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Greenbelt Farmers
Co-op office
Photo courtesy Myles Barfield, February 2022 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The town had originally
been in Hardeman County,
seven miles NE of its present site. It had been a relay station on
a stage line from Wichita
Falls to Mobeetie
in the 1880s. Prior to the arrival of the railroad in 1887 (the Fort
Worth and Denver City) the town had an inn, two saloons and a general
store.
When the railroad came through, citizens moved the town across the
county line to be on the rails. The new townsite was built on land
owned by one John Quincy Adams, a settler. Kirkland throve. By 1890
it had a post office and all the necessary businesses to continue
thriving. After a slump brought about by the "Panic" of 1893 - Kirkland
had recovered by 1900.
Crone W. Furr opened a store 1905 - the beginning of what would become
Furr's Cafeteria corporation.
Kirkland once called itself the "Biggest Little City in Texas," a
name also used for sometime by Ozona,
Texas.
In the 1920s Kirkland had a three-room school, three groceries, five
filling stations, three hardware stores, and a bank.
The population was a respectable 500 prior to WWII.
After the war a gradual decline set in and then school consolidation
with Childress in 1958 finished the
town for good. By 1980 only one general store remained and four years
later there were only 100 people left. It has declined further to
the present 44 people - the estimate given on the TXDoT state map.
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Silos in sunset
Photo courtesy Myles Barfield, August 2021
More Texas
Silos |
Silo
Photo courtesy Myles Barfield, February 2022 |
Horse &
tractor in sunset
Photo courtesy Myles Barfield, February 2022 |
Water well
Photo courtesy Myles Barfield, February 2022 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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