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DALHART, TEXAS
Dallam
County Seat, Texas
Panhandle
36°3'39"N 102°31'7"W (36.060856, -102.518656)
On US 54, 385, 87
31 miles SW of Stratford on US 54
30 miles N of Channing on US 385
66 miles N of Vega on US
385
70 miles NW of Amarillo
US 87
ZIP code 79022
Area code 806
Population: 8,310 Est. (2019)
7,930 (2010) 7237 (2000) 6,246 (1990)
Book Hotel Here › Dalhart
Hotels |
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History in
a Pecan Shell
Originally called
Twist, Texas or Twist Junction - Dalhart also tried
using Denrock - a combination of the names of the two railroads that
crossed here (the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and the
Fort Worth and Denver Railroad).
After their choice was rejected by postal authorities, they came up
with another combination - this time of the two counties - Dallam
and Hartley. Other
significant events are in this simplified timeline:
1901: Town platted when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
crossed the tracks of the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad.
1902: Town Incorporated
1903: Dalhart replaced Texline as
the Dallam County
Seat
1906: Town gets water tower
1921: County library opens for business
1920s: Dalhart's recently restored La Rita Theater is opened
1936: XIT
Ranch Reunion Association formed. |
Dalhart, Texas
Attractions
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Dallam/ Hartley
Counties Museum: 108 East 5th Street
La Rita Theater:
311 Denrock Street
Lake Rita Blanca:
FM 281 South - Rita Blanca Canyon and Lake
According to Texas Park & Wildlife, "Lake Rita Blanca State
Park is the second most important wintering area in the Texas Panhandle
for migratory waterfowl using the central flyway, attracting from
40,000 to 100,000 geese alone to 150-acre Lake Rita Blanca. In addition,
large numbers of neo-tropical, migratory birds pass through the
park each spring and summer." Texas' northernmost state park
has since been transferred to the city of Dalhart.
Dalhart Tourist Information
Dalhart Chamber of Commerce - 806-244-5646
102 E. 7th Street
www.dalhart.org
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Dalhart, Texas
Chronicles:
The 1929 Train Wreck in Dalhart
From "Area
full of historical tidbits" by Delbert Trew
One of my recent articles told that today's Dalhart was known at one
time as Twist when the first railroad
was constructed through the area. This statement generated an e-mail
from Gerald Hook of Russellville, Ark., who is my "resident railroad
expert."
He sent an article from a 1929 railroad magazine that reported on
Dec. 9, 1928, at 2:15 a.m. a northbound freight train moving at about
25 mph ran about one mile beyond Twist, a sidetrack where it was supposed
to wait for a southbound passenger train to pass by. It seems the
passenger trains always had right-of-way over freight trains. This
created a terrible train wreck.
Since this was before diesel engines, the steam boiler of the passenger
train was ripped loose and came to rest on top of the cars of the
freight train. The glowing fire-box of the boiler set fire to a railcar
containing gasoline and eventually 10 railcars burned.
Three railroad employees died in the crash and 45 other passengers
were injured. Blame for the wreck was placed on the freight train
crew. Seems no one noticed they had passed the sidetrack entrance
at Twist. The conductor admitted he was "attending paperwork" and
depended on the rear brakeman to keep watch on the train's progress.
Where was Twist exactly? According to an October 1940 copy of the
Official Railway Guide, Twist was an unmanned station at milepost
388.5, some 4.8 miles south of today's Dalhart on the old Fort Worth
and Denver City Railroad. Thanks to Gerald for this information.
© Delbert
Trew
"It's All Trew" |
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Dalhart Caboose
Photo courtesy James Feagin, 2-2002 |
People
Tex
Thornton: King of the oilfield firefighters and rainmaker
by Clay Coppedge
The oil fields of the Texas Panhandle in the 1920s and ‘30s were a
place where a man who knew how to use nitroglycerin could make a good
living for himself. Ward A. “Tex” Thornton was such a man. He learned
all about nitro when he went to work in 1913 for an Ohio company that
manufactured torpedoes. He brought that knowledge along with a steady
hand and no small degree of courage to the oil fields around Amarillo
in 1920... more
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Dalhart, Texas
Vintage Images
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Dalhart, Texas,
1910-1930
Click on image to enlarge
DeGolyer
Library, Southern Methodist University |
Excursion Crowd
of Land Buyers, Dalhart, Texas
Click on image to enlarge
Photo
courtesy Dan
Whatley Collection |
Memories of yesteryear
in the west - Stagecoach Robbery
Click on image to enlarge
Photo
courtesy Dan
Whatley Collection |
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The
Trans-Canadian Sanitarium in Dalhart, Texas
Postcard circa 1900 courtesy THC |
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Dalhart
main street
Postcard circa 1900 courtesy THC |
Dallam
County 1940s map
From Texas state map #4335
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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