The only landmark of the Strip Community, named for its location on a 1.5 by 15-mile strip of land opened to homesteaders in the 1890s. William Houston Pearce (1844-1926) moved into the area in 1895 and started a school, called "Round-Top", or . . . — — Map (db m152066) HM
The Comanches and other tribes traveled Blackwater Draw, 3 miles west of Abernathy, through 1874.
Arrow sculptor: Charles A. Smith — — Map (db m155152) HM
Fritz W. Struve (1877-1959) came here from Burnet County in 1912, 3 years after city was founded, started a grocery store; was joined by brother Ben F. (1879-1947) in 1918. Family operated wide variety of businesses vital to the early economic . . . — — Map (db m152061) HM
Founded when Santa Fe Railroad was extended from Plainview to Lubbock, 1909. Named for Monroe G. Abernathy (1868-1962), treasurer of South Plains Investment Company, firm which promoted townsite. Community prospered, becoming a major railhead for . . . — — Map (db m152062) HM
Attracted by abundant water from Running Water Draw, J. W. and T. W. Morrison established a ranch in 1881 with headquarters about ten miles west of here. Most of the early settlers in this region worked for the ranch. Later, several partners . . . — — Map (db m170933) HM
Early settlers to Hale County referred to the territory west of Hale Center (9 mi. E) as the Center Plains community. A cemetery and a schoolhouse, established to serve the vast area, were located at this site on property donated by William S. . . . — — Map (db m152057) HM
Organized religion in Hale County can be traced to 1883, when Methodist minister Horatio Graves and his family became the first permanent settlers of the area. Their home became a community gathering place, school, and Union church. A post office . . . — — Map (db m91325) HM
Son of a rancher and Texas Ranger, J. Frank Norfleet was born in Lampasas County. With little schooling, he grew up working on ranches. He served as foreman for 20 years on the Spade Ranch.
Norfleet married Mattie Eliza Hudgins . . . — — Map (db m91329) HM
In the late 1880s Swedish born Nils Akeson moved from Iowa to this sparsely populated area of north Texas. As an officer of the Hale County Townsite Company Nils helped establish the town of Hale Center. He worked for the famous XIT Ranch from 1893 . . . — — Map (db m91326) HM
Pioneer ranchers began to settle Hale County in the early 1880s. Land was plentiful and cheap, but life was hard. Many settlers lived in dugouts. Supplies were freighted from Colorado City until the railroad reached Amarillo. Cattle roamed the free . . . — — Map (db m91324) HM
First settlement in county. Established as a post office in 1884 by Horatio Graves of New York, a Methodist minister. Then only county resident, he planned to found religious colony here; named place for Epworth, England, birthplace of John Wesley, . . . — — Map (db m91328) HM
Early settlers in this area kept in touch with the world by picking up their mail at railheads. Federal mail delivery to post offices began when W. L. Tharp took a route from the new railroad town of Amarillo to Plainview and Estacado in July and . . . — — Map (db m152058) HM
First established, Sept. 9, 1891, as a rural post office about 5 miles northeast, at the home of Capt. Zack Peters, whose wife, Margaret, was postmaster. Ed M. White built first house at present site, about 1895. When Peters family moved from . . . — — Map (db m152064) HM
Much of this rural community's early social and religious history is closely associated with its schoolhouses. Area residents built their first schoolhouse in 1903, one year after organizing a rural school district. Named for trustee John Bell, the . . . — — Map (db m104524) HM
When J.W. Pipkin constructed this Colonial Revival residence in 1910, Plainview was experiencing a period of dramatic economic development as a railroad center. In 1918 the home was purchased by F.E. Blasingame and his wife Mary (Rimes). For over . . . — — Map (db m91242) HM
First native-born cattle king of Texas. Eldest of several rancher brothers. At age 12 "made a hand" on East Texas ranch of father, Rev. Geo. W. Slaughter. By 17 made his own trades in lumber, wheat, cattle.
In 1856 moved his cattle to Palo Pinto . . . — — Map (db m91266) HM
The first of this distinctive type of early man dart point was found by 15-year-old Val Keene Whitacre in 1941, in a caliche quarry on Running Water Draw. In 1944, quarry workers uncovered a fossil bone deposit, which was noted by scientists . . . — — Map (db m155149) HM
James H. Wayland, born in Missouri, decided to be a physician after he almost lost a foot at 16 in an accident. He studied at Kentucky School of Medicine, then came to Texas. After practicing in Fort Worth and Azle, he moved to the new town of . . . — — Map (db m91205) HM
One of co-founders, City of Plainview. Born in Mississippi. In Louisiana, married Virginia Archer. Studied law, joined Bar in Arkansas, served 1879-81 in Arkansas Legislature. In 1880s came to Texas; his wife died en route, while wagon train halted . . . — — Map (db m91299) HM
Born in Lynnville, Tenn.; moved to Texas with parents, Jasper N. and Mary A. (Calvert) Grigsby, 1883. Graduated from college, became a teacher, married Samuel W. Meharg. Came to Plainview (1902), where she and husband were educators. She helped . . . — — Map (db m91297) HM
Organized on November 23, 1890, Plainview Baptist Church began with eleven charter members. The new congregation called the Rev. I.B. Kimbrough as pastor, and they soon erected their first church building at the intersection of Austin and Fourth . . . — — Map (db m91248) HM
Original administration building of Wayland Baptist College.
Site (in town founded in 1887) given by J. H. Wayland, a physician settling here 1891.
Built 1909-1910, in term of first President, Dr. I. E. Gates, for whom it is named. . . . — — Map (db m91207) HM
Stretching onward toward the sunset, o'er prairie, hill and vale, far beyond the double mountains winds the Old MacKenzie Trail.
Ah, what thoughts and border memories does that dreaming trail suggest; thoughts of travelers gone forever to the . . . — — Map (db m91267) HM
Founded by George Emmett Green (1875-1960), whose work revolutionized Texas agriculture. Mechanically-gifted, Green mastered water well development, worked as pattern maker and draftsman in pump factories, and operated a plant of his . . . — — Map (db m91275) HM
Settlers came to this area seeking abundant grass, fertile soil, and water. This site, acquired by R. L. Hooper (1872-1952) and his wife Ada Mae (Hughley) (1880-1955) in the 1890s, received its name because it stood "halfway" between Olton and . . . — — Map (db m104522) HM
Attracted by the availability of inexpensive land and a healthful climate, the families of J. T. Matsler, S. M. Pearson, W. P. Long, J. H. Calvert, J. V. Neil and others began settling this part of Hale County about 1890. They engaged in ranching . . . — — Map (db m152055) HM
The first Plainview schoolhouse was built in 1887, the year the town was founded. Located northwest of this site, it was a half-dugout sod building similar to many of the pioneer homes of the area. Built by local men under the supervision of Judge . . . — — Map (db m91274) HM
In 1887 Joseph B. Leach and his brothers, John and Dee, immigrated to this area from Liberty, Kentucky. Joseph filed on a 160-acre homestead and built a half-dugout and sod house and a windmill. The Leach brothers often hauled freight for Plainview . . . — — Map (db m91332) HM
Plainview Cemetery
and Memorial Park
Established c. 1909
Historic Texas Cemetery – 2011
Marker is property of the State of Texas — — Map (db m91296) HM
Originally known as the "Hale County Hesperian," this newspaper was established in the late 1880s by D.B. Hill and John Davidson. In 1891 John Minor Shafer, an early Plainview area settler, became the owner and publisher. The newspaper remained a . . . — — Map (db m91247) HM
An Austin native and graduate of the Texas Military Institute, R.P. Smyth became a Brigadier General after Spanish American War duty. As a surveyor, he ran boundaries (1887) of the Two Buckle and other South Plains ranches and platted towns of . . . — — Map (db m91298) HM
Businessman Levi Schick (1855-1936) launched the Schick Opera House in this building on Oct. 11, 1909. A traveling opera company opened the facility with a performance of "Little Dollie Dimples". Later attractions included vaudeville . . . — — Map (db m91250) HM
Original buildings erected in 1906-07. The school opened September 18, 1907, as Central Plains College and Conservatory of Music, with Dr. L.L. Gladney as president. The Nazarene Church maintained the college until 1910, when it was purchased by the . . . — — Map (db m91240) HM
The City of Plainview, founded in the 1880s, sought agricultural supremacy for its trade area. Civic leaders pioneered irrigated farming in 1911 by boring the first of many deep water wells. In 1912, Texas Land & Development Co. installed a . . . — — Map (db m91244) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m91330) HM
Unique agricultural pioneer. Founded in 1912 by J.W. Grant and M.D. Henderson, who obtained Eastern and European capital to develop 65,000 acres of Hale, Floyd and Swisher county lands. This area became one of the most productive in America, because . . . — — Map (db m91249) HM
At this site in early days stood the South Plains' most significant trees-- twin hackberry groves, on 1870s trail used by buffalo hunters, surveyors, law officers, and early settlers.
On public domain, the site was unappropriated until mid-1880s . . . — — Map (db m91295) HM
Operating in the Texas Panhandle since 1886, the Santa Fe Railroad about 1900 laid plans to extend its line into the rich agricultural domain of the South Plains. Meantime, Plainview leaders saw the need for better transportation and in 1903 raised . . . — — Map (db m91246) HM
The Plainview Commercial Club, led by President J. O. Wyckoff, saw the potential of irrigation during a 1910 visit to wells in New Mexico. Local banker and farmer J. H. Slaton agreed to bear cost of a test well sunk on his land if it succeeded. G. . . . — — Map (db m91200) HM
Born in Johnson County, Texas, Jeff Williams came to Hale County in 1896. Largely self-taught, he began surveying in 1902 and worked on the XIT Ranch resurvey of 1909. He was Potter County surveyor, 1907-15, and held the same post in Hale County, . . . — — Map (db m91300) HM
The Wayland Heritage Plaza, featuring the bronze statue of the university's founder and namesake, Dr. James Henry Wayland, was formally dedicated Aug, 20-21, 2008, as part of WBU's centennial celebration with the theme “Dreams to . . . — — Map (db m91209) HM
