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Shamrock, Texas

Everything Shamrock is known for

2 songs mention this city 1 artist from here

RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Shamrock. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.

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Music in Shamrock

Songs About Shamrock

Alabama Shamrock
Hackensaw Boys
83%
"Amarillo Shamrock, the road is getting tighter"
hard travelin'
the seldom scene
10%

Artists From Shamrock

B
Bill Mack
rock

Rivers & Roads in Song near Shamrock

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Shamrock.

U.S. Route 66 19 songs Highway I 40 21 songs Canadian River 7 songs

Musical Heritage

Shamrock's Midnight Cowboy RoadyGoat

1929

Shamrock, in the Texas Panhandle on old Route 66, is the hometown of radio legend Bill Mack, "the Midnight Cowboy." Born here in 1929, Mack got his start at the local station KEVA in 1949, then worked Amarillo, Wichita Falls, and Lubbock before settling in Fort Worth. Beginning in 1969 he hosted the midnight-to-5 a.m. show on WBAP, whose clear-channel signal reached much of the country at night; long-haul truckers nationwide listened through the small hours, and a caller dubbed him "Midnight Cowboy." He hosted the trucker show for more than thirty years, founded a Million Mile Club for accident-free drivers, and was inducted into the Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. Mack was also a prolific songwriter: he wrote "Drinking Champagne," a repeated country hit, and "Blue," which became a thirteen-year-old's breakout smash and won Mack a Grammy. He died in 2020.

History of Shamrock

Shamrock, TX RoadyGoat

The name Shamrock, Texas, has a charming origin story. It was named by George Nickel, an Irish-American, who was asked to name the post office that was to be kept in his dugout in 1890. His Irish mother had always told him to depend on a shamrock for good luck, so he chose 'Shamrock' for the name of the post office, honoring his Irish heritage and the symbol of good fortune.

Shamrock, TX RoadyGoat

Shamrock's Irish heritage is deeply rooted and celebrated. The city was named after the shamrock, a symbol of good luck, by George Nickel, who was of Irish descent. This heritage is further honored through two annual social gatherings: the St. Patrick's Celebration held on the weekend closest to St. Patrick's Day and the Irish Craftfest, which takes place the first weekend of October at the Shamrock Area Community Center. Additionally, a chunk of Ireland's Blarney Stone is located in Shamrock, brought there in 1959 to preserve the town's Irish image.

Shamrock, TX RoadyGoat

In 1997, the U-Drop Inn, a historic building at the intersection of U.S. Route 83 and Route 66, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Once the only café within 100 miles of Shamrock, it fell into disrepair after Route 66 was decommissioned. The First National Bank of Shamrock purchased the closed U-Drop Inn in May 1999 and donated it to the city. With a $1.7 million federal grant, the city restored the building to its original condition and adapted it into a museum, visitors' center, gift shop, and the city's chamber of commerce. The revived U-Drop Inn was also featured in the 2006 animated film Cars as the inspiration for the fictional Ramone's body shop.

RoadyGoat →

Shamrock - Route 66 and the U-Drop Inn

1936

The Tower Conoco Station (U-Drop Inn) in Shamrock is one of the most iconic Art Deco buildings on Route 66. Built in 1936, it inspired Ramone's House of Body Art in the Pixar film Cars.

Shamrock's St. Patrick's Day Celebration

1890

Early area settler George Nickel and his wife, Dora (Haggard), raised their family in a dugout home in Wheeler County. For his Irish heritage and for its symbolism of luck and courage, George suggested “Shamrock” for a post office approved for their home in 1890. The name was retained when the town of Shamrock was platted along the Rock Island Railroad built through the county in 1902. Shamrock bandmaster Glenn A. Truax envisioned the town capitalizing on its Irish name by producing a one-day celebration to draw thousands of visitors to the “Irish city.” With the help of the Shamrock Boosters Club, the first St. Patrick’s Day festival was celebrated in 1938, linking the local celebration with the feast day of the patron saint of Ireland. The first observance featured such free attractions as a parade, street dance, matinees at the Liberty and Texas theaters, a massed band concert of five hundred pieces from twelve cities, and historical and dramatic presentations, attracting about 12,000 people to a town of less than 4,000. The following year attendance topped 30,000, with parade spectators positioned along streets and the roofs of downtown buildings. The annual event continued until it was suspended during World War II and again during the Korean War. The Chamber of Commerce took over sponsorship in 1952. Shamrock’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration has welcomed many state and national figures in politics, sports, music and entertainment. It has evolved to a multiple-day affair, retaining many original activities and adding several others that have become annual tradition and an important part of the economy. In 2013, the Texas Legislature adopted House Concurrent Resolution 83, proclaiming Shamrock’s celebration the official St. Patrick’s Day celebration for the state of Texas. (2016)

Historical Marker →

Shamrock Water Tower

1911

Soon after residents voted to incorporate in March 1911, Shamrock officials identified the need for a reliable waterworks for the city. Prior to that time, citizens got their water from one of two town wells or hauled it to town in barrels on wagons. A November 1912 election authorized the sale of bonds in the amount of $15,000 for a drinking water system that included a tower and reservoir on Railroad Avenue. In September 1915, city leaders accepted the bid of the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company of Chicago, Illinois to build the water tower. The all-steel structure was designed with a cylindrical tank with a hemispherical bottom, supported by four latticed channel columns held together with metal tie rods. The large tank has a capacity of 75,000 gallons, rising 176 feet above ground level. Workers utilized a steam thresing machine to raise the tower's standpipe. The tower was constructed of railway bridge grade steel riveted together using rivet grade steel. Engineers also had to account for the maximum pressure of panhandle winds upon the load of the structure plus the weight of the water. According to records of the CB&I Co., in business since 1889, this substantial tower is the tallest tank of its class ever built by the company, and it remains one of the tallest water tanks in Texas. Built to provide water to a growing community, the Shamrock water tower is also visible for about ten miles in any direction. Early 20th century travelers stopped here to water their horses or wagon teams in the concrete troughs under the tower, and travelers continue to mark their progress by the tower, an engineering and tourism icon. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-2008

Historical Marker →

Poe, John William

1872

John William Poe, buffalo hunter, lawman, and businessman, was born in 1850. During his youth on his grandfather's farm near Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky, he was impressed by the novels of Sir Walter Scott and became possessed with a desire to seek adventures out west. Accordingly, in 1870 he left home and made his way to Missouri, working as a farm hand and with a railroad construction crew. He traveled from Kansas in the company of Dan Hudson and arrived in 1872 at Fort Griffin, Texas, as a center for commercial buffalo hunting; Poe worked briefly on Jim Barton's ranch nearby. Among other occupations he and John C. Jacobs trapped wolves for pelts to sell to the government commissary at Fort Griffin. In 1873 Poe and Jacobs formed a buffalo hunting partnership. By his estimate Poe killed twenty thousand buffalo. The partners hunted until 1878, when Poe became town marshal at Fort Griffin and was commissioned a deputy United States marshal. These positions were good training for him as a peace officer because of the number and variety of crimes at Fort Griffin. In 1879 Poe became a deputy sheriff at Fort Elliott in Wheeler County and continued as a deputy United States marshal. In 1881 the Canadian River Cattle Association employed him as a detective to help end the lawless activities of Billy the Kid ( Henry McCarty ) and his gang. In March of that year Poe went to White Oaks in Lincoln County, New Mexico, where he met county sheriff Patrick Floyd Garrett . Garrett made Poe a deputy sheriff, and when shortly thereafter McCarty escaped from jail, Garrett and Poe searched for him. After some three months, Poe received a tip that McCarty was at Fort Sumner, and he and Garrett, together with Thomas L. McKinney, another of Garrett's deputies, rode there. On the night of July 14, 1881, Poe and McKinney accompanied Garrett to Pete Maxwell's ranchhouse, where Garrett shot McCarty. Later, Poe was instrumental in securing an indictment against Pat Coghlin, a shady New Mexico rancher accused of hiring assassins to murder neighbors who were scheduled to testify against him at his trial in Mesilla, New Mexico, for cattle rustling. Aided by his reputation as a law enforcer, Poe was elected sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, in 1882. The next year he married Sophie Alberding. The couple lived for a year in Lincoln, then in 1884 moved to a ranch southwest of Fort Stanton. After resigning as sheriff, Poe moved to Roswell, where he engaged in the mercantile business with Smith Lea and W. H. Cosgrove. In 1887 he accompanied Lea to Argentina to seek out a location for a cattle ranch, but he later decided against the venture. Poe founded the Bank of Roswell in 1890 and the Citizens Bank of Roswell in 1900. During this time he became a charter member of the Roswell Masonic lodge and also served on the board of regents of New Mexico Military Institute. During World War I Poe was fuel administrator of New Mexico and served two years as president of the New Mexico State Tax Commission. He died at Roswell on July 22, 1923, and was buried there in South Park Cemetery. The Poes, childless after the death of their newborn son in 1884, enjoyed traveling and made several tours abroad. After Poe's death his widow wrote several books about their overseas travels and in 1936 published Buckboard Days , a biography of her husband. Much of this book deals with Poe's adventures as a buffalo hunter and peace officer in West Texas.

Tsha Handbook → · 12.3 mi away

Benonine, TX

1900

Benonine is on Interstate Highway 40 near the Oklahoma state line, a mile west of Texola, Oklahoma, in southeastern Wheeler County. G. W. Burrow, who later opened a general store in Benonine and served as a deputy sheriff, built the first homestead near the site in 1900. The town started out as a cattle loading point along the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Texas Railway (later the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway) and was called Benonine by 1906. Some historians have mistakenly claimed that the site was named after the Benonine Oil and Gas Company, which was not chartered until 1910, with C. F. Rank of Benonine listed as one of the directors. According to a cattleman's tale, the name Benonine was the result of a card game among cowboys at the loading pen in which a lost nine had been replaced with another card. After a player claimed a winning hand using this card as a nine, he defended himself to a confused newcomer by saying it had "been a nine all night." The town was established by J. Harry Seright, a large broomcorn dealer looking for a place to ship goods out of Texas (to take advantage of the cheaper shipping rate) that was close enough to the state border to get Oklahoma business as well. In early 1909 he, along with his father, A. W. Seright, bought a section of land near the Benonine station and started the Benonine Townsite Company. Seright laid out a townsite and sold lots for the new town. He also unsuccessfully sought to have a Rock Island depot constructed at Benonine, which became a point of contention between the peoples of Benonine and Texola on the other side of the state line. The Benonine plat was recorded in Wheeler County on September 20, 1909. The Benonine State Bank was chartered in September, a post office was established in October, and Seright established the Benonine Democrat newspaper in November. In the winter of 1909-10, Charley Harbert platted an addition to the town. By May 1, 1910, the town boasted, among other enterprises, lumber yards, three general stores, two hotels, grocery stores, restaurants, a livery stable, a bakery, a butcher shop, retail stores, a pool hall, and two barber shops. The 1910 Census showed a population of almost 200 people in the area. A large townsite opening was held on June 15, 1910. Soon after, on July 20, a fire burned the east side of the business district to the ground, causing an estimated $20,000 in damages. It was alleged to have been started by a Texola resident, but no proof was ever discovered. For a short time Benonine had high hopes of prospering as a shipping point. However, growth faltered in the wake of the fire and the emergence of Shamrock as the county's leading business center. People began moving their residences and businesses to the nearby towns of Texola and Erick. By 1913 a lumber yard was still present, but in 1915 the Benonine State Bank was dissolved. By 1918 the post office had been discontinued, and mail rerouted through Texola. Only fifty-seven men registered for the World War I draft with Benonine as their place of residence. According to the 1920 U.S. Census, Benonine and its surrounding area (Justice Precinct Seven) had 307 residents, with the only occupations being those related to farming, the railroad switch and loading pens, school teaching, and the operation of a garage and a telegraph. U.S. Highway 66, opened in 1926, went through Benonine. J. Harry Seright pushed to get the Wheeler County section of the highway fully paved, which was accomplished in 1932. In 1936 the school was closed and consolidated with Bethel Rural School. Seright died in 1942, and by 2025 there were no visible remnants of Benonine. The nearby Brooks Ranch became noted, however, for its experimental buffalo herd.

Tsha Handbook → · 12.3 mi away

Things to Do in Shamrock

quirky 0.2 mi away
The Blarney Stone with an Armed Escort

In 1959 Shamrock Texas somehow convinced Ireland to send them a genuine chunk of the Blarney Stone from Blarney Castle in County Cork. The story goes that it…
quirky 0.9 mi away
The Gas Station That Became a Movie Star

In 1936 a wild Art Deco gas station went up at the crossroads of Route 66 and Highway 83 in Shamrock Texas. The U-Drop Inn had two flared towers glazed ceramic…
historical 0.2 mi away
When Route 66 Was Shamrocks Lifeline

In the 1920s and 1930s Route 66 brought a river of travelers right through the heart of Shamrock Texas. The town boomed to nearly 4000 people by 1930 with…
historical 0.1 mi away
The Hotel That Became a Museum

The Reynolds Hotel was completed in 1928 right at the peak of Shamrocks oil boom and Route 66 heyday. For nearly fifty years it housed weary travelers making…
quirky 0.1 mi away
The Gas Station That Time Forgot

Built in just three months in 1929 the Magnolia Gas Station in Shamrock served motorists crossing the Texas Panhandle on Route 66. The station pumped gas for…
quirky 0.2 mi away
The Panhandles Hidden Gas

Most people know the Texas Panhandle for oil and cattle but beneath Wheeler County and its neighbors sits something rarer. In the 1920s scientists analyzing…
historical 0.2 mi away
The Dugout Post Office That Burned

The name Shamrock first appeared in 1890 when an Irish immigrant sheep rancher named George Nickel applied to open a post office at his dugout home six miles…
historical 0.2 mi away
The Irish Rancher Who Started It All

Shamrocks Irish identity goes deeper than a holiday celebration. The town was shaped by Irish immigrants like George Nickel who came to the Panhandle in the…
day trip
U-Drop Inn, Shamrock, TX: Iconic Gas Station on Route 66

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Everything Near Shamrock

75 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Shamrock, TX

    The name Shamrock, Texas, has a charming origin story. It was named by George Nickel, an Irish-American, who was asked to name the post office that was to be kept in his dugout in 1890. His Irish mother had always told…

  • Shamrock - Route 66 and the U-Drop Inn · Historical Marker

    The Tower Conoco Station (U-Drop Inn) in Shamrock is one of the most iconic Art Deco buildings on Route 66. Built in 1936, it inspired Ramone's House of Body Art in the Pixar film Cars.

  • Shamrock Water Tower · Historical Marker

    Soon after residents voted to incorporate in March 1911, Shamrock officials identified the need for a reliable waterworks for the city. Prior to that time, citizens got their water from one of two town wells or hauled…

  • Shamrock's Midnight Cowboy · 0.1 mi

    Shamrock, in the Texas Panhandle on old Route 66, is the hometown of radio legend Bill Mack, "the Midnight Cowboy." Born here in 1929, Mack got his start at the local station KEVA in 1949, then worked Amarillo, Wichita…

  • Shamrock's St. Patrick's Day Celebration · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    Early area settler George Nickel and his wife, Dora (Haggard), raised their family in a dugout home in Wheeler County. For his Irish heritage and for its symbolism of luck and courage, George suggested…

  • The Gas Station That Time Forgot · 0.1 mi · Things to Do

    Built in just three months in 1929 the Magnolia Gas Station in Shamrock served motorists crossing the Texas Panhandle on Route 66. The station pumped gas for…

  • The Hotel That Became a Museum · 0.1 mi · Things to Do

    The Reynolds Hotel was completed in 1928 right at the peak of Shamrocks oil boom and Route 66 heyday. For nearly fifty years it housed weary travelers making…

  • The Blarney Stone with an Armed Escort · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    In 1959 Shamrock Texas somehow convinced Ireland to send them a genuine chunk of the Blarney Stone from Blarney Castle in County Cork. The story goes that it…

  • When Route 66 Was Shamrocks Lifeline · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    In the 1920s and 1930s Route 66 brought a river of travelers right through the heart of Shamrock Texas. The town boomed to nearly 4000 people by 1930 with…

  • An Irish Festival in the Texas Panhandle · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    Every March the tiny town of Shamrock Texas throws one of the biggest St Patricks Day celebrations in the Southwest. It started in 1938 when the town…

  • The Dugout Post Office That Burned · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    The name Shamrock first appeared in 1890 when an Irish immigrant sheep rancher named George Nickel applied to open a post office at his dugout home six miles…

  • The Panhandles Hidden Gas · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    Most people know the Texas Panhandle for oil and cattle but beneath Wheeler County and its neighbors sits something rarer. In the 1920s scientists analyzing…

Show all 75 nearby places
  • The Irish Rancher Who Started It All · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    Shamrocks Irish identity goes deeper than a holiday celebration. The town was shaped by Irish immigrants like George Nickel who came to the Panhandle in the…

  • Episcopal Church of St. Michael's and All Angels · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Shamrock, a town with deep English roots. Back in 1883, a London company bought over 235 sections of land here for cattle ranching. Later, many settlers arrived from Suffolk, England, including…

  • Shamrock, TX · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Shamrock, a town with a name that almost didn't stick! Back in 1890, an Irish immigrant named George Nickel suggested 'Shamrock' for good luck when he applied for a post office. But his dugout…

  • First Baptist Church of Shamrock · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Shamrock, where the First Baptist Church has roots stretching back to 1904. Organized in a schoolhouse, the congregation faced a setback in 1922 when lightning struck and burned their original…

  • Shamrock Methodist Church · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Shamrock, where the Methodist Church began its local journey in 1901. Organized in a walnut grove, the congregation first met in members' homes before moving to the schoolhouse in 1903. The church…

  • Bowers Cemetery · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Bowers Cemetery, also known as West Shamrock Cemetery or Boot Hill. This burial ground for Shamrock's African American community began in the 1920s, with the oldest marked grave from 1926. Many Black…

  • The Real-Life 'Ramone's' from 'Cars' · 0.9 mi

    If the stunning Art Deco building on the corner of Route 66 and Highway 83 looks familiar, it should. You're looking at the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Cafe, an architectural masterpiece that inspired the animators at…

  • A Kiss of Luck from Ireland · 0.9 mi

    Shamrock, Texas, has a very special connection to its Irish namesake. Here in town, you can find something truly unbelievable: a genuine piece of the Blarney Stone. That's right, a fragment of the legendary stone from…

  • Engineering for the Automobile Age · 0.9 mi

    The Tower Station you see isn't just beautiful; it's a brilliant piece of early roadside engineering and marketing. The look was famously scratched into the dirt with a nail by owner John Nunn, then drawn up as…

  • U-Drop Inn · 0.9 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Pull over here for a sec, you've GOT to see this. This stunning Art Deco gas station and cafe, the U-Drop Inn, was inspired by a nail in a car design, and once served travelers along Route 66. Back in 1936, J.C. Berry…

  • The Gas Station That Became a Movie Star · 0.9 mi · Things to Do

    In 1936 a wild Art Deco gas station went up at the crossroads of Route 66 and Highway 83 in Shamrock Texas. The U-Drop Inn had two flared towers glazed ceramic…

  • The Biggest Party in the Panhandle · 0.9 mi

    In Shamrock, St. Patrick's Day isn't just a holiday; it's the soul of the town. Since 1938, this community has thrown one of the biggest and oldest St. Patrick's celebrations in the entire state. What started as a small…

  • When Oil Changed Everything · 0.9 mi

    As you drive through Shamrock, notice how many buildings look too fine for a town this size. Two things paid for that. Oil came first: wildcatters struck in the eastern Panhandle in 1926, feeding into the Panhandle…

  • Tower Building · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising down the historic Route 66, and right here in Shamrock is the Tower Building. Built in 1936 by local entrepreneur J. M. Tindall, this place is a fantastic example of a 1930s gas station and diner. Check…

  • How the Purple Heart Trail Grew Across Texas · 3.4 mi

    This highway is part of the Purple Heart Trail, a symbolic trail that runs through all fifty states to honor those killed or wounded in combat while serving in the armed forces. In Texas it started with one road. In two…

  • The Boom That Built and Broke the Town · 3.6 mi · Things to Do

    In 1926 oil was discovered near Shamrock and the Texas Panhandle became a major producing region overnight. Natural gas wells operated by the Shamrock Gas…

  • Lela School · 5.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lela School. Soon after the establishment of this community along the proposed rail line for the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf railway in 1902, residents called for the creation of a school to serve…

  • The Name That Ran Backward · 6.9 mi

    You are parked at Twitty, Texas, a Panhandle dot named for a shopkeeper, and yes, it shares a name with a country legend, so let's talk about Conway Twitty for a minute, because the connection is real and it runs…

  • More Number Ones Than Anyone · 6.9 mi

    The little Panhandle town of Twitty, Texas, loaned its name to a stage name, and here is why that borrowed name mattered. Under it, a Mississippi boy named Harold Jenkins became one of the biggest acts in American…

  • The Shopkeeper Behind The Sign · 6.9 mi

    Here's a town whose name ended up on a lot more record labels than post office signs. Twitty, Texas, out on the Panhandle plains of Wheeler County, is named plainly and directly for Asa Twitty, an early settler and…

  • How A Cotton Gin Thinks · 6.9 mi

    Here is a thread that ties back to the dirt under your tires. By the nineteen twenties, Twitty had a cotton gin, and a gin is a genuinely clever machine worth understanding. Cotton off the plant is a frustrating tangle…

  • The Longest Road In Texas · 6.9 mi

    Look at the road you are on. Twitty sits right on U.S. Highway eighty-three, and that is no minor country lane. Eighty-three is one of the great north to south spines of the country, running about one thousand eight…

  • One Name, Every Direction · 6.9 mi

    So think about how much one short Panhandle name can carry. Pull on the word Twitty and the thread unspools in every direction. It starts with a store owner named Asa, who got a post office in nineteen twelve and never…

  • A Viking Word For A Clearing · 6.9 mi

    You are rolling through Twitty, Texas, out on the Panhandle plains, and that name on the sign is somebody's old surname, so where did a surname like Twitty even come from? Trace it back and it lands far from Texas, in…

  • Cotton, Oil, And The Long Drawdown · 6.9 mi

    Follow the money and you follow the whole life of the town. Twitty started as a farming settlement, and cotton was king; by nineteen twenty-five it had two stores, that cotton gin, and something else the Panhandle was…

  • Route 66 Bridge over the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railroad · 8.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Get ready to drive over a real piece of Americana! This bridge carried countless travelers along the legendary Route 66. Built in 1932, the Route 66 Bridge in Wheeler County was a vital link, carrying traffic over the…

  • Center Cemetery · 9.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Twitty, and just off the road is Center Cemetery. It started in 1909, right next to the Center School, which also hosted church services. The oldest marked grave here is for B.F. Matthews, dating…

  • Nicholson School · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Collingsworth County, past the site of the old Nicholson School. Opened in 1915 and named for county judge Arthur Clyde Nicholson, this school served a growing farming community. Enrollment peaked…

  • Dozier Schoolhouse · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Dozier Schoolhouse. In 1893, settlers built this one-room school, which also served as a church and community center. It was moved three times before being rebuilt in 1913, with a…

  • Old Pakan School · 11.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Old Pakan School in Lela. It all started with Sam Pakan, Sr., a Slovak immigrant who found success in Chicago. He bought this land in 1904, and soon ten other Slovak families joined…

  • Greer County, Texas · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past where Greer County, Texas, used to be. Imagine this: a Texas county so big, it had over 3,400 square miles and grazed 60,000 cattle. But for fifty years, Texas and the U.S. fought over who owned it.…

  • Poe, John William · 12.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    John William Poe, buffalo hunter, lawman, and businessman, was born in 1850. During his youth on his grandfather's farm near Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky, he was impressed by the novels of Sir Walter Scott and…

  • Benonine, TX · 12.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Benonine is on Interstate Highway 40 near the Oklahoma state line, a mile west of Texola, Oklahoma, in southeastern Wheeler County. G. W. Burrow, who later opened a general store in Benonine and served as a deputy…

  • Eaton, Nick T. · 12.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, a vast landscape once ruled by cattle barons like Nick T. Eaton. Arriving in 1878, Eaton established a massive ranch covering a third of Wheeler and Gray counties, running…

  • Key-No Ranch · 12.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, and right here, in what was once Hutchinson and Carson counties, you're passing through the heart of the old Key-No Ranch. It started in 1881 with D.C. Cantwell, who picked…

  • Dozier Cemetery · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Collingsworth County, approaching the Dozier Cemetery. Established in 1893 after the death of Elam Elums from tuberculosis, it quickly became the resting place for more than just the Dozier…

  • Lutie School · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Collingsworth County, past the site of the old Lutie School. This school served the community from 1912 until 1937, when it consolidated with the Samnorwood school. The land where it stood has…

  • Magnolia Service Station · 14.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Get your kicks on Route 66 at this vintage Magnolia Service Station, a relic of the Mother Road's heyday. Built around 1930, this Magnolia station in Texola, Oklahoma, was a welcome sight for drivers heading east. As…

  • Texola · 14.5 mi · Eohc

    You're driving past Texola, right on the Oklahoma-Texas border. This little town started life with a few names, like Texokla and Texoma, before settling on Texola when its post office opened in 1901. It grew with the…

  • The Moonwalker from Wheeler · 15.0 mi

    Every small town has its heroes, but Wheeler's is literally out of this world. Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the moon, was born right here in 1932. As the Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 12 mission, he spent…

  • The Midnight Ride for the County Records · 15.0 mi

    The county seat sits in Wheeler today because of a fight. When Wheeler County was organized, Mobeetie was the only town in it, the rough old Panhandle mother city out by Fort Elliott. Then in 1904 two ranchers, Robert…

  • Drawing Circles on the Plains · 15.0 mi

    As you drive through the countryside around Wheeler, you might notice the landscape is patterned with giant green circles. These aren't natural; they're a feat of agricultural engineering that transformed the Panhandle.…

  • Wheeler, TX · 15.0 mi

    Wheeler, Texas, has a rich history tied to its namesake, Royall Tyler Wheeler, who served as a Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. The city's historical significance is further highlighted by notable residents…

  • Wheeler Cemetery · 15.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Wheeler Cemetery, the final resting place for over 2,700 people. The first marked grave here dates back to 1904. You'll find veterans from the Civil War through Iraq, civic leaders, and even a…

  • Bean, Alan LaVern · 15.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Wheeler, Texas, the hometown of Alan Bean. He was a naval test pilot, an astronaut, and later, a celebrated artist. In November of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1969</say-as>, Bean, as…

  • Wheeler, TX · 15.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Wheeler, Texas, a town born from a bit of civic ambition. Back in 1904, ranchers Robert B. Rogers and J. E. Stanley decided their growing community needed a new county seat, challenging the old…

  • Wheeler County · 15.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wheeler County, formed from vast territories way back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1876</say-as>. It was officially organized just a few years later, in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • The Millie Porter House · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wheeler, and just ahead is the Millie Porter House. Built in 1914 by pioneer settlers J.M. and Millie Porter, this home is a testament to a remarkable woman. Millie Jones Porter, born in 1877, was…

  • Wheeler County Jail · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wheeler, and right here stands a testament to early Texas justice: the old Wheeler County Jail. Built in 1909 from concrete and steel, this sturdy structure served the county for two decades.…

  • Wheeler County Courthouse · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wheeler, and right here is the county courthouse, named for Texas jurist Royal T. Wheeler. The county was created in 1876, and after a few earlier structures, this impressive Classical Revival…

  • World War II Prisoner of War Camp at McLean · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through McLean, and right here, during World War II, was a prisoner of war camp. Construction started in September of 1942, and by July 1943, American soldiers and German POWs were arriving. This wasn't…

  • Rocking Chair Ranch · 17.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the vast domain of the Rocking Chair Ranch, a sprawling cattle operation founded in the late 1870s. But this wasn't just any ranch; it was a British-owned enterprise, run by titled…

  • Aberdeen, TX (Collingsworth County) · 17.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Aberdeen, in northeastern Collingsworth County, was a division headquarters of the Rocking Chair Ranch . The town was named for the earl of Aberdeen, one of the British owners, and planned in 1889 to be the nucleus of…

  • Rocking Chair "Ranche" · 17.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Collingsworth County, once home to the sprawling Rocking Chair Ranche. Owned by Scottish Earls, it started with over 14,000 cattle, made profits for a few years, and then failed. Interestingly,…

  • Bonnie and Clyde, Red River Plunge of · 17.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Collingsworth County, near where Bonnie and Clyde made their infamous Red River Plunge back in 1933. A local family watched their car go into the river, then had to rescue the outlaws themselves!…

  • Custer on the Sweetwater · 19.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Custer on the Sweetwater. Sweetwater Creek was essential to millions of southern buffalo In a region known as the Comancheria. Plains Indians camped along this freshwater stream to seek shelter from…

  • Frye-Puryear Home · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Frye-Puryear Home, built in 1884. Imagine hauling stone, windows, and lumber 200 miles from Dodge City back in 1877! That's what settler Henry Frye did. He bought his land from Dick Bussell, a…

  • "Rock School" · 19.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Wheeler, and right here is the site of the Rock School, built way back in 1886. Imagine that – Indians were still raiding nearby apple trees when this schoolhouse went up! It was the second…

  • Rowe, Alfred · 19.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Alfred Rowe, rancher, one of seven children of John James and Agnes (Graham) Rowe, prosperous English merchants who had business connections and a home in South America, was born on February 24, 1853, in Lima, Peru. As…

  • Devil's Rope Museum · 19.9 mi · Things to Do

    A museum entirely about barbed wire in McLean TX on Route 66. More fascinating than it sounds.

  • RO Ranch · 19.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    The RO (Rowe) Ranch was named for its founder, Alfred Rowe . It began in 1878 when the adventurous Englishman erected a dugout on Glenwood Creek, just above its junction with the Salt Fork in Donley County, and began…

  • McLean, TX · 19.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    McLean, on Interstate Highway 40 in southeastern Gray County, is the second largest town in the county. In 1901 the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Texas Railroad Company dug a water well and built a switch and section house…

  • McLean Methodist Church · 20.0 mi · Historical Marker

    This congregation, organized in the early 1900s, is thought to be the oldest denominational church in Gray County. The Rev. G. R. Fort served as first pastor. Methodists in McLean met in a one-room schoolhouse until…

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