 . . . — — Map (db m187184) HM
Named for the red soil across which it flows, the main stream of the Red River is 1,360 miles long, and for 440 miles the river forms the Texas-Oklahoma boundary. For years, this was an international boundary. The 1819 treaty with Spain established . . . — — Map (db m74824) HM
"Newtown", or "Thrift", originated about 1919 in the Northwestern Extension of the Burkburnett Oil Field. Early in its existence it gained prestige by the founding of a bank - the only one in the area at that time. Mostly a tent city, Thrift . . . — — Map (db m187180) HM
Herman and Clara (Vogel) Specht platted the Clara townsite in 1886, and the community rapidly swelled with German immigrants. The Rev. Francis M. Rudi of Wichita Falls began to conduct Lutheran worship services in the Clara public schoolhouse in . . . — — Map (db m186741) HM
Building erected 1908, the first brick structure in Electra. Occupied 1908-1911 by Waggoner Bank; 1911-1931 by First State Bank; since 1931 by Electra State Bank.
Remodeled in 1952, using original foundations and walls. Recorded Texas . . . — — Map (db m128763) HM
Electra’s population surge in the 1910s led local business leaders to hire Meador & Wolfe of Ft. Worth to design a theatre to accommodate the town’s growing entertainment needs. It opened here in 1920 and featured vaudeville, operas, boxing and . . . — — Map (db m128764) HM
The first school building in Iowa Park was erected in 1888, soon after the town was platted. Iowa Park was in Wichita County Rural School District No. 7 until it became an independent school district in 1899. The school grew to four rooms but soon . . . — — Map (db m287440) HM
The town of Iowa Park was platted in 1888 on the route of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad. A Masonic lodge was also being organized in Iowa Park, and in 1891 a warrant of dispensation was granted by the Grand Lodge of Texas, Ancient Free and . . . — — Map (db m287460) HM
Wichita County's first oil refinery was built in 1914 at Iowa Park by the Wichita Valley Refining Company. Established on a small scale, the company soon expanded and by 1918 owned 53 tank cars, had 12 miles of pipeline, and was producing 2,500 . . . — — Map (db m287444) HM
The son of noted rancher Burk Burnett for whom the nearby town of Burkburnett (18 Mi.NE) was named Tom L. Burnett (b. 1871) became one of the leading area cattlemen. Trained on his father's 6666 (Four Sixes) Ranch, Tom later owned the local Triangle . . . — — Map (db m288878) HM
Prominent cattleman and civic leader Tom Lloyd Burnet (b. 1871) had this house built in 1924. The Colonial Revival residence was designed by the Wichita Falls architectural firm of Voelcker and Dixon. After Burnett's death in 1938, the house . . . — — Map (db m303641) HM
One of many small towns that sprang up ahead of the railroads as they crossed Texas in the 1800s. Located on the Fort Worth & Denver City Line, this town was first named Daggett's Switch in 1885 for a prominent rancher and railroad official. F.W. & . . . — — Map (db m287442) HM
Named for its traffic in buffalo hides and bones, this North Texas road gave subsistence to pioneers while aiding in mass “harvest” of the American bison. As long as buffalo survived (providing food, shelter and clothing) the Indians were lords of . . . — — Map (db m220944) HM
The oil boom of 1918 was still benefitting Wichita Falls in the 1920s as the population increased to 55,000 residents. Drs. R.L. Hargrave and M.M. Walker saw the need for another medical facility besides the Wichita General Hospital and built the . . . — — Map (db m287310) HM
"Until This is a High School, I Won't Be Your Principal"
Prior to 1922 the black community of Wichita Falls did not have a high school. When A.E. Holland was asked to become the principal, he made the above statement. In 1922 Booker T. . . . — — Map (db m287154) HM
When the United States entered World War I, April 1917, the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, U.S. Army, had only 112 pilots. Yet the allies, relying heavily on the U.S., planned the greatest of all aerial fleets, and the U.S. moved at once to meet . . . — — Map (db m186725) HM
Public school educators James Randolph Farris, Sr. and Roberta (Bell) Farris welcomed their only daughter, Charlye Ola Farris, on June 30, 1929 in Wichita Falls. Charlye graduated as valedictorian of Booker T. Washington High School at age 15, and . . . — — Map (db m128699) HM
Sensing the need for spiritual enrichment amongst the residents of the brand-new town of Wichita Falls, Harriet Seeley began conducting Sunday school classes in her bedroom in 1876. The Episcopal Bishop of Dallas, Alexander Garrett, discovered this . . . — — Map (db m287217) HM
Rall D. Davenport (1902-1998), a native of Arkansas, and Ora L. Davenport (1905-1997) moved to Wichita Falls around 1920 and settled in their home at 3rd and Seymour Street (now Farris Street). Recognizing the need for a grocery store, the . . . — — Map (db m287166) HM
Following the local oil boom in 1918, the African American population in Wichita Falls increased as did the need for businesses and services. Dr. Anne Elizabeth Davis Roark was born in rural Texas in 1894 and educated at Paul Quinn College in Waco. . . . — — Map (db m287164) HM
Born in 1920 in the East Texas town of Terrell, Colonel Bertram Fuller attended Wiley College in Marshall. Dr. Fuller then earned his medical degree in 1947 at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, the first medical school in the south . . . — — Map (db m287159) HM
Kentucky native Samuel H. Burnside, an 1882 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, opened a medical practice in Wichita Falls in 1883. Mary Margaret Grice, a native of Philadelphia, moved to Wichita Falls in 1885 at the invitation of her uncle, . . . — — Map (db m287319) HM
Felix L. Lindsey was born in Gallatin County, Kentucky on October 10, 1847. His mother was mulatto and his father was full-blood Creek Indian. He was sent to live with a white family named Meeks when he was seven years old and was provided a small . . . — — Map (db m287315) HM
Begun under the direction of the Rev. H.M. Burroughs in 1883, this church was organized in a log schoolhouse with eight charter members. Work on this sanctuary, the third for the congregation, was begun in 1919. Designed with classical elements, the . . . — — Map (db m287216) HM
First Anglo-Americans settled in Wichita County in 1856. The county was named for Indians, and Indian troubles delayed local organization until 1882. The first officials were: Judge, James S. Akers; Attorney, Robert E. Huff; Sheriff, F.M. Davis; . . . — — Map (db m96811) HM
This congregation, the first to be organized in Wichita Falls, began in March 1881 at the home of Alfred H. Harris. With F.O. Miller as pastor, six charter members held services in a log schoolhouse and later in the courthouse. Two sanctuaries were . . . — — Map (db m287214) HM
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Kell helped build Wichita Falls into a major commercial and manufacturing center. Born in Clifton, he worked there and in Galveston in the milling and mercantile businesses in his early career. In 1885 he . . . — — Map (db m287314) HM
Native Texan Frank Kell (1859-1941), in partnership with his brother-in-law Joseph A. Kemp, became a prominent area businessman and civic leader. His developments in the grain business, banking, real estate, and railroad construction helped make . . . — — Map (db m287215) HM
This congregation first gathered to worship in local farmer A.W. Friberg's granary in 1896, using hay bales as seats. Largely due to the generosity of the Carey, Andree, and Friberg families, the congregation was able to build its first sanctuary, . . . — — Map (db m290731) HM
Before coming to Wichita Falls George Alonzo Soule (1840-1913) owned a freight and stage line in Jacksboro and Fort Griffin. After the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad came through here, Soule brought his wife Lilla and Family in 1883. He opened a . . . — — Map (db m96800) HM
A native of Missouri, Henry C. Luecke (1861-1937) came to Texas about 1890. He opened a blacksmith shop at this intersection in 1903. Here he developed and manufactured the Wichita Gang Plow, patented in 1905. His device was similar to other plows . . . — — Map (db m96799) HM
Built in 1892, this structure housed the J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery business for 35 years. The building originally measured 50 by 100 feet and contained a full basement. A two-story brick addition was completed by 1901. The Industrial Supply . . . — — Map (db m96802) HM
The Joe and Lois Perkins estate is one of many surviving symbols of the legacy of the Perkins and Prothro families. The Tudor Revival home was designed by Fooshee and Cheek with a steep-pitched roof, arcaded loggias and steel casement windows. It . . . — — Map (db m287375) HM
Mississippi native John F. O'Donohue (1885 - 1967) first came to Wichita Falls in 1909 as a scout for the J. M. Guffey Petroleum Company, which later became the Gulf Oil Corporation. While staying in the Jolene Hotel, the
wildcatter O'Donohue . . . — — Map (db m96805) HM
Joseph Alexander Kemp was a visionary and entrepreneur whose business and civic activities were vital to the development of Wichita Falls. Kemp was born in Clifton (Bosque Co.), where he opened his first store at the age of eighteen. He married . . . — — Map (db m287317) HM
A native of Ohio, Joseph Hudson Barwise brought his family to Texas in 1877 and to Wichita County in 1880. An astute businessman and community leader, he earned the nickname "Father of Wichita Falls" after he donated land to the Fort Worth and . . . — — Map (db m96814) HM
Joseph Bridwell was born March 23, 1885, near Northview, Missouri. He moved to Wichita Falls in 1909 and went into the real estate business. By 1915, Bridwell began buying selling, and trading oil leases. His first venture in drilling was the . . . — — Map (db m287169) HM
Founded in 1891 by the Rev. Mr. Thurston and twelve charter members, this congregation was the first to be organized on the east side of Wichita Falls. The fellowship met in the homes of the members until 1894, when a small frame building was . . . — — Map (db m287147) HM
Planning for construction of the first bridge at this site began soon after the organization of Wichita County in 1882. The structure was built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and formally dedicated on July 4, 1886. This second span, . . . — — Map (db m128700) HM
This municipal burial ground dates back to the early days of settlement in Wichita Falls. The area was sparsely settled before tracks of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad reached here in September 1882. Citizens received a state charter for . . . — — Map (db m287312) HM
In June 1884, the Grainger & Ballow Addition was platted in an area later called the Eastside, which became the center of the African American community of Wichita Falls. In this neighborhood in November 1905, Rev. W.M. Massey, Charles and Susan . . . — — Map (db m287145) HM
Records indicate that by 1886, when Cora Robinson was chosen as a teacher, Wichita County operated at least one school for African American students in the Wichita Falls area. Other early teachers included A.L. Hedrick and M.E. Hunter, and students . . . — — Map (db m287153) HM
In 1902 Wichita County built a one-room schoolhouse here on land donated by H.F. Knippenberg. The school, named for county commissioner T.J. Cashion, opened with one teacher, Mrs. Lou (White) Dodson, and 12 students. The original school building was . . . — — Map (db m287423) HM
Friberg school was created in 1895 to serve families in this area. By 1896 students attended classes in a granary owned by Will Friberg; the following year John Friberg donated land here and a 2-room schoolhouse was erected. The school also served . . . — — Map (db m305378) HM
In 1889 Edgar B. Gorsline (1859-1933) and his wife came to Wichita Falls from Indiana. For two years Gorsline operated a grocery and bakery. He opened the Fashion Livery Stable at this site in 1892. Horses and rigs were rented and horses boarded. . . . — — Map (db m187198) HM
Joseph Alexander Kemp (1861-1930), a Wichita Falls merchant, and Morris Lasker (1840-1916), a native of Prussia who later served as state senator from Galveston, formed a partnership in 1892 for the construction of a hotel at this site. Built by . . . — — Map (db m96801) HM
This monument erected
to commemorate the valor and
patriotism of the men who served
in the war with Spain, Philippine
Insurrection, and China Relief
Expedition, 1898 – 1902 — — Map (db m96095) WM
Lutheran missionary work in the Wichita Falls area was begun in 1886. This congregation was organized Sept. 2, 1894, by the Rev. Robert L. Mehlhorn, first resident missionary. Worship services were held in private homes or borrowed facilities until . . . — — Map (db m287221) HM
The Texan Santa Fe Expedition crossed the Wichita River near this spot August 4, 1841 Wichita Falls Junior Historians sponsored this marker on the Expedition’s 100th anniversary. — — Map (db m128805) HM
From this courthouse, James V. Allred began his career that led to highest state office. As lawyer with firm of O'Neal and Martin, he won elections as district attorney in 1923 and Attorney General of Texas, 1931. Governor from 1935 to 1939, he . . . — — Map (db m96813) HM
This Victorian residence with distinctive second floor windows was designed by Wichita Falls architect Joseph C. Pate. Built for local businessman Guy DeWitt Anderson and his wife, it was completed in 1907. A noted civic leader, Mrs. Anderson also . . . — — Map (db m287218) HM
To the memory of those honored members of The Lost Battalion Native sons Members of the 2nd Battalion 131st Field Artillery 36th Infantry Division
On March 8, 1942, these gallant men were taken prisoner by the Japanese on Java. Held captive . . . — — Map (db m290753) HM WM
On the afternoon of February 25, 1896, two cowboys, Foster Crawford and Elmer "Kid" Lewis, robbed the City National Bank, then located at Ohio and 7th Street (2 blocks east). They killed cashier Frank Dorsey, took about $410 cash, and fled on . . . — — Map (db m96810) HM
In the early 20th Century, the Wichita Falls oil boom attracted several immigrant Russian Jewish families seeking a better life. One such immigrant to the town, Morris Bernard Zalefsky (1901 - 1995), began to learn the jewelry trade from his . . . — — Map (db m96803) HM
Ed Howard, a pioneer area publisher, acquired a local newspaper in 1898. His "Weekly Times" became a daily afternoon paper in 1907, soon after several leading Wichita Falls businessmen established the Times Publishing Company to provide financial . . . — — Map (db m287219) HM
Formed from Young Land District
Created February 1, 1858
Organized June 21, 1882
Named for the Wichita Indians
who formerly resided here
County seat, Wichita Falls — — Map (db m187156) HM
Wichita County Water Improvement Districts No. 1 and No. 2 played major roles in the agricultural development of Wichita County. By 1900, Joseph Kemp, whose business activities were vital for the growth of Wichita Falls, developed plans for . . . — — Map (db m128678) HM
Although private junior colleges were operating in Texas before the 1900s, similar public institutions were not started until the 1920s. The first, Wichita Falls Junior College, began here in 1922, seven years before the adoption of related state . . . — — Map (db m287220) HM
In November 1884 Masons living here who regularly made the 18-mile journey to Henrietta for meetings petitioned the Henrietta Masonic Lodge for a new lodge to be located in Wichita Falls. In December the Grand Lodge of Texas granted a dispensation . . . — — Map (db m128740) HM
The Wichita Falls Opera Company was formed in 1908 to establish a theater in the city. The first seven directors were C.W. Bean, N. Henderson, J.L. Jackson, Frank Kell, J.A. Kemp, W.M. McGregor, and T.R.T. Orth. The project was funded by public . . . — — Map (db m287309) HM
This company, founded by Frank Kell and J.A. Kemp in 1909, played a major role in Wichita Falls' growth during the early 20th century. After purchasing undeveloped land between the city limits and Lake Wichita, the company stimulated demand for it . . . — — Map (db m287378) HM
This building was constructed for members of the Wichita Falls Woman's Forum, organized in 1925. Designed by T.L. Sorey, it was completed in 1927 on land donated by the Hamilton-Martin Investment Company. Mediterranean influences include the use of . . . — — Map (db m287377) HM
Wichita Falls was a growing town in 1882 as professionals started to arrive looking for opportunities. Dr. Perrigo arrived in 1881 and is believed to be the first doctor to practice in Wichita Falls. In 1909, Dr. Samuel Burnside opened the first . . . — — Map (db m287222) HM
After growing up in an Alabama Foster Home, Zenobia Estelle married C.C. Trimble and came to Wichita Falls. They had two children. While her husband was principal of Booker T. Washington School, she taught and helped him begin science classes. She . . . — — Map (db m287320) HM
This statue of a lone logistics professional is dedicated to Airmen past and present in the maintenance and logistics career fields and represents sustained superior performance over eight decades of service and mission generation. It is prominently . . . — — Map (db m287433) HM WM
Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez rose to become Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics and Engineering, HQ USAF. Due to his legendary leadership in maintenance and logistics, he became affectionately known as the "Godfather of Maintenance," this maintenance statue . . . — — Map (db m287431) WM
In July 1940, the U.S. Army Air Corps evaluated Call Field, a former World War I flight training base as a potential site for a technical training school. That site was not available. However, Kell Field was a viable alternative and the local . . . — — Map (db m287436) HM
The T-38 "Talon" Aircraft was manufactured by Northrop Aircraft in Hawthorn, California. More than 1,100 were built from 1961 to 1972. This aircraft has a maximum range of 1,093 miles and was powered by 2 General Electric J85 turbojet engines with . . . — — Map (db m287432) HM
