|
|
 |
Motley
County was named after Dr. Junius Mottley (2 Ts) a signer of the
Texas Declaration of Independence who was killed at San
Jacinto.
Matador History
in a Pecan Shell
1879: Matador
Ranch founded
1886: Post Office opened under the name Matador
1891: Ranch Manager sponsored cowboys to set up businesses (for one
day) to insure compliance with the General Land Office's requirement
that county seats have 20 registered businesses.
1893: The county voted for prohibition
1894: Courthouse burns and Sheriff Joe Beckman (a former Matador Ranch
cowboy) turns up missing
1896: Townspeople upset at Matador
Ranch's domination vote out civic leaders that are ranch puppets
1900: The resourceful anti-ranch faction moves in 40 families from
Erath County to vote for town interests
1912: Matador is incorporated
1913: The Motley County Railroad appears
1940: The population reaches its high water mark of 1,302 |
Matador
Ranch cowboys enjoying a catered meal
Photo courtesy Paul Cloyd |
Matador Attractions
and Landmarks
|
The
Motley County Historical Museum
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, July 2009 |
The Motley
County Historical Museum
Early ranch and farm life, and the history of the Matador Land and
Cattle Co.
Housed in the Traweek Hospital Building at Dunee and Bundy Streets.
806-347-2651
More Texas Museums |
Traweek
House >
Recorded Texas Historical Landmark
National Register of Historic Places
927 Lariat Street, Matador, Texas |
Matador City
Hall and water tower
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, September 2007 |
1930s Bob's Oil
Well Gas Station
Jimmy Dobson Photo, June 2017 |
| "Downtown
Matador showing an abandoned grocery store, completely open to the
elements. Locals pass by without so much as a second glance."
- Wes Reeves, 2007 photo |
Spot Grocery
Interior
Photo courtesy Wes Reeves, 2007 |
Motley County
History
A Family Story |
|
|
William Thomas "Billy" Cloyd
Sheriff of Motley County
November 1896 to November 1900
Photo
Courtesy Paul Cloyd |
"My
great grandfather William Thomas “Billy” Cloyd was sheriff of Matador,
Texas and also worked on the Matador
Ranch.
His first wife was Floyd Mary Nelson, from Floydada,
and they were married Dec. 24,1891. They had five children: Willie
Gertrude, Sam Bedford, (my grandfather), Hattie M., Annabelle, and
Chester.
Floyd Mary Cloyd died March 16, 1902.
His second wife was Ava Martin, from Motley Co., and they were married
July 30,1903.
William Cloyd died six months later in January, 1904.
William Cloyd was a Mason and his last wish was that his children
be placed in the Masonic Orphanage in Fort
Worth.
Thomas, Floyd and Ava are in the Matador cemetery side by side.
I have been to the grave sites and also been through the old jail
where they lived. The living quarters were downstairs and the jail
was upstairs. My grandfather had told me about living in the jail
when he was a little boy and watching his dad hang men from a trap
door in the ceiling. Sure enough, when I visited the jail there was
the trap door."
- Paul Cloyd, August 15, 2004 |
|
Related Stories
The Pitchfork Kid
by Mike Cox
A cowboy’s cowboy, the Kid sat a horse well and had the reputation
of being the best roper in the Panhandle. On the sprawling Matador
Ranch, where he spent much of his career as a waddy, the foreman
often worked him as an “outside man,” someone who didn’t mind saddling
up and riding off by himself to hunt up a stray. more
|
Matador Texas
Forum
Subject:
Motley County
Jail
All the stories I heard as a boy growing up in Matador had it that
no one was actually ever hanged in the Jail. It is true that the
trap door is there. - Earle Price, May 22, 2005
|
Motley
County 1940s map
From Texas state map #4335
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| 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. |
|
|
HOME
Texas
Gulf Coast
East
Texas
Central
Texas North
Central
Texas South
Texas
Panhandle
South
Texas
Texas
Hill Country
West
Texas
Texas
Ghost Towns
Texas
Counties
