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Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Sweetwater.
A notable event in Sweetwater's history was the training of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) during World War II. These women were the first to fly American military aircraft and were trained under the direction of famed aviator Jacqueline Cochran at Sweetwater's Avenger Field. The WASPs were not recognized for their service until 1977, when U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater and Colonel Bruce Arnold gained their official recognition as military veterans.
Sweetwater's history is deeply intertwined with the railroad. The town received a U.S. post office in 1879, and the Texas and Pacific Railway arrived in 1881, marking the beginning of Sweetwater's long history as a railroad town. To encourage the railroads, Sweetwater increased its water supply by building City Lake in 1898, now known as Newman Park. The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway began construction in 1903, and by 1912, the Santa Fe Railway was serving Sweetwater via its new Coleman Cutoff. During World War II, British RAF pilots and American women pilots, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), were trained at Sweetwater's Avenger Field, making it a significant site in aviation history.
The tornado that tore through Sweetwater on April nineteenth, nineteen eighty six gave the town no warning at all. There was no time to sound the sirens, no tornado report on television or radio, and local radar showed nothing unusual until it was too late. A Sweetwater patrolman watched a short, fat funnel materialize about a mile away, called it in, and drove to a nursing home to warn the residents. The storm cut through a densely populated part of town, destroyed one hundred sixty-one homes, and knocked the radio station off the air. One tire dealer lost his roof and about two hundred radial tires, most of which, he said, he had not seen since. In one mobile home, a mother woken by hail never made it to her eleven-month-old daughter's room. The crib landed in the middle of the road, twisted like a pretzel. A relative digging through the rubble found the baby wrapped snugly in her crib mattress, with only a few scratches. The federal storm record rates the tornado an F-three, with one death and one hundred injuries. The man who died was eighty-seven years old.
Site of World War II drama. Here girls, like male cadets, learned to fly United States Army Air Forces planes. WASPs had civil service status rather than military. Of the 25,000 applicants, 1,830 were accepted; 1,074 won wings and flew 60 million miles for the U.S. Army Air Forces, receiving high praise for their record. At the request of the Air Forces' Commanding General H.H. ("Hap") Arnold, Jacqueline Cochran became director of women pilots. On November 17, 1942, when the first 28 trainees entered the women's flying training detachment at Houston Municipal Airport, the program began. On February 21, 1943, it was relocated at Avenger Field, 3 miles west of Sweetwater. The last class of WASP's graduated on December 7, 1944. British Royal Air Force cadets trained at Avenger Field June 22-August 1, 1942. U.S. Army Air Forces April of 1943. Arrival of WASP trainees made Avenger the only military coeducational flying field in United States history. WASP's came from varied backgrounds. Many were wives, sisters, or sweethearts of servicemen, hoping to hasten war's end. Women staff advisors supervised the nonflying activities of WASP trainees, who lived under military discipline: In army barracks. Trainees flew in "zoot suits" (ill-fitting GI coveralls), and had tan slacks and shirts for dress wear. After the santiago blue uniform was officially adopted, it was worn by graduates. Originally, the seven months course included 180 hours of ground school, 115 hours of flight training. From light planes, WASPs advanced to fly every air corps craft in use at the time. WASPs ferried planes; towed targets; flew tracking, smoke-laying, searchlight, strafing, and simulated bombing missions; did radio control flying, tested aircraft, gave instrument instruction; performed many other duties. Thirty-seven WASPs gave their lives serving their country. Ethel A. Sheehy was WASP staff field executive; Nancy Harkness Love, WASP staff executive-ferrying division; Leoti Clark Deaton, WASP staff executive-training bases. WASP wings, with diamond lozenge, signify women's pioneering wartime flight achievements. (1972)
The world's largest rattlesnake roundup, held annually in Sweetwater since 1958 by the Jaycees. Thousands of western diamondback rattlesnakes are caught, displayed, skinned, and fried.
Samuel Dale (Tio Sam) Myres, saddlemaker, businessman, and civic leader, son of David Rittenhouse and Mary Jane (Dale) Myres, was born on November 22, 1871, in Johnson County, Texas, near the Cordova Bend of the Brazos River. He became a skilled frontiersman by riding, roping, and fence building to help his father and neighboring ranchers, and by the age of fifteen he often served as a scout and guide for families seeking land. He attended school for only three terms but retained a lifelong interest in history and mathematics. When his mother's health failed and his responsibility for his younger siblings increased he left school and did not return. A knee injury caused by a fall from a horse prevented him from going west to become a cowboy in the cattle boom of the 1880s, and he worked for three years as an apprentice to T. R. James and Sons, Saddlers, in Cleburne. He later left James, traveled for several years doing piecework, and settled in Weatherford in 1893. There he began to develop his talent for drawing and carving his own designs and making holsters. In 1894 Myres married Drusa Rogers, with whom he had three children; one of them, Samuel Dale, Jr., became a historian and author. In March 1897 the family moved to Sweetwater, and in 1898 Myres purchased his own saddlery and harness business. Extensive advertising, plant innovations, and attention to fine materials and workmanship contributed to his growing reputation and business from 1898 to 1902. In addition to the forty-dollar saddles he made for working cowmen, he designed and made saddles for movie stars, western show performers, and the Texas Rangers . In 1914 he produced the widely publicized "Miller $10,000 Saddle," with its intricate design, fifteen pounds of silver and gold, and more than 300 precious stones. His works were distinguished by an oak-leaf design and western images patterned after the work of Charles Russell. In World War I Myres turned to war production and made McClellan saddles for the cavalry. In 1920 he received a certificate of merit and a citation from the government for his war efforts. Myres served as mayor of Sweetwater from 1908 to 1911 and as a member of the school board in 1914–15. As mayor he was instrumental in bringing the Santa Fe Railroad through the town, helping to keep Sweetwater the Nolan county seat, and overseeing annexation of new subdivisions, street improvements, and the building of a new city hall and fire station. In 1919 the saddlery burned, and in 1920 Myres opened a new factory in El Paso. By this time he had divorced his wife and married Eva Forkner, a young woman suffering from tuberculosis, who died in 1928. Lessened demand for horse equipment during the 1920s, a generous divorce settlement for Drusa, large medical bills for Eva's illness, and the 1920s depression put Myres deeply in debt. Between 1934 and 1936 his son William and nephew Dace Myres joined the firm, and the three partners turned to volume production of quality holsters and gunbelts, which became as famous as the company's saddles. The Sweetwater store, which had been partially rebuilt, was sold in 1937 to pay debts. The business was solvent by 1941, and by 1950 the S. D. Myres Saddle Company was known as "Cowboy Headquarters for the Southwest." Myres was raised a Presbyterian but joined the Mormon Church when he married Eva. He taught Bible classes and, though tolerant of other religions, devoted much time and effort to proselytizing. He was also a Mason. He supported the El Paso Chamber of Commerce and the Kids Rodeo of El Paso, for which he repeatedly donated the championship saddle. During World War II , when he let his beard and hair grow long, Myres bore a striking resemblance to Uncle Sam; hence his nickname, Tio (Uncle) Sam. He died on July 2, 1953, in El Paso.
Pan Zareta, the greatest filly in racehorse history, was born in 1910 at the Newman Stables in Sweetwater, Texas. Dark chestnut, she was bred and owned by J. F. Newman, sired by Abe Frank out of Caddie Griffith. Trained by Harold Newman, a grandson of J. F. Newman, she loved to play, was smart, and easily trained. She started her career on January 14, 1912, by winning a 3½ furlong race in Juarez, Mexico, and winning a purse of $550. During her first year of competition she won thirteen of nineteen and placed in all but one race. Racing in three countries (United States, Mexico, and Canada), her career continued through 1917 while winning 76 of 151 races. She placed in all but twenty-three of those races. No other filly or mare has ever approached those numbers. Career winnings totaled $39,082. Perhaps her greatest claim to fame was her performance in handicapped races. She ran in one hundred of them and won forty-six. No other racehorse of any class has ever approached that level of performance. She won carrying 146 pounds, a fact unmatched by any other filly. On February 10, 1915, in a match race against the famous quarter horse Joe Blair, she set a world record at Juarez, Mexico, for five furlongs in 57⅕ seconds. The record stood for thirty-five years. After racing in the New York racing arena, she eventually returned to New Orleans suffering from a lung fever. A month later she died of pneumonia and was buried two days later according the New Orleans Times-Picayune "beneath a giant live oak …just inside the inner rail at the last sixteenth post." Sources differ regarding a specific death date, ranging from January 16 or 19, 1918, to December 25, 1918. Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans inaugurated the six-furlong Pan Zareta Handicap in her honor in 1966. Pan Zareta was inducted into the Fair Ground's Racing Hall of Fame (New Orleans) in 1971, the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame (Saratoga Springs, New York) in 1972, and in the Texas Race Horse Hall of Fame (Retama Park-San Antonio) in 1999.
Sweetwater Army Air Field, better known as Avenger Field, was a World War II training base of the United States Army Air Forces. On May 14, 1942, the municipal airport in Sweetwater, Texas, was leased to the War Department for a dollar a year and renamed Avenger Field, the winning name entered in a local newspaper contest. The field, which had been in civilian use since the late 1920s, had been improved and expanded to 920 acres by the city. Its first wartime use was for the training of a single class of British pilot cadets of the Royal Air Force by an American civilian contractor. The RAF class was followed by ten classes of American aviation cadets and three classes of enlisted student pilots between April 6, 1942, and April 6, 1943. The most notable period in the history of the field began on February 21, 1943, with the arrival of the first trainees of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Under the direction of famed aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran, experienced women pilots in civil-service status were trained to fly army planes to relieve men in combat duty. Heavy air traffic and weather problems at Howard Hughes Field in Houston caused relocation of the WASP training to Sweetwater. For a brief period, Avenger Field trained both men and women, but in April 1943 it became the "only all-female air base in history," except for the male instructors and support crews. Fourteen classes, totaling 1,074 pilots, earned their wings in every type of army plane before the WASPs were disbanded on December 20, 1944. In 1945 facilities at the field were considerably expanded to support the combat training of P-47 Thunderbolt pilots, but the end of the war brought the rapid phase-out of all training there. The field was closed in November 1945, and it reverted to peacetime use by the city of Sweetwater on June 3, 1947. Military interest in Avenger Field revived with the outbreak of the Korean War; on April 1, 1952, the United States Air Force again leased the facilities, as an auxiliary field for training pilots from Webb Air Force Base at Big Spring. In 1956 Avenger Field was made the site of an aircraft control and warning radar installation. On November 30, 1969, the facility was closed and the property was once more released to the city of Sweetwater. In addition to general aviation activities at Sweetwater Municipal Airport, the field is now the location of the Rolling Plains campus of Texas State Technical Institute, which opened there on July 31, 1970.
Jacqueline Cochran, one to the most famous women pilots of the Twentieth Century, persistently lobbied U.S. Army Airforce General Henry "Hap" Arnold to establish a flight training program for women during World War II. Hard-pressed for pilots by mid-summer of 1942, General Arnold requested that Cochran return from England and put her women airforce pilots (WASP) plan into action. A WASP flight school, opened at Houston's Municipal Airport in late 1942, outgrew its facilities and was relocated to Avenger Field in Sweetwater. The school operated here from February 20, 1943 to December 7, 1944, during which time it became the first and only all-women military flying school in the world. The program successfully trained women to fly every kind of overseas duty. Of the 25,000 women who applied for WASP flight training, only 1,830 were accepted to the program. Of this number 1,074 went on to gain their silver wings and fly over 60 million miles on operational duty; 38 of them lost their lives serving their country. Considered civilian employees during the war, WASP pilots finally gained military benefits after special legislation passed in 1977. (1993)
96 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
A notable event in Sweetwater's history was the training of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) during World War II. These women were the first to fly American military aircraft and were trained under the…
The tornado that tore through Sweetwater on April nineteenth, nineteen eighty six gave the town no warning at all. There was no time to sound the sirens, no tornado report on television or radio, and local radar showed…
The world's largest rattlesnake roundup, held annually in Sweetwater since 1958 by the Jaycees. Thousands of western diamondback rattlesnakes are caught, displayed, skinned, and fried.
Sweetwater, Texas sounds like sugar, like syrup, like something that tastes of candy. But the sweet here has nothing to do with sugar. The town is named for Sweet Water Creek, and out on the West Texas plains, sweet…
Sweetwater was ranch country when the blizzard of February eighteen eighty five swept across Nolan County. The Handbook of Texas says it killed ninety percent of the area's livestock, and the disastrous drought of…
Sweetwater's first post office, opened in eighteen seventy nine, went by the name Blue Goose, and even the Handbook of Texas can't settle why. One entry says a local cowboy killed a great blue heron, thinking it was…
You're driving through Sweetwater, a town shaped by steel rails. The Texas and Pacific Railway pushed west, reaching this spot in 1881, and the first train pulled in March 12th of that year. This railroad wasn't just a…
Site of World War II drama. Here girls, like male cadets, learned to fly United States Army Air Forces planes. WASPs had civil service status rather than military. Of the 25,000 applicants, 1,830 were accepted; 1,074…
Samuel Dale (Tio Sam) Myres, saddlemaker, businessman, and civic leader, son of David Rittenhouse and Mary Jane (Dale) Myres, was born on November 22, 1871, in Johnson County, Texas, near the Cordova Bend of the Brazos…
Pan Zareta, the greatest filly in racehorse history, was born in 1910 at the Newman Stables in Sweetwater, Texas. Dark chestnut, she was bred and owned by J. F. Newman, sired by Abe Frank out of Caddie Griffith. Trained…
Sweetwater Army Air Field, better known as Avenger Field, was a World War II training base of the United States Army Air Forces. On May 14, 1942, the municipal airport in Sweetwater, Texas, was leased to the War…
You're driving through West Texas, a land Robert Franklin Dunn helped tame for the Methodist church. Born in Virginia in 1855, Dunn's childhood included seeing the grim aftermath of Civil War battles. His family moved…
You're driving through Sweetwater, Texas, the birthplace of Claude Hope, a man who revolutionized the flower industry! Hope was a horticulturist who, after a stint developing quinine sources for the Army during World…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here, you're passing through a ghost of a grand ambition. This was the route of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, or the Orient of Texas. Promoted by Arthur…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here near Sweetwater is where Clyde Douglas Turner, nicknamed 'Bulldog,' got his start. He was born in 1919 in Plains, but played high school ball in Sweetwater. Too light at…
You're driving through Nolan County, named for Philip Nolan, an Irish adventurer who came to Texas in the late 1700s to capture wild horses. He met his end in a skirmish with Spanish soldiers around 1801. The county…
You're driving through Sweetwater, a town named for its life-giving water, but early on, it was also known for its lack of a bank. That absence led to trouble. In February of 1883, rumors swirled that the local saloon…
Hazel McKaughan Pearce Brooks, an official member and pilot of the World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), daughter of Lidney Dane McKaughan and Abbie (Baty) McKaughan, was born in Waco, Texas, on July 19,…
Nomadic Indians crossed this region before Anglo-American pioneers arrived here in the 1870's. The first settlers were buffalo hunters such as I.S. (Tuck) Focht, who later became a rancher and businessman, and cattlemen…
You're driving through North Texas, and right here is the story of Eugene Benjamin Germany, a man who left his mark on Texas industry. Born in Sweetwater in 1892, Germany worked his way up from a salt plant worker and…
You're driving near Sweetwater, and right here is Lake Sweetwater. Built in 1929 by damming Bitter Creek, this lake was a massive project, costing nearly half a million dollars. It holds 4.5 billion gallons and was…
You're driving through Nolan County, a place named for Philip Nolan, but its story really kicks off in 1877. Right here on Sweetwater Creek, a dugout shelter was built as Knight's store, serving the buffalo hunters who…
You're driving past the Ragland Building in Sweetwater, a structure that saw a lot of action. Community leader R.A. Ragland built it in 1901 with rough-hewn limestone, adding a second floor just five years later. Over…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here is a place connected to Royston Campbell Crane, Sr. Born in 1864, Crane was a lawyer, a promoter, and a dedicated historian. He served as mayor of Sweetwater and worked…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here, the story of a railroad that dreamed big. The Panhandle and Gulf Railway was chartered in 1899, aiming to connect Sweetwater all the way to the Rio Grande, and even…
You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Sweetwater. Organized in 1881 by Reverend Peter Turner, the congregation completed its first building in 1882. They've built new sanctuaries twice since then,…
You're driving past the Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium, a beautiful example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. Designed by Austin's Page Brothers firm, it was built between 1926 and 1927. This building hosted…
You're driving through Sweetwater, past the home of I.M. 'Mose' Newman, a prominent rancher and businessman who also served as a Texas Tech regent. Designed in 1925 by Nichol and Campbell, this Tudor Revival house…
You're driving past the R.A. Ragland House in Sweetwater, built in 1906 for one of the town's first lawyers. Ragland was a city commissioner, school board member, and county attorney who also partnered in a law and…
You're driving past the Davis House, built in 1916 by Walter and Florence Davis. Notice how it blends styles: the exposed rafter ends and knee braces are classic Craftsman bungalow, but modifications in 1927 added…
Every March, Sweetwater becomes the snake capital of the world. It’s home to the World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup, an event that started back in 1958. At the time, local farmers and ranchers were struggling with a…
During World War II, the skies above Sweetwater were filled with trailblazing women. In 1943, the U.S. Army Air Forces chose the local airport, then called Avenger Field, to be the training base for the Women Airforce…
As you drive around Sweetwater, you can't miss the forest of giant white towers on the horizon. This isn't just a collection of windmills; it's a massive, high-tech power plant, and you're in the middle of one of the…
You may not think about it, but there's a decent chance part of your house came from right here. Sweetwater sits on a substantial gypsum deposit, gypsum being that soft white mineral that, cooked and processed, becomes…
Long before the NFL became a passing league, the player who would help invent the modern quarterback was finishing his schooling right here in Sweetwater. Samuel 'Sammy' Baugh, known as 'Slingin' Sammy,' was born in…
Sweetwater (Sweetwater, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Rohyn Price (0.447 avg, 1 HR).
You're driving past the Simmons House in Sweetwater. It started as a one-story home in 1919, built by Robert Mosby Simmons, a civic leader and president of the Sweetwater Cotton Oil Company. In 1934, he hired architect…
You're driving through Sweetwater, a town shaped by craftsmen like Samuel Dale Myres. He arrived in 1898, a skilled saddle-maker whose work gained him renown. Myres wasn't just a businessman; he also served as mayor…
You're driving through Sweetwater, the heart of cattle country. Back in 1922, local breeders organized the Sweetwater Hereford Breeders Association, now considered Texas' third oldest group dedicated to promoting the…
You're driving past the birthplace of the Sweetwater Reporter! It started in 1881 as the Sweetwater Advance, founded by C.E. Gilbert, the same year Nolan County was organized. After a few name changes and modernization…
For a town with such a gentle name, Sweetwater throws one of the wildest events in Texas. Every year on the second weekend of March, the city hosts what is billed as the World's Largest Rattlesnake Round-Up, and it has…
Since Sweetwater is famous for its rattlesnakes, here is something remarkable about the animal itself. The western diamondback that lives all across this country has a hidden sixth sense. Look closely at its face and…
Sweetwater earns its name honestly. When buffalo hunters and the first settlers pushed onto these Rolling Plains back in the eighteen-seventies, they found a creek whose water was actually fresh and good to drink, and…
Here is the science behind why a sweet creek was worth naming a town after. Across a lot of West Texas, rain and groundwater seep through buried beds of gypsum, which is calcium sulfate. As the water trickles through,…
Drive into Sweetwater today and you will notice the horizon is stitched with slowly turning white blades. This town and the county around it, Nolan County, have become one of the great wind-power capitals of the…
During the Second World War, Sweetwater held a place in aviation history that most people never expect from a small West Texas town. In nineteen forty-two, the city leased its municipal airport to the War Department for…
You're driving past the Trammell House, a landmark in Sweetwater. Built between 1911 and 1913, this home was designed by architect John Young for Thomas Trammell, a rancher and banker known as the 'Father of Sweetwater'…
You're driving past Sweetwater Cemetery, where the oldest marked grave belongs to Purl Ray Scott, an infant who died way back in 1880. That burial actually predates the town of Sweetwater itself by a full year! Look for…
Jacqueline Cochran, one to the most famous women pilots of the Twentieth Century, persistently lobbied U.S. Army Airforce General Henry "Hap" Arnold to establish a flight training program for women during World War II.…
You're driving past Avenger Field in Sweetwater, the very place where the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, trained during World War II. From 1943 to 1944, over a thousand women earned their silver wings here,…
You're driving past the site where a U.S. Army Air Corps C-47 transport plane crashed on April 20, 1945. Two local cab drivers spotted the aircraft on fire in mid-air, and a crash landing message was received just…
The World War Two Veterans Memorial Highway is a name with an odd history. On August first, nineteen forty four, a Texas highway minute order named U S Highway Eighty the Veterans of World War Two Highway, all the way…
You're driving through Roscoe, which used to be called Vista. This cemetery started around 1887, when rancher W. J. Turner bought this land to bury his brother-in-law, Joe Clecker. Early graves here also include the…
You're driving through West Texas, maybe near Roscoe, where the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway, the RS&P, once thrived. Chartered in 1906, this short line was a powerhouse, connecting major railroads and hauling…
You're driving through Roscoe, Texas, a town that owes its existence to a flood and a railroad. Originally called Vista, it got its start in 1890. But things really picked up in 1894 when a nearby cattle shipping point,…
You're driving past Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railway. The Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railway was one of the country’s most successful short-line railroads. Chartered on Oct. 1, 1906, by General F. W.
In the early 2000s, a new kind of boom came to Roscoe, but it wasn't for oil. It was for wind. Look around you, and you'll see the result: the Roscoe Wind Complex — 627 turbines and 781 megawatts spread across nearly a…
The hundreds of wind turbines you see around Roscoe aren't there just because it's windy. They're placed here because of specific meteorological and engineering principles. This stretch of West Texas offers steady,…
While the Texas & Pacific put Roscoe on the map, it was a scrappy local railroad that gave the town its character. This was the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific — the RS&P — chartered on the first of October, 1906 by a board…
Roscoe sits high on the West Texas plains, where the air is clear and the horizon stretches forever. Cotton has always been king here. The soil, though it demands respect and resilience from those who work it, yields a…
You're driving past Palava Cemetery. Originally named Center Point, the town of Palava traces its history to early settlement in this area in the late 1870s. It was renamed when the U.S. Government granted a request to…
You're driving through Nolan County, Texas, and right here is Avenger Field, where Dora Jean Dougherty Strother trained as a WASP during World War II. Of the 25,000 women who applied to become Women Airforce Service…
Ada was on Farm Road 1809 east of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and north of Lake Trammell; the site is eight miles southwest of Sweetwater in central Nolan County. In 1897 Irving Wheatcroft, a railroad…
Maryneal was on Farm roads 608 and 1170 and the Santa Fe line in south central Nolan County. It was established in 1907. The site developed as a station on the newly constructed Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway.…
Weaver Springs is in Mulberry Canyon a half mile south of Farm Road 2035 and twenty miles southeast of Sweetwater on the eastern edge of Nolan County. It is named for two gravity springs in a secluded canyon of…
Brownlee, Texas, a small community nestled in Brown County, might seem like any other quiet spot in Central Texas. But its history quietly resonates with echoes of figures who shaped the wider world. While not boasting…
You're driving past Newman Community and Cemetery. Jim Newman, one of Fisher County's earliest settlers, established a ranch in this area about 1879. The community that developed near his ranch was named Newman when the…
You're driving west on I-20, and right here is Trent. It was established in 1881 as a halfway station for the Texas and Pacific Railway, a crucial stop between Texarkana and El Paso. Fun fact: the station signs for…
You're driving through Loraine, and just ahead is the story of D.W. Wallace, nicknamed '80 John.' Born to slave parents in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1860</say-as>, Wallace became a cowboy at just 15, riding…
A notable event in Roby's history occurred in 1996 when 42 residents put $10 each in a lottery pool and won the $46,000,000 jackpot on Thanksgiving of that year, making 6-7% of the population millionaires instantly…
The handsome brick courthouse in the center of Roby is more than just a government building; it's a trophy from a nineteenth-century fight. When Fisher County organized, two towns wanted the county seat: Roby, and a…
You're driving through Loraine, and right here is the site of the First State Bank. Organized back in 1908 with just eighteen thousand dollars in capital, this bank was a real engine for growth in Mitchell County. The…
You're driving through West Texas, maybe near Loraine, and you're passing the legacy of Daniel Webster Wallace, known as '80 John'. Born into slavery in Victoria County in 1860, Wallace ran away from chopping cotton at…
You're driving through northeastern Mitchell County, on the old railroad line that once defined this area. Right here is Loraine. It started in the early 1880s as just a cotton and cattle shipping point. Things were…
You're driving through Loraine, home of the First Baptist Church. Organized in 1892, services were held in the schoolhouse for 14 years before their first church was built in 1907. The current building dates to 1947,…
You're driving through Fisher County, a place named for Samuel Rhoads Fisher, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. This land was once roamed by Lipan Apaches, Comanches, and Kiowas, and explored by figures…
Celotex is on Farm Road 668 and a branch line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway seven miles southwest of Hamlin in northeast Fisher County. The industrial town was named Plasterco for a gypsum plant that was…
Hobbs is at the junction of Farm roads 611 and 1614, in west central Fisher County. In the mid-1880s a number of homesteaders moved into the area, including the Wilhite, Clegg, Brown, and Martin families. Baptist…
North Roby, also known as Fisher and possibly as Rainbolt, was 4½ miles north of Roby in north central Fisher County. It was founded in 1885 by land speculator E. D. Strang, who laid out the townsite on land he had…
You're driving past Lone Wolf Mountain, named for a Kiowa chief who had a very personal score to settle. After being held hostage by General Custer following the Washita campaign, Lone Wolf was released. But when his…
Roby (Roby, TX) placed on the 2A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Anthony Moreno (0.514 avg).
You're driving through Fisher County, a place that once echoed with the footsteps of Native Americans on an old trail from Mexico. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1856</say-as>, none other than Colonel…
You're driving past the oldest active church in Fisher County, right here in Roby. This Methodist congregation started meeting in homes back in 1885, led by a circuit preacher. They formally organized in 1886, and…
You're driving through Roby, the county seat of Fisher County. Right here, in 1885, a bitter struggle was underway to decide where the county government would be located. Developers M.L. and D.C. Roby wanted it at their…
You're driving through Fisher County, created by the Texas Legislature in eighteen seventy six. For years, settlers had to rely on neighboring counties for official business. But by eighteen eighty five, enough folks…
You're driving through Roby, a town laid out on land first granted to Thomas H. Cosby, a veteran of the Texas War for Independence. The town was platted in eighteen eighty five by the Roby family, who hired a law firm…
Fisher County, with Roby as its seat, started hunting for oil in nineteen eighteen, and for years every well came up dry. In May nineteen twenty seven the Texas Company, later Texaco, drilled on Dan W. Stephens' land…
You're driving through Fisher County, and right here is where folks in Roby tried to get their own railroad back in 1908. They chartered the Estacado and Gulf Railroad, dreaming of a line stretching 100 miles southeast…
Roby hit its peak as a trade town in nineteen fifty, with sixty businesses, and it still did not have enough water. The Handbook of Texas says inadequate water supplies plagued the Fisher County seat from its beginnings…
You're driving through Fisher County, where the Willingham family built a ranching empire. It started in the late 1880s with a trade of sheep for land. Generations later, in 1949, the Willingham Land and Cattle Company…
You're driving past the site of Pyron, Texas, a town that once thrived before the highway rerouted life away from it. Bob Pyron, a rancher, settled here on Buffalo Creek before 1890, and his cellar even hosted the first…
You're driving through Scurry County, passing the site of what used to be the Lone Wolf community. This area was once home to Kiowa tribes, including the band of Chief Lone Wolf, until the 1870s. The community itself…
As you look at Loraine, try to imagine it with twice as many people and forty-odd businesses along these streets. That was real, and it came earlier than you'd think. Parson Crandall platted the townsite in 1905, and by…
The railroad tracks cutting through Loraine are more than a historical artifact; they are a monument of nineteenth-century engineering. When the Texas and Pacific pushed this line across Mitchell County, surveyors had…
Loraine, Texas, has been home to notable figures throughout its history. George H. Mahon, a longtime member of the United States House of Representatives, spent his youth in Loraine. Additionally, J.D. Sheffield, a…
You're driving through Fisher County, looking at the landscape where rancher Andy Long built his empire. Back in the 1880s, he started acquiring over ten thousand acres for his 'OB' Ranch. This one-room rock house,…
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