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Scotland City
Limit
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The town was
not named after the country but for Canadian investor Henry J. Scott,
who bought land and platted the town about 1907.
As a German Catholic community, the population was made up of farmers
who transmigrated here from Central and South Texas. The town was
connected to the outside world in 1908 when the Southwestern Railroad
arrived from Henrietta
and a post office opened that same year.
By 1910 the population was up to 600 and the railroad now connected
Scotland to Archer
City. Scotland entered a decline around 1920 when the railroad
abandoned its tracks. Nearby oil discoveries failed to reverse the
downward spiral but hopes were still high and the town managed to
build a new school and auditorium in 1922.
There were only 316 people by the mid 1920s and that figure remained
in place for years. With improved roads allowing residents to find
jobs in Wichita
Falls, the population declined to a mere 250 by 1950. The local
school closed two years later.
In the mid 1960s Lake Arrowhead was conceived and as it neared
completion workers and new landowners brought the population back
up to 350.
Lake Arrowhead is owned by the City of Wichita
Falls and provides their water supply. In 1970 Scotland was
back down to only 145 people served by six businesses, but by 1990
it was up to 490. Scotland has since spread across the county line
into Clay County
and the 2010 population is back up to 501.
Photographer's Note:
A little over 400 people living mostly in a small part of a town
covering several square miles, one historical marker, one church
and cemetery, several interesting ranch or home drive entrances,
and someone's huge collection of rusting old farm tractors pretty
much sums up this town. The collection of tractors is impressive,
unless you've seen the collection outside of Toco. - Mike
Price, September 2009
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J. H. Meurer
Home
U.S. 281, Scotland
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Historical Marker:
J. H. Meurer
Home
German native John
H. Meurer (b. 1850) settled his family in this area about 1900 when
he became a land agent for H. J. Scott of the Clark and Plumb Company.
In selling over 60,000 acres of land, Meurer helped to establish the
towns of Windthorst (6 mi. S) and
Scotland (named for H. J. Scott), both primarily German Catholic settlements.
Meurer had this one-and-a-half story home built in 1911. The 11-room
house with wraparound porch remained in the Meurer family until 1941
when Saint Boniface Catholic Church purchased it to serve as a residence
for parish priests. (1982) |
St. Boniface
Catholic Church.
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Ranch Gate
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Ranch Gate
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Ranch Gate
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Old tractor
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Collection of
Tractors
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Collection of
Tractors
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
| 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
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