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Terry County Historical Markers

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Marker Title: City of Brownfield
Marker Number: 881
Address: US 380, at Courthouse
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1971
Marker Location: Courthouse grounds, US 380, Brownfield.
Marker Text: County seat of Terry County, founded in 1903 by developers W. G. Hardin and A. F. Small. Named for Brownfield family, prominent property owners and ranchers in the area. Measuring with only 100 feet of wire, Hardin and Small laid out a town on this site (then a pasture) and offered a lot to each voter in county. Streets (named for first settlers) were designated and a general store, hotel, and school were built. In 1904 the town vied with Gomez for county seat, winning by slim margin. Present economy is based on farming and oil. (1971)

 
Marker Title: Brownfield Cemetery
Marker Number: 12225
Index Entry: Brownfield Cemetery
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1999
Marker Location: SH 137, .5 mi. N of US 82/380
Marker Text: The first public burial ground in the new Terry County seat of Brownfield was begun in 1904 when 19-year-old Jessie Hill died and was interred here. By 1907, this land belonged to M. V. Brownfield; records do not indicate whether the cemetery was named for him or for the town. During World War I, the Great Depression and World War II, the cemetery fell into decline as local residents were unable to maintain it. Hispanic farm workers began to settle in this area in the 1940s and 1950s, and by the 1970s the cemetery reflected the change in population. A reorganization of the cemetery association in 1980 led to much-needed improvements. More than 2,000 graves, about 375 of them unmarked, graced the cemetery in 1999. The cemetery remains a chronicle of Terry County. (1999)



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Marker Title: A. M. Brownfield Home
Marker Number: 56
Index Entry: Brownfield, A. M.
Address: 600 E. Cardwell
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1985
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Location: 600 East Cardwell, Brownfield
Marker Text: A. M. Brownfield, for whose family this town was named, came to Terry County as a rancher in 1900. An early community leader, he organized the Brownfield State Bank in 1905. Built as a home for his family in 1928, this structure exhibits influences of the Spanish colonial style of architecture. The concrete and clay building materials were used to make the home as fireproof as possible, since an earlier family residence had been destroyed by fire in 1915. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1985.

Marker Title: Old Daugherty House
Marker Number: 3718
Index Entry: Daugherty House, Old
Address: 1206 Tahoka Road
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1969
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Location: 1206 Tahoka Road, Brownfield.
Marker Text: Built for F. M. Daugherty about 1904, one year after son-in-law A. M. Brownfield helped found town. Lumber was hauled here by wagon. Style is typical of era. Site of early gatherings. Later home of the local midwife. Has been remodeled. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1969.

Marker Title: Forrester Cemetery
Marker Number: 12226
Index Entry: Forrester Cemetery
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1998
Marker Location: 6.6 mi. S of Brownfield on Fm 403; 2.2 mi. W on dirt road
Marker Text: Longtime residents recall the burial of a woman, probably Mrs. W. C. Lusk, on this site in 1922 or 1923. Other burials occurred here as well, in what was then an open field on J. A. Forrester's farm. Forrester and his wife Nealie sold a two-acre plot, which became known as Forrester Cemetery, to the Union Independent School District in 1925. The first recorded burial was that of Edna Mae Edwards, an infant who was born and died on April 23, 1926. The many unmarked and children's graves reflect the harsh conditions of farm life in the early part of the century. The last recorded burial was that of Melvin Hill in 1961. The cemetery is all that remains of the community. (1998)

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Marker Title: Gomez
Marker Number: 2211
Index Entry: Gomez
Address: 4.4 mi. W on US 380
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1974
Marker Location: From Brownfield, take US 380 West about 4.4 miles.
Marker Text: In 1903, owners of land here in center of then-unorganized Terry County platted this town, secured a post office named for Spanish-American patriot Maximo Gomez, drilled a public water well, and induced merchants and citizens to move here. This was the first inhabited townsite in the county. Its promoters hoped it would be the county seat, but that honor went to Brownfield (4.4 mi. E) in 1904 when the county was organized. Gomez had a post office until 1926, school until 1941. A church, some businesses (.75 mi. NW), and the old cemetery retain the name.

Marker Title: Gomez Baptist Church
Marker Number: 2212
Index Entry: Gomez Baptist Church
Address: 6 mi. W on US 380
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1988
Marker Location: From Brownfield, take US 380/82 west about 6 miles.
Marker Text: On August 3, 1903, nine worshipers gathered together to organize a Baptist church. Led by the Rev. J. R. Miller, the congregation met once a month in the Gomez schoolhouse. A one-room sanctuary, erected in 1909, was moved three-quarters of a mile northwest when Gomez was relocated due to highway construction. A larger church building was erected in 1936, and by 1942 the church had its first full-time pastor. The Gomez School, converted for church use in 1953, was destroyed by fire in 1960 and was replaced by a new structure. 1988

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Marker Title: Gomez Cemetery
Marker Number: 2213
Index Entry: Gomez Cemetery
Address: 5.6 mi. W on US 380; 0.5 mi. S on Co. Rd.
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1970
Marker Location: From Brownfield, take Highway 380/82 about 5.6 miles west, then take county road about .5 miles south.
Marker Text: Established in 1902 in Gomez (then 0.5 mi. W of here), first settlement in Terry County. Original 4-acre tract was deeded to Gomez School trustees in 1906 by pioneer settler H. F. Adams. Some of earliest settlers are buried here. Many graves were moved to Brownfield in 1918. 1970

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Marker Title:   Joe T. and Laura Hamilton Home
Year Marker Erected:   2005
Marker Location: In Hamilton Park just off US Hwy 62-82 north of downtown
Marker Text:   In 1885, Joseph Thomas Hamilton (1856 - 1932) married Laura Letha Franklin (1857 - 1936) in Franklin County, Texas.   Natives of southern U.S. states, the couple moved west with their first three children and settled here in 1902 before Terry County was organized.   In 1907 they established a home near this site.   Joe was a stock farmer, carpenter, mail carrier and livery worker and he was one of three men contracted to build the county's first courthouse.  Laura, in addition to managing a large household, often assisted neighbors as nurse and midwife.   Today this site is a link to the early pioneers who built Brownfield and surrounding communities.

Marker Title: Maids and Matrons Club
Marker Number: 3186
Index Entry: Maids and Matrons Club
Address: 702 E. Broadway
City: Brownfield
County: Terry
Year Marker Erected: 1990
Marker Location: 702 East Broadway, Brownfield
Marker Text: In 1906, three years after the founding of Brownfield, eleven women gathered together to form a club. Named Maids and Matrons, the club became primarily a study group in 1907, and the members founded the town's first library that year. Affiliated with the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs in 1915, the club continued to operate at the library and supported numerous civic causes. When the Kendrick Memorial County Library was organized in 1957, the club donated their 3,000-volume collection of books to form the nucleus of the institution's holdings.

Marker Title: Mail Relay Station
Marker Number: 3188
Index Entry: Mail Relay Station
Address: 14.5 mi. SE on SH 137
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1973 Marker Location: From Brownfield, take SH 137 about 14.5 miles southeast
Marker Text: W. J. French (1859-1930) settled here in 1903, and built two-story house. Site became regular water stop for freighters and drovers. In 1905, French obtained the mail contract between Lamesa and Gomez, via Brownfield. Five-passenger "hacks" started each day from Lamesa and Gomez, and met at this half-way point at noon to exchange mail and passengers and change horses. After riders were served a hot meal, cooked by Mrs. French, "hacks" returned to starting points, completing a 40-mile round trip. Service was discontinued in 1910, when mail was rerouted.

Marker Title: Meadow Depot
Marker Number: 3308
Index Entry: Meadow Depot
Address: Meadow Park
City: Meadow
Year Marker Erected: 1975
Marker Location: Meadow Park, Meadow
Marker Text: Meadow was founded in 1904 on public land grazed by L-7 Ranch herds; village moved to this site on the Santa Fe Railway line in 1917. Soon settlers were arriving with livestock in one end of a boxcar, furniture in the other. A boxcar was used as a station. This depot was built in 1911 at White Deer (200 mi. NE), moved here in 1923, used until 1965, then given to the community and relocated in the park (1967) as a relic of the town's early development. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1975.

Marker Title: Meadow United Methodist Church
Marker Number: 3309
Index Entry: Meadow United Methodist Church
Address: 3rd & Sefton streets
City: Meadow
Year Marker Erected: 1986
Marker Location: Corner of Third and Sefton Streets, Meadow
Marker Text: Methodist worship services were held in this area as early as 1904 by the Rev. J. A. Sweeney, a pioneer West Texas circuit rider. On Feb. 1, 1920, the Rev. J. W. Baughman formally organized this congregation with 17 charter members. Services were held in the schoolhouse or in the Baptist church building until the members built their own sanctuary in 1922. The Meadow Methodist Church was long associated with the plains circuit, serving for a time as its headquarters. The congregation welcomed its first full-time pastor in 1951. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.

Marker Title: Route of Nolan Expedition
Marker Number: 4370
Index Entry: Nolan Expedition, Route of
Address: 2.5 mi. SW on US 62/82
City: Meadow
Year Marker Erected: 1972 Marker Location: From Meadow, take U.S. 62/82 southwest about 2.5 miles
Marker Text: Army and civilian effort in 1877 to halt raiding of Chief "Old Black Horses" Comanches. In group were 60 Negro troops of Co. A, 10th U.S. Cavalry, and 22 buffalo hunters known as "The Forlorn Hope". Troops departed Fort Concho in early July, led by Capt. Nicholas Nolan. Eluded by Indians and finding water holes dry, on July 7 men were thirst-crazed. By drinking horse blood and urine, soldiers lived 86 parched hours; finally reached old supply base. Hunters left group; found water alone. All but 4 soldiers survived this heroic test of endurance.

Marker Title: The Oak Grove
Marker Number: 5387
Index Entry: Oak Grove
Address: US 62/82 at north city limits
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1969
Marker Location: US 62/82, at north city limits, Brownfield
Marker Text: Landmark for pioneers, freighters, these "Shin-Oaks" are unusual for growing spontaneously on treeless high plains.

Marker Title: M. B. Sawyer Ranch House
Marker Number: 3159
Index Entry: Sawyer, M. B., Ranch House
Address: 7.3 mi. S on FM 403; 0.25 mi. E on Co. Rd.
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1970
Marker Location: From Brownfield, take FM 403 South about 7.3 miles to county road; take county road 1/4 mile east
Marker Text: Home of Monroe Brown Sawyer and wife Rebecca (Skeen); built 1902. One of earliest homes in Terry County, it predated town of Brownfield. Building material for original five rooms was hauled from Colorado City and Big Spring by wagon. House has been remodeled extensively. In 1881 and 1882 M. B. Sawyer was a Texas Ranger, Company C, Frontier Battalion. He expanded 21 sections of land, bought in 1901, into a 33-section ranch. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970.

Marker Title: Terry County
Marker Number: 5233
Index Entry: Terry County
Address: 10 mi. E on US 380/82
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: From Brownfield, take US 380/82 about 10 miles east in roadside park
Marker Text: Formed from Young and Bexar territories; created August 21, 1876, organized June 28, 1904. Named in honor of Colonel Benjamin Franklin Terry 1821-1861. Leader of the famous Terry's Texas Rangers. Brownfield, the county seat primarily a farming area.

Marker Title: Terry County's First Jail
Marker Number: 5234
Index Entry: Terry County's First Jail
Address: 608 E. Cardwell
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1975
Marker Location: 608 East Cardwell, Brownfield
Marker Text: Terry County, organized in 1904, had no jail facility until this frame structure was erected in 1916 on the southeast corner of the courthouse square. The one-room building with two steel cells was replaced in 1926 by a jail located on the top floor of the new courthouse. This small structure then became property of A. T. Fowler, who moved it to his farm in the 1940s. The outside walls were plastered and the interior used for storage. Given to Terry County Heritage Museum in 1974 by A. T. and Terrell Fowler, the old jail was transferred to this site and restored.

Marker Title: Colonel B. F. Terry and Terry's Texas Rangers
Marker Number: 957
Index Entry: Terry, Col. B. F., & Terry's Texas Rangers
Address: US 380, at courthouse
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Location: Courthouse lawn, US 380, Brownfield
Marker Text: Native of Kentucky. Came to Texas 1831. Member Secession Convention. Commanded reinforcements of state troops sent to Rio Grande for the capture of Federal arms, property at Fort Brown. Went to Virginia hoping to be in first battle of war. Cited for valuable volunteer service in first Battle of Manassas. Returned to Texas with orders to raise cavalry regiment which soon attained fame as Terry's Rangers. Accepted his commission only when men elected him Colonel. Killed Woodsonville, Kentucky leading unit's first charge. His loyal Rangers carried his name until war's end. Buried Glenwood Cemetery, Houston. Terry's Texas Rangers - Ten companies of the "Kid Glove" gentry of Texas enlisted for the duration of the Civil War, forming the famed Terry's Texas Rangers. With their able leaders, this 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment joined Johnston's command in Kentucky. History finds it easy to call these Texas men fighters. They were excellent horsemen, marksmen, utterly reckless. Individual heroism was not uncommon. Their deeds were praised at Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Bragg's Raid into Kentucky and their last charge at Bentonville, N.C. Called upon to cover retreats, to invade enemy lines to get information, harass the enemy and to lead charges.

Marker Title: Tokio School
Marker Number: 5495
Index Entry: Tokio School
Address: 14 mi. W on US 380/82
City: Brownfield
Year Marker Erected: 1991
Marker Location: In Tokio, 14 miles West of Brownfield on US 380/82 R.O.W.
Marker Text: Early classes in the Tokio area were held in the ranch house of the J Cross Ranch near the turn of the century. In 1911, a school building was constructed near the center of town (about 300 feet N), and classes were relocated. Larger school buildings later were erected, once due to fire and twice due to changing space needs. The school facilities continued to serve the community's educational as well as religious and civic needs until 1941 when Tokio School was consolidated with the Brownfield Independent School District.