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 . . . — — 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
