Communities of Young County
Organized settlement of Young County began with Fort Belknap in 1851, the Lower Brazos Indian Reservation in 1854, and the town of Belknap in 1856. Early settlers were attracted to this area by the promise of protection by a federal fort. Soon, pioneers began moving along the Brazos River to found small communities and towns. Communities were loosely knit farms and ranches that met at a common location (church, school, etc.) for educational, religious, and social activities. Towns are closely defined locations of residences and businesses usually offering additional services to their residents. The following towns, communities, and schools have been in Young County. Many are familiar and some are forgotten, but each community made up the fabric of Young County, Texas.
Anadarko Bend Community [later called Salem Bend Community] was located eight miles southeast of Graham off Highway 16. It was a cluster of farms located on a bend of the Brazos River north of the Gooseneck community. For a time, it had a Methodist church building and a 28-student community school, which consolidated into the Graham schools by the 1930s. The school was located 172Varaswest of the southeast corner of the J.A. Jowell Survey, A-1330. Anadarko Bend was named for the Anadarko Indians who were located nearby during the Lower Brazos River Indian Reservation era from 1854 to 1859. Caddo Anadarko Springor Indian Spring is near the Brazos River.Nothing remains of this community. The spring is still active
The Aynesworth Community was located 2-1/2 miles southeast ofBunger. It was a cluster of farmhouses, and at one time had a community school. Nothing remains of this community.
The Baugh Community was also known as the Union Hill Community. This small group of homes was located south of Graham. In 1908, Mary B. Pratt gave two acres in the southwest corner of the T E & L CompanySurvey #65 for a community school. The school opened in 1909 and operated until 1915. The first teacher, in 1909 was Cynthia McFarland the last teacher in 1915 was Lee Wright. Nothing remains of this community.
- The first was in the northeast corner of the Texas Emigration &Land Company Survey #305.
- The second is in the T. E. & L. Company Survey #95, near its north boundary line, halfway between its northwest corner and its northeast corner.
- The third and last school was in the T. E. & L. Company Survey#82, and near the west boundary line, halfway between its northwest and southwest corners.
There were four different school sites.
- The first was located near the northwest corner of the Texas Emigration & Land Company Survey, A -2093.
- The second was located near the northwest corner of the T. E. & L. Company Survey, A -777.
- The third school was located near the north boundary of the T. E. & L. Company Survey, A – 767, one – half mile west of its northeast corner.
- The last school was located near the southeast corner of the T, E & L Company Survey, A -817.
- A wood frame building was located on the southeast side of Bunger Road.
- The last site was a rock building located across the road from the first school. The last school building is now a residence.
The Clear Fork Community was in southwest Young County, near Eliasville on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. Pioneer families in this section include George Dobbs, William Dobbs, and Johnathan Lee Dobbs. Nothing remains of this community.
Johnathan Lee Dobbs>
The Clifton Community was six miles northwest of Newcastle. A school was in the community and consolidated with Newcastle. The school was located near the southeast corner of Texas Emigration & LandCompany, Survey A-599. Nothing remains of the community.
The Connor Creek Community was located near Conner Creek, four miles from the town of Finis in the extreme southeast section of Young County, nine miles southeast of Graham. Connor Creek was located on the land given to Delaware Indian Chief John Connor due for his service to the U.S. Government. Early settlers of Connor Creek were John Crow, Bob Bird, and Sam Goldston. For a time, the community had a 24-student school which was located north of the entrance to the WildcatterRanch. The school was located near the northeast corner of the B.B.B.& C.R.R. Company Survey, Abstract 25. Nothing remains of this community.
In 1916, the Cribbs Station Community School #50 was established and located in the northwest corner of the Texas Emigration & LandCompany Survey, Abstract No. 746. The school consolidated with the Murray Community School in 1925. The community’s heritage is from Benjamin Krebs who moved to Young County in 1857. County records show that Benjamin Kribbs purchased a lot five in block 17 in the town of Belknap in 1858. In the 1860 census, his name is listed as Benj. Cribbs and is employed by the ButterfieldOverland Mail Company as a stage driver. Kreb’s Station was located west of Fort Worth on Cribbs Station Creek, five miles north of Murray and three miles south of Proffitt. Kreb’s Station was not on the original Butterfield route but would become a part of the route by 1858 as a relay point, west of Fort Belknap. Through the years, Kreb’s Station became known as Cribb’s Station, possibly in the pronunciation of Benjamin Kreb’s name.
Benjamin Krebs>
Eliasville is on the banks of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River near the intersection of Farm roads 1974, 3109, and 701, close to the Stephens County line in southwest Young County. J.L. Dobbs settled in the area in 1871. In 1876, brothers, William Leander Donnell and Thomas Franklin Donnell moved from Missouri and established ranches in the area. By 1876, Elias DeLong opened a bitters store in a log cabin on the banks of the Clear Fork of the Brazos. He was the first settler to come along, camp, and stay along the Clear Fork of the Brazos. It immediately became a prosperous business and Elias DeLong then added general merchandise and became the first thriving merchant.
The first post office was commissioned on June 16, 1879, with Henry Howard as the first postmaster. The post office was named Eliasville in honor of the first permanent settler of the area, Elias Delong.
The Donnell brothers built their first water-powered burr mill using locally quarried rocks, but the mill was flooded before completion. The second mill was built in 1879, but before completion, it was also destroyed. The Donnell brothers incorporated and brought in other investors, including Archibald B. Medlan. The landmark mill was the only grist mill west of Fort Worth.
During the mill’s existence, it ground the meal and flour to feed the garrison of Fort Griffin, a government military located on the Clear Fork in Shackelford County. For a radius of 100 miles, early settlers made the journey with wheat and corn to be converted into flour and meal between its stones.
Walter A. Andrews bought the mill in 1915 and operated the water-powered mill until it burned on October 29, 1927, when it was struck by lightning. Mr. Andrews rebuilt the mill and used a gas engine to power the mill until his death in 1941. The mill which is on private property is in ruins on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River.
The Donnell brothers were faithful members of the Presbyterian church which was established in Eliasville by 1881. The Presbyterian church was a strong force in the community and in the region. In 1921, Eliasville was incorporated during the time of the oil boom. The town grew rapidly and Young County records show that there were 10,000 people making it the largest town in the county. The town boasted a post office, two banks, a school, a cotton gin, a grist mill, a Chamber of Commerce, two furniture/undertaker businesses, three general stores, two theatres, drug stores, hotels, and many other businesses. A town by its friendliness drew trade from a large area.
The first school for the Eliasville community was a subscription school located about three-fourths of a mile south of Eliasville in Stephens County. The teacher was Wylie Jones. The second school for the community was a subscription school three miles west of Eliasville. The building was made of rock and later used as a residence by the Ballew family. The teacher was Mr. Watson. The third school was the first public school for Eliasville in a rock building located south of the business part of town on “Upon the Hill.” The fourth public school building was a brick structure located on the south side of Eliasville, and on the south side of Eliasville and Graham Highway.
Dr. Harry Yandell Benedict and Dr. Homer Price Rainey were students at Eliasville who both later became presidents of the University of Texas.
In 1921, Raymond Leslie opened the only newspaper office in Eliasville and published the Eliasville Journal. At one time, there were 5,000 people living in this Eliasville.
Among the families living in the area are the Donnell, DeLong, Davis, Washburn, Hill, Robinson, Yancey, Townsend, Tyra, Long, Pratt, Aker, and Burnett.
The town of Farmer was first called Brushy since it was located on Brushy Creek. The town was situated in the northeast part of Young County and for a time was the largest town in the county. The town was named in honor of Rev. William H. Farmer, an early Methodist preacher who came to that area in 1877.
Rev. William H. Casey became the first postmaster when the post office opened on August 7, 1878. The town was in the Gal. and Br. Nav. Company Survey No. 118. In 1889, Farmer was the largest town in Young County with a post office, school, three doctors, a drug store, two hotels, boot and saddle shop, steam grist mill, cotton gin, barbershop, meat marker, tin shop, and two weekly newspapers: the Farmer Headlight and the Farmer Courier. The town had Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Christian congregations. The town had a cornet band and a local community school. Early settlers buried in the cemetery include Brown, Cantwell, Drum, Farmer, Short, Smith, Woolsey, Casey, Rippy, Stroud, Reed, Oatman, and Woods.
The town of Farmer started losing its prominence before 1900 following a drought. But in 1908, when the Gulf, Texas, and Western Railroad bypassed the town going through Loving, many in the area moved south. On January 15, 1921, Claude K. Garvey, the last postmaster, closed the post office and the mail was sent to Jean, Texas. A local roadside park with the last Farmer School bus, a safe, and other items can be found near the old Farmer home. One of the oldest cemeteries in Young County is located nearby.
The Post Office opened its doors on September 24, 1879, with Marion D. Wallace as the first postmaster. The community was located near Fish Creek east of Murray on the north side of the “Old Wire Road” ten and one-half miles southwest of Graham. The mail was discontinued by Annie L. O’Neil, the last postmistress on March 22, 1887, and the mail was sent to Eliasville. The mail was distributed from the C.W. Townsend General Store located near the mouth of Fish Creek in the southeast corner of the F.G. Burnett Survey A-261.
The community was renamed Crozier in the 1890s for Graham’s postmaster, Granville Henderson Crozier. The post office opened on July 31, 1890, with Calvin W. Townsend as postmaster. The post office closed on January 4, 1893, and the mail was sent to Murray. Later, the area would be known as Komo Community
The first Fish Creek school was a subscription school located two and one-half miles from Murray on the Thomas Price land. Thomas Price was the first teacher. The first Fish Creek public school site was two miles southeast of Murray, in the southeast corner of Subdivision No. 9 on the Young County School l and Survey, A-1285, known as the R.D. Tyra land. The last school site was in the Murray Community and the school’s name was changed to Murray.
The first Komo school was located at 180 Varas north of the southwest corner of the G. W. Hill Survey, A-151. The second school was in the northeast corner of the W. A. J. Akers Survey, A-1363. The final school was located on the M. E. Criswell Survey, A-1772, near the north boundary line and near the northeast corner of the W. Bellomy Survey, A-2131. Nothing remains of these communities.
Flag Springs is located three miles northeast of Graham on the Fort Worth – Fort Belknap road, 10 miles east of Fort Belknap.
The spring location is surrounded by a large pool of water which pours into smaller pools around the location. Early campsites are still visible possibly made by the early Ranger camps and Indians that frequented the area. Young County records show Flag Springs was the location where Lt. William R. Peveler was taken after the Indian raid killing Young County Sheriff Harvey Staten Cox on the Salt Creek Prairie on September 13, 1864.
Young County records show on Monday, April 10, 1865, Chief Justice Martin V. Bowers ordered the county records be moved from Belknap to here for security and safety as the county’s organization fell apart. There is no historical evidence the records were ever kept at Flag Springs. Young County would become attached to Jack County and the records were then moved to the county seat of Jack County, Mesquiteville, which is now known Jacksboro.
The Graham Leader records show in August 1878, a horse racing track was created near the spring location. It became one of the most famous betting tracks in the Southwest during its time. One of the more famous jockeys was Pete Randolph. Pete would later be elected Sheriff of Wichita County, Texas. The last race on that track was held in 1905.
With the building of Norris Lake, the spring was dynamited to increase water flow during the oil boom of the 1920s. Flag Springs was the earliest settlement in Young County and had a stable, houses, dugouts, and a general store. The springs are still flowing but nothing remains of this community.
Flat Rock community was a group of farms four miles southeast of Graham on Flat Rock Creek between Highway 16 and FM 2179. Nothing remains of the community.
There were four school sites for the Flat Rock schools.
- The first was in the southwest corner of the H.C. Harmon Survey, Abstract No. 1455.
- The second was in the northeast corner of the H.C. HarmonSurvey, Abstract No. 1455.
- The third was in the J.C. Crouch Survey, Abstract No. 1299, south of the southwest corner of the H.F. Young Survey.
- The last school was in the H.C Harmon Survey, Abstract No. 1455, and near the southwest corner of the survey.
The Flat Top community was a cluster of farmhouses located southwest of Loving near Flat Top Mountain. The 22-student one-room school was operated in this community from 1880-1884. School trustees included: G.T. Brown, Absalom Looney, W.C. Blakley, R.M. Richardson, and S.J. Hawkins. Young County records show that Lizzy Clark was the teacher during the school’s existence. Nothing remains of the community.
The Gage Creek community was a cluster of farmhouses located four miles northwest of Eliasvilleon Gage Creek. Gage Creek Community is named for the daughter of the Gage family who drowned by falling into the creek after a heavy rain. For a time, Gage Creek had a one-room community school with 27 pupils. The school was in the northeast corner of the M.L. Daniel Survey, Abstract No. 1415. The Donnell cemetery was the burial ground for those members of the Gage Creek Community. Nothing remains of the community today.
The Gooseneck community was a cluster of farmhouses, a church building, and a school located on a bend in the Brazos River about seven miles south of Graham. The founder of the community was George Washington Fore who presided as Young County Justice of the Peace for a time. Mr. Fore and his son, John Silas Fore came to the area in 1872 and gave land for the cemetery, school building, and Baptist church building.
The Gooseneck Bend community school was located two and one-half miles northeast of Bunger near the Gooseneck cemetery on the southeast corner of the W.A. Baker Survey Abstract No. 1293 and the G.W. Fore Survey, Abstract No. 103.
Early settlers in the area were Rev. Pleasant Tackitt, who called the settlement “Honey Bend”, because of the numerous wild bees along the Brazos River. Other early settlers in the community were: W.A. “Bill” Ribble, F.M. McLaren, Bob Bird, Mark Meadows, Charlie Humphries, and the Whittenburg family.
Buried in the Gooseneck cemetery is James James or “Double Jimmy”, who was 114 years old when he died in 1878. He was the oldest man living in the United States at his death. At the age of 100 years, he plowed a 160-acre field with a single-row plow and mule. James planted watermelons and harvested them all by himself.
The Gooseneck cemetery and a tabernacle are all that remains of the community today. There is an annual Gooseneck Reunion on the first Sunday in June that has happened since 1897.
In 1869, Colonel Edwin Smith Graham and his brother, Gustavus Adolphus Graham came to Texas as shareholders in the Texas Emigration & Land Company. In 1871, they purchased a crude salt works on Salt Creek from Absalom B. Gant, near where the town of Graham is now located. At the time, the Graham brothers renovated the Salt Works, all adjacent territory was heavily populated with buffalo, and the fact those animals seemed to prefer the area, caused them to get the idea this territory would be one of the finest cattle-raising districts in the entire state of Texas.
In 1872, the Graham brothers decided to establish a town adjoining their salt works. G.A. Graham and his chainman, Capt. Absalom B. Grant surveyed and plotted a town site with unusually wide streets, large blocks, and spacious lots, with the name of the town, of course, coming from that of its founders. The first post office in Graham was opened on September 30, 1873, with Julius Wilson as a temporary postmaster. Graham became the county seat of Young County in 1874 after the county was reorganized. By 1876, the first courthouse in Graham was built to serve the needs of the county.
The Graham Leader, the town’s first newspaper issued its first edition on August 16, 1876, edited by Jonathan Webb Graves. This weekly publication is still in existence and is the oldest publication in Northwest Texas.
In 1877, farmers began arriving in the territory near Graham in considerable numbers. In that year, there were 100 buildings in the town. Graham had the only terminus of telegraph lines in Northwest Texas and was the only means of connection with the outside world for a considerable distance in every direction. In 1876, Graham’s first subscription school held classes enrolling fifty students, with J.M. Brantley serving as superintendent and J.I. Bowie as the first teacher. The first church in town was the Presbyterians, organized by Reverend C.H. Dobbs, in 1876. The Presbyterians were the first church in town to erect a building.
On February 17, 1877, there were 100 cattlemen from North and West Texas gathered in Graham to form the Cattle Raisers Association of Texas. The organizational meeting was held under a large live oak tree near the northwest corner of the downtown public square.
The Grant community was located two miles north of Loving. There was a subscription school located in the community located on the Grant family land. Nothing remains of the community.
Grimshaw was located northwest of Bunger between R.J. Dowell Survey Abstract No. 2215 and A.J. Driver Survey Abstract No. 1980. The town was named for landowner, Amos Grimshaw. This oil boom town sprang up when oil was discovered on the land by the fall of 1917 in a test well. The oil boom in Young County began near the South Bend community the same year.
County records indicate Grimshaw began booming by 1919 when oildrilling moved east. Amos Grimshaw platted the town in 1920 and due to the oil wells, changed the name to “Oil City.”Harry A. O’Brien was the first postmaster of Grimshaw when the post office opened its doors on July 6, 1922. Young County records show a plat for Oil City in October 1921. Lots sold in the town for a record$1,000 each. By 1922, County Records reveal a population of 1,500. The town had drug stores, post offices, hotels, mercantile houses, a theatre, the Oil City Ibex newspaper, and one church building.
Three disastrous fires in 1922 and 1923, and the closing of the post office on March 31, 1925, meant the town’s life was coming to an end. The Wildcatter town of Grimshaw was gone by 1927.
The Johnson Community was a cluster of farmhouses four miles west of Newcastle on the south side of the Newcastle-Proffitt Road. There was a one-room school located near the southwest corner of the D.M. Bullock Survey, A-15. Nothing remains of the community.
The Kopenhagen Community was a group of farmhouses located six miles north of Graham. There was a one-room school that was located on the Filipe Jaimes Survey, Abstract No.157, about 300 yards west of Jake’s Station. Nothing remains of this community.
The Lacy Community was located two miles north of Loving, on Hwy 16, near Hawkins Chapel. The post office opened on April 11, 1892, with Lacy M. Midyett as the first postmaster in his general store. The mail was carried from Graham for years by Bascon Whittenberg in a two-wheeled cart called a “jerky”. The town closed in 1900 and the post office was closed on February 25, 1901, and the town ended. Early Lacy settlers were C.W. Rasure, R.M. Summers, Daniel Chapel, Ed Cox, Bascom Whittenburg, and Cross families.
The school was in the Susan Sallee Survey, Abstract No. 252, about 40 yards southwest of the northwest corner of the G & BN RR Company survey, Abstract No. 120. A marker on the west side of Hwy 16N is all that is left of the early community.
In 1879, Joseph Allen deeded four acres of land out of the southwest corner of the Joseph Allen Survey, Abstract No. 1662 for school purposes. In 1880 the Lake Valley Community School was located at that site. The trustees of this school were F.M. McGlothin, W.W. Edwards, and Joseph Allen. The school consolidated with Eliasville by 1900.
The Lake City community was platted as a town along the west side of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, four miles southwest of South Bend near Graham Lake as an oil boom community in 1921. At its peak, the town had several stores, a blacksmith, a mechanic, and a community school. In 1923, the Lake City community was abandoned and the remains were scrapped.
The Lone Oak Community was a cluster of farmhouses located 12 miles northeast of Graham, near the Jack County line. The town was named for a large post oak tree that stood in the middle of the road near the town site. Early scholastic records indicate there was a two-room school, which was later consolidated into the Jermyn schools. Nothing remains of this community.
The Lone Star Community was located between the two bridges on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, four miles west of South Bend, heading towards Eliasville. The Wildcatter town began with a bang in 1921 and the last resident moved away in 1925.
There were two school locations at Lone Star during its short lifetime.
- The first school was located on the E.D. Rhaton Survey, A-243.
- The second on the James Bolton Survey, Abstract No. 12, 300 yards southwest of the S & S ranch house.
Loving is located on Highway 114, twelve miles northeast of Graham, Texas. The area was once part of the Loving family’s “Los Valley Ranch.” The town was named in memory of the pioneer rancher and cattleman, Oliver Loving by his grandson, Oliver Loving, Sr.
The original town was located two miles south of the present site in the northeast corner of the Texas Emigration & Land Company’s Survey #1949. Young County records show “Old Loving” had Stratton’s General store, a gin, a drug store, one doctor, a post office, and a school. The post office at Loving opened on March 7, 1905, when John S. Stratton became the postmaster in his mercantile store. When the Gulf, Texas & Western Railroad came through the area in 1909, the town moved north for rail access.
The Trinity Townsite Company platted the town with the oversight of B.B. McCain. The town location was from land purchased from W.H. and W.T. Steadham. Among the first settlers were D.H. Norris, Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Wheat, M.H. and W.T. Steadham, W.H.H. Smith, W.T. Long, L.C. Deering, Dickenson, and Ed Harris.
The first wooden school was in town. A more substantial red brick school was constructed south of town, one can see the remaining foundations and a large rock signifying the location. The school consolidated with Graham in the 1940s.
Markley is on Highway 16 in far northeastern Young County near the Archer County line. The town was originally called Plum Grove in 1880 and was situated one mile north of the present town of Markley. Young County school records indicate the first school was the Plum Grove school built in 1878 and discontinued in 1884. The town of Plum Grove was located one mile north of present Markley. The town of Markley was later named in 1888 in honor of Brigadier General Alfred Collins Markley who settled in Young County.
Markley is located where Block Nos. 13, 14, 17, and 18 of Young County Land Abstract No. 1284 corner. The school’s first teacher was Belle Bette Blakley. School Trustees from 1878-1884 were: W.R. Bynum, B. Huber, Jesse Martin, William Airheart, and G.T. Brown.
Markley had the first gin and mill in Young County when B. Smith used cattle and horses on a treadmill to provide the power. County records show the gin was inefficient and if workers began early and worked late, two bales of cotton were ginned a day, so a steam engine replaced the ox-powered gin in 1886. Markley’s first post office was opened on November 30, 1888, by Stephen Munderback as the postmaster in the first mercantile store in town. Other merchants in Markley were the Birds, Father and Son, J.L. McDaniel, Tinney and Son, John Hunt, M.A. Stewart and Arnold, C.A. Brown.
In the 1920s, shallow oil fields were discovered in the Markley area, but none provided the amounts of oil compared to southern Young County. Markley had two general stores, two church buildings, a three-room school, and a drug store. The post office closed in the late 1920s and the school consolidated with Loving in the 1940s.
Annual “Decoration Day” is held at the cemetery each year. The last surviving school building is located near the cemetery and near the site of the Plum Grove Baptist Church building. If one heads south from Markley on Hwy 16, the rock Methodist Church building can still be seen on the west side of the road.
The Mayes Community was a group of farms three miles east of Murray located near the North Fork of Fish Creek. Today, nothing remains of the community.
There were two one-room schools in that area.
- The first school was located near the south-central part of the Texas Emigration & Land Company Survey, Abstract No. 1229.
- The last school was five miles east-northeast of Murray, on the south side of the Murray-Graham Hwy in the Allen Hines Survey, Abstract No. 135, about one mile east of the Craig Ranch Home
McCluskey City was a small community that was created from the oil boom of the 1920s. The community was located east of Farm Road 701 on the South Bend-Eliasville road, one mile east of Harding City and one mile west of South Bend in southern Young County, near the E.N. McCluskey ranch house . During its existence, it had a service station with a small store. Two weeks after McCluskey City was founded its population swelled to over 500, a year later McCluskey City was plowed under for winter wheat. Nothing remains of the community, and the McCluskey ranch house was torn down in 2023.
The Midway Community was a group of farms one mile northwest of Newcastle and was “midway” between Belknap and Olney. There was a one-room school building located on the northeast corner of the E.Crockett Survey, Abstract No. 58. The school consolidated with Olney in 1915.
The Miller Bend Community was located 12 miles west-northwest of Graham. The community was located on a bend in the Brazos River named for an early settler, Solomon B. Miller who was the first justice of the peace in Precinct #1. Mr. Miller was a stockraiser and performed the first marriage in Young County to W.N. Dobbs and Elizabeth Johnson on October 3, 1856.
The one-room school was in the northeast corner of the S. Timmons Survey, Abstract No. 1548. The school consolidated with Newcastle by 1915. The only remains of this thriving community are the scattered stones of those buried in the Miller Bend graveyard.
The Monument Community was in northeast Young County, twelve miles northeast of Graham, five miles southeast of Loving, and just east of RedTop. This community took its name from the monument erected in 1936 for Texas’ Centennial to honor the men who were killed in the massacre of Warren’s Wagon Train in 1871. The school was a large two-room school with a pot-bellied stove. The school was consolidated with the Loving School. The school was in the northeast corner of the Texas Emigration & Land Company Survey#1989. Nothing remains of this community.
The Mount Carnes Community was in the northwest section of Young County. It was a group of farmhouses and a one-room community school which was closed by 1900.
The Mount Pleasant Community was located eight miles west of Graham. There was a one-room school at this location by 1900 with 17 students. The school was in the Upper Tonk Valley area and many people worshipped at Medlan Chapel. The school was in the I.L. HillSurvey, Abstract No. 126, about 300 yards west of where the Lewis Brooks Road intersects the Murray-Graham Hwy. The school was later consolidated with the Upper Tonk schools.
The community of Murray is located 20 miles southwest of Graham at the intersection of FM 578 and FM 209, known as the Graham and Throckmorton road in the early days. Murray was first settled by Thomas Price by 1874. J.J. Murray followed Price and the pioneers purchased land in the area by 1875 according to Daniel David Cusenbary, early day resident and long-time Young County clerk. The Murray post office was established on January 12, 1880, with Mary Catherine Cusenbary as postmistress on the opening day and served 40 years, while also being one of the first teachers of the community.
Murray boasted of a post office, a school, a Baptist and a Methodist church, a mercantile store, a blacksmith shop, a cotton gin, a baseball team, and a barber. The first school in the area was the Fish Creek subscription school located two and one-half miles east of Murray using an old tumbling log cabin by an unknown builder on the Thomas Price land. Thomas Price, an early-day settler, was the first teacher. The second school was the Fish Creek public school site about two miles southeast of Murray in the southeast corner of Subdivision No. 9 of the Young County Land Survey, Abstract No. 1928 known as the R.D. Tyra land. The last school site was at Murray and the students either went to Woodson or Graham when the building closed.
Pioneers of the community include: Price, Murray, Tyra, Mayes, Carmack, Walsh, Moreland, Harty, and Cloud.
The volunteer fire department and the Methodist church building which was built in 1907 still exist in the town of Murray.
Newcastle, Texas is in the T.E. & L. Survey, Abstract No. 846. A contract was signed in 1907 where a railroad line would extend from Wichita Falls to the coal-rich prairie north of Belknap. The railroad would be owned by Joseph Alexander Kemp, Sr, Frank Kell, Robert Eugene Huff, and Charles Chester Huff and would be called the Wichita Falls and Southern. Construction on the railroad and coal mines began with the train arriving in the area by 1908. The Belknap Coal Company was formed by J.A. Kemp, Frank Kell, and Joseph J. Perkins.
The Perkins Townsite was created by Joe J. Perkins in 1908. Town lots were for sale on September 22, 1908. There were $25,000 worth of town lots sold between 11:30 am and noon, and then from 2:00-5:00 pm on the first day. The community began to grow and a post office was opened on November 13, 1908, with Thomas McCrary as the first postmaster in his store. The main business in town was the mining of coal which could be found in abundance. At one time, there were five coal mines in the Newcastle area. The peak years of the Belknap Coal Company were from 1910 to 1917 according to local accounts. During those years, there were 60 miners with a payroll of $16,000 a month [$500,000 in 2022]. In 1908, there were four lumber yards in Newcastle, and a fifth bought lots to build on the first day of the sale of lots.
In March of 1908, the post office at Belknap was moved to the new community changing the name to Newcastle. The first postmaster was Thomas J. McCrary, the president of the Belknap Coal Company. By October of 1908, the Newcastle Register was opened for business. The newspaper’s last owner and editor was Gaspard Quentin Neal. Roy Coffield opened the First State Bank with a shoe box of money in 1908. The Newcastle Masonic Lodge No. 1057 was chartered on January 1, 1912. Rufus Homer Helm was the first worshipful Master. The Newcastle Masonic Lodge consolidated with the Young County Lodge No. 485.
At the beginning of September 1908, trains from Wichita Falls to the town of Newcastle, the train first stopped at coal mine #2 which was located on a spur of the road, just north of town. Coal was coming up from a shaft of 110 feet deep. The coal vein of this mine was 53 inches thick. Shaft #1 was located on the south end of town and was 40 feet deep.
In 1911, the Wichita Falls and Southern was sold to the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad, and was operated until 1920 when it was purchasedby Frank Kell and J.A. Kemp. In 1921, the line was extended from Newcastle through Graham to Breckenridge. After the closing of the coal mines, the railroad was abandoned in the 1950s.
Newcastle had four cotton gins at one time. The Jones Brothers Gin was in the northwest part of town. The Edward C. Keith and Dan Lee Keith Cotton Gin was on the west side of town. A third gin, was on the west side of Newcastle on the Olney Highway which was operated by Arthur Conrad Duckett, Sr. The last cotton gin was on the east side of town on the Olney highway operated by Thomas Jefferson Routon. Newcastle’s cotton gins have all closed and have been demolished.
Newcastle’s first school was a frame structure located just east of the present brick building. The second school was a two-story structure which served the purposes of the community until a new brick building was constructed in the 1920s. The Newcastle school continues to be a viable part of the community.
The short-lived Oak Grove Community was a cluster of ranches near South Bend. From 1881-1883, it had a 14-student community school. School Trustees included J.H. Wood, S.A. Brooks, John E. Morrison, B.H. Payne, J.M. Kirby, and Homer Ford . The community appears to have disappeared by 1885.
The town of Olney began in 1889 when John Wilson Groves took a section of land from the Texas Emigration and Land Company and donated two acres for the town site. J.M. Brisco built the first store. The second store, which stands today, was a grocery store and now houses the Sam Furr Company on Ave. C. The first church organized in Olney was the Methodist which started with seven members in 1884 in the home of G.M. Donnell.
In 1884, William Bernhardt received a visitor from Lee County, his cousin, William Meissner, known as “Shuster” Meisner. He brought with him a Bible, a prayer book, a devotional book, a so-called “Hauspostille.” With the aid of these books, the Kunkel families resolved to assemble in their rock and log cabins for religious services. Thus, the Kunkel families regularly had their reading services and Sunday School. In 1886, Julius Kunkel and his family moved to Clifton, Texas. Rev. Johannes Bartels of Clifton received an invitation to come to Young County to conduct services and baptize the children. He came, baptized 11 children, and remained for a week. He was the first Lutheran pastor to render the first religious service to Olney and Young County pioneers. The St. Luke Lutheran Church of Olney had its beginnings.
In 1891, a large one-room schoolhouse was built. The Olney Post Office was established on January 17, 1892, on the condition that the town would carry the mail east for six months. The first postmaster was James M. Briscoe and the first mail carrier was Elmo Neely. The first hotel built in town was the Linzy Hotel. A landmark in the community and a place for all to be a part . The old hotel was for sale in 1922 by F.A. Sutherlin. The Linzy caught fire and burned to the ground in 1927. Land was selling in the area in 1891 for $2 to $ an acre. J.W. Groves was the land agent at Olney.
The first Baptist Church was organized on June 6, 1896, in the Community Church House, with seven members. Organization of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church happened by pioneer preachers and the First Christian Church was organized in 1912 by Rev. Alexander of Jacksboro.
Olney was started without a name and there are two differing stories of how the name was selected for the new town. One story suggests the town was named for Richard Olney who served as Secretary of State during the administration of Grover Cleveland. A second story told by Groves and Hutchings is that the two men had journeyed to Farmer to discuss the situation with the postmaster at Farmer. While there they read the St. Louis Republic newspaper about R.Q. Mills, the U.S. Senator from Texas who planned to open his campaign in Olney, Illinois. The men decided the town where the senator was speaking deserved a namesake in Texas.
The town began to grow. Robert Ernest Myers opened a barbershop. R.F. Drum built a blacksmith shop and the first drug store was opened by Dr. John Morgan Johnson, Olney’s first physician and surgeon.
Olney’s first newspaper, the Olney Oracle, was established in 1908 by J. A. Miller and John A. Woods. When Ralph Shuffler came to Olney in 1910, he began the publication of the Olney Enterprise. In 1911, Mr. Shuffler bought the Olney Oracle and merged the two papers. Mr. Shuffler sold the paper to George T. Spears, Sr in 1928 and purchased the Odessa News. The Olney Enterprise continues its weekly publication of the newspaper.
The Wichita Falls & Southern Railroad arrived at Olney in 1909 and as a result the townsite, then located 1/2 mile west, moved closer to the Spring Creek Road area, its present site. Several of the existing buildings in downtown Olney were moved from “old Olney” to the present site.
A second railroad company, the Gulf, Texas & Western Railroad came through Olney in 1910 and was later owned by the Frisco Company. In 1940, the Rock Island system acquired the railroad properties and operated until September 28, 1942, when the railroad was dismantled.
The first cotton gin at Olney was started in 1898 by J.K. Thomas who had moved from Bowie. The cotton gin was a toll gin taking every 14th pound of cotton as pay.
The First National Bank was organized at Olney in 1907 where J. W. Groves was president and Richard Campbell, served as vice president. Campbell Banking Company, a private bank owned by W.T. Campbell, was established in 1908 and in 1922 became known as the City National Bank. In 1935, City National Bank and First National Bank were merged.
In 1911 downtown Olney had been established for several years and tin buildings with board sidewalks lined Main Street. Early-day businesses included Wood, Butler, and Hutchison’s Dry Goods Store, Russell, Dallas, and Ray’s Grocery, S.O. Dyer Variety Store, Olney Hardware, owned by Bill Thomas, and a drug store owned by Charley Staley.
The first brick hotel was the Morris Hotel located where Olney Savings Association now stands. The Hotel, a two-story structure, houses the offices of Dr. George B. Hamilton and was destroyed by fire in the late 1920s.
Construction had been completed on what was later known as South Ward School and teachers included Margaret Stevens, I.G. Kennon, and O.C. Somverville.
In 1911, streets were still unpaved, wagon yards and watering troughs were prevalent, a bandstand was located in the middle of Main Street in front of the old Burris Chevrolet location and Olney’s two gins processed about 12,000 bales of cotton. The Olney Volunteer Fire Department was organized on July 12, 1912, with M.P. McCracken serving as Fire Chief.
In 1913, Sam Dyer moved to early Olney when there were few stores and lots of prairie. Sam Dyer owned a variety store where Evans Grocery is now located. Business firms that sparsely populated the area included Olney Hardware, Griffiths Barber Shop, the Morrison Company, the Olney Enterprise, Stephen Roach Grocery, Bolding and Lunn Funeral Home, Campbell Banking Company located where McCary’s Men Store now stands, and the First National Bank, located across the street from its present location.
Sam Dyer recalls two other early establishments, the Bettis Ice Houe east of the railroad and the wagon yard located south of Main Street. Even at the age of 83 years in 1972, Sam Dyer owned and operated a used furniture and antique shop in Olney.
The Chamber of Commerce was organized in 1924 and W.C. Harrell served as the first president.
Olney became a leading oil town after the Swastika Pool was discovered in 1924. The first oil well in the Olney area was recorded in 1911 by M.P. Andrews.
Growth in the Olney Industrial Section, two parks, and 15 churches gave Olney the honor of being selected as a “Texas Blue Ribbon City “and one of three Texas towns in the Governors Model City program. According to Texas Governor Preston Smith, “Olney was selected because of development potential, leadership, citizen involvement, and sound fiscal policies”.
Orth was located on FM 3329, five miles south of Olney. J.A. Kemp of the Wichita Falls & Southern Railway founded the town in 1908. Young County land records show a plat for January 19, 1909, when it was a train stop for the railroad. Orth was named for Thomas R.T. Orth, vice president of the railroad. Records show the first post office opened in Orth on December 24 1908 in William VanZandt’s mercantile store with George E. Leberman as the postmaster. Other stores in the town were: John Lowe’s drug store, Thomas Jefferson Routon’s mercantile, two gins, and a medical doctor.
In 1910, the Baptist Church and First Christian church were established and built buildings. Orth had a substantial three-room schoolhouse built in 1915 identified as School # 56. In 1931, Orth consolidated with the Olney schools. Shallow oil wells were drilled in the area by 1924, many being only 300-500 feet deep. The last postmistress was Mattye Gibbs who closed the post office in the late 1920s. A cemetery is all that remains of the Orth community.
Padgett was located nine and one-half miles southwest of Olney on State Highway 79 or the old Olney-Throckmorton Highway. The community was named for Isaac Bird Padgett who came to the area in 1875. He planted the first wheat in the area, had the first threshing machine, and built the first cotton gin.
Padgett had a cotton gin, several church buildings, a two-teacher school, a post office, a general store, and several businesses. As the town grew, Samuel Hendrix opened a post office in his store on April 27, 1910. The last postmistress was Mrs. Clove Dilbeck who discontinued the post office on January 31, 1923. Among other pioneers of Padgett were the Boob Furr, Adam Furr, A.M. Eddleman, Durham, Heard, Vardy, Beckham, and F.A. Tandy. A few ruins and the cemetery is all that remains of the community.
The Rocky Mound community, which was founded in 1888, was 10 miles north of Graham, near FM 2652 and Oak Creek. On February 14, 1902, Enoch M. Plaxco established a post office in the area and changed the name to Plaxco. The post office was discontinued in 1903. The post office was nine miles north of Graham and located a little west of the north-central part of the Texas Emigration & Land Company Survey No. 445, known as the E.M. Ball land.
The Rocky Mound School site was four miles northeast of Graham on Rocky Mound Road and was began in 1888 as a one-room school. The school was in the northwest corner of the east part of the Texas Emigration and Land Company Survey No. 1577, purchased by R.J. Robertson as shown in Young County Deeds Volume 26, page 488. A second room was added in 1897 as enrollment increased to 86 students. The school consolidated with Graham in 1939. Early pioneers in the area are: Heighten, Golston, Owen, Robertston, and Still.
Proffitt is nine miles west of Newcastle, and four miles east of the Throckmorton county line. The town was named for John William Proffitt, who took up ranching along the Brazos River and Elm Creek northwest of Fort Belknap in 1862. After the Civil War, John Proffitt donated two acres of land for a church building which also served as a school and Masonic Lodge. A post office was established on January 20, 1880, with J. G. Armstrong as postmaster in his mercantile store.
John Proffitt started a freighting business and built a store in the community in 1894. The settlement grew to include Methodist and Baptist churches, a three-teacher schoolhouse, a general store, a Masonic Hall, and a cotton gin. In 1896, Proffitt installed telephones in the town’s houses when John Proffitt established a telephone exchange in his home. The last business in Proffitt was the A.H. Bradshaw Grocery Store in 1909. The post office was closed on July 31, 1925, and the mail was moved to Newcastle.
The Proffitt cemetery, the Baptist church, and the last red brick school, which is now a private residence are still in the community.
Early pioneers included the Proffitts, Wells, Boyles, C.L. Griffins, G.W. Wilhoit, H.O. Holbert, Gibbs, Dooley, Thomas, Wilkinson, F.M. Drum, S.L. Thomas, J.M. King, Cloud, J.J. McCarson, T.J. Hudson, Z.W. Cole, R. L. Tankersley, J.S. Adair, and T.M. Lewis.
The Putnam Community was located nine miles west-southwest of Graham, in the I.L. Hill Survey, Abstract No. 125. It was a group of farmhouses and a one-room school. Nothing remains of the community today.
- The first school was located one-mile northwest of Medlan’s Chapel.
- The second school was 1/4 of a mile northwest of the first school.
The Red Top community was nine miles north of Graham on FM 2652. There is a red hill on the Rutherford family land which gave the town’s name, “Red Top.”
Young County records show two churches in Red Top, the Methodist Church and a Missionary Baptist Church which was organized on June 18, 1909, under a brush arbor in the northeast corner of the community
on the Petty farm. Rev. C. Jones, a missionary, did the preaching with a second preacher, Brother Dickson. In the summer of 1909, Rev. George Washington Black was unanimously called as pastor and served until August 1914. The last Baptist church building in the Red Top Community was dedicated on May 30, 1948. In 1958, the Red Top Missionary Baptist Church consolidated with the Bethel Baptist Church in Graham. Their last church building was moved into Graham to be used for church work. After many years of use by the church, the building has been torn down.
The first school in the Red Top community was established in 1901.
- The first school site was the northeast corner of Texas Emigration & Land Company Survey No. 644.
- The second school site was the northeast corner of Texas Emigration & Land Company Survey No. 488.
- The last site was near the west boundary line of the J.P. Scott Survey, Abstract No. 257, and a short distance north of the Red Top Cemetery. The last school remains in the Red Top community.The cemetery remains active.
The Shearer Community was located in Pleasant Valley in the northern edge of Young County, near the Archer County line. The community was named for an early pioneer, George C. Shearer. The ShearerBaptist Church had a membership of 44 and there was a two-room school in the community.The first location of the school was north of Jean and 700 Varaswest of the southeast corner of the Texas Emigration & LandCompany Survey No. 1399The last location was on the Texas Emigration & Land Survey No.3401 on the north boundary line of that same survey and near the southwest corner of the TexasEmigration & Land CompanySurvey No. 1394. The school consolidated with the Jean and Olney school districts.
South Bend is on State Highway 67 on a bend of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, near the conflux of the Red Salt Fork of the Brazos River. The community was originally called “Arkansas”.
The post office was established by John M. Kirby on May 7, 1878, and the name of the town was renamed “South Bend”. Young County records show a mercantile store in the area established by J.N. Smith. Early pioneers of the community included: Miller, Matthews, Burgess, Norman, Goode, Ford, Rice, Fickling, McBrayer, Payne, McCluskey, and Scott.
The Lindy Lou No. 1 was drilled on the B.F. Scott land on April 1917 by the Roxanna Company. Lindy Lou did not become a big producer, but in 1919, the McCluskey No. 1 began drilling and the well came in on July 4, 1920. The plat for the townsite was filed in Young County on December 16, 1920. The population of South Bend grew to 5,000 inhabitants with 50 hotels, a picture show, dance halls, lumber yards, Guaranty National Bank, a train depot, four cafes, three lumber yards, Eddleman Furniture and Undertaking, a pool hall, two drug stores, two barber shops, doctor’s office, LeSage Ford Motor Company, skating rink and a multitude of businesses within a year.
The Enterprise school was the first school in the area organized on December 18, 1876, and closed in 1882. The building was located south of South Bend. Young County records show the trustees were John M. Kirby, John H. Wood, and J.M. Rice. The second school was located two miles south of the town on the east side of the South Bend and Breckenridge highway in the northwest corner of the C. Smith Survey, Abstract No. 1634. The last school was built of brick in the 1930s and had a gymnasium. The school was in the northeast corner of the J. Garrett Survey, Abstract No. 108.
In 1929, an oil well was drilled to 4,250 on the E.C. Stovall plantation land. The casing was set on June 29, 1929 oil and gas rushed to the surface making over 8,000 barrels of oil with a gas volume of 12,000,000 cubic feet. Within a few days, the well began to flow mineral water at a temperature of 120 degrees. The volume of oil decreased and the flow settled to eight barrels of oil daily and 2,400 barrels of hot water. A tenant on the Stovall plantation discovered the value of the Hot Wells and E.C. Stovall developed a resort at the site. Stovall family records indicate a bath house, hotel, cafe, tennis, skeet shooting, swings, croquet, singing, and a lighted ball field. The bath house burned and the hot water oil well has been plugged.
The Tankersley Community or Fickling Community was a group of farms located one mile west of Proffitt, near FM 578. Nothing remains of the community.
There was a one-room school in the community.
- The first school was located near the north boundary line of the Texas Emigration & Land Company Survey #756.
- The last school was about 2 miles west of Proffitt, near the east boundary line of the T, E & L Survey, A-768
The Timmons Community was located west of Graham near the Timmons Crossing on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River near the second crossing on the South Bend-Eliasville Hwy. On November 1, 1877, a nine-student one-room school was established. This school was located on the A. Timmons Survey, Abstract No. 1258. School Trustees included F.M. McGlothin, W.W. Edwards, Joseph Allen, John Z. Martin, H.G. Doss, and John Lewis. Only the memories remain of this community.