Texas Panhandle Ghost Towns
Many towns in the Texas Panhandle have grown over time, but others have dwindled and some have been almost completely forgotten. Each has its own unique history with a story to tell. I invite you to take a look at these, you may have already driven by them and did not know it...
Aberdeen, TX - Collingsworth County
Co Road J and CR 220
17.5 Miles N of Wellington
About 30 Miles SE of Shamrock
Aberdeen, named for the Earl of the same name, was, in the late 1880s, the headquarters of a division of the English-owned Rocking Chair Ranch. In 1889 a post office opened and being severely short of people, a ranch foreman became the first postmaster.
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Adobe Walls, TX - Hutchinson County
17 miles NE of Stinnett
28 miles NE of Borger
78 miles NE of Amarillo
Just north of the Canadian River
Adobe Walls named for the first structure that appeared around 1845-46 when an 80 foot square adobe structure was built and named Fort Adobe. The name Adobe Walls has been applied to several trading posts north of the Canadian River.
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Allenreed, TX - Gray County
Interstate 40 and FM 291
7 miles W of McLean
59 miles E of Amarillo
2 miles N of the Donley County Line
The present site of Alanreed was laid out six miles south of Eldridge in 1900 by surveyors of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Texas Railroad. The name came not from a man, but a partnership - the contracting company of Alan and Reed. Eldridge was settled in the early 1880s on the stage line from old Mobeetie to Clarendon.The original site of Eldridge is marked by the Eldridge Cemetery
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Arlie, TX - Childress County
Intersection of FM 1034 and Sand Creek
Arlie was established in 1888 and named for Arlie Griffith Weddington, an early resident. A post office was granted in June 1888. In 1930 the Arlie post office changed its name to Loco and remained in operation until December 1964.The Arlie Cemetery still remains.
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Ashtola, TX - Donley County
9 Miles NW of Clarendon
Ashtola was established in 1906 as a section house on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway. The townsite was originally named Southard and was granted a post office in March 1906, with Thomas F. Lewallen as postmaster. Two stores and a one-room schoolhouse were added by 1908. In 1916 W. A. Poovey, acting on the request of postal authorities, sought to have the town's name changed to Poovieville, but the name Ashtola was chosen instead. The post office was discontinued in 1956. In 1958 the Ashtola school district was consolidated with that of Clarendon.
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Ayr, TX - Deaf Smith County
Location Unknown
In January 1890 the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway sent fifteen surveyors to survey a potential spur. Five miles from the center of Deaf Smith county, a townsite was platted and named for the Scottish city of Ayr. Early the next spring, land buyers came to the region and settlement was begun. A store was built and a post office opened. Ayr (which later changed its name to La Plata) only lasted a brief five years.
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Back City, TX - Gray County
Located on Texas Highway 273
SE of Pampa
9 miles North of McLean
I-40 Exit 141
The Back community began in 1904 with the arrival of J. D. Black who purchased 640 acres of land. In 1899, a rural school was established nearby. In 1927 oil was discovered on Black land - a gusher flowing at an estimated 6,000 barrels a day.
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Bautista, TX - Moore County
10 miles S of Dumas
5 miles W of US 87 and 287
Nothing is known about Bautista other than an old grain elevator located approximately 10 miles south of Dumas, TX.
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Bippus, TX - Deaf Smith County
11 miles S of the Oldham County Line
11 miles East of the New Mexico Line
The town was settled on land that had been part of the XIT Ranch. Around 1910, several families bought small parcels from the ranch. They built their homes within a ten-mile radius of one another. A Russian immigrant named Geo. Bippus donated land for a school building and the town was named in his honor.
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Boise, TX - Oldham County
South of I-40
20 miles W of Adrian
24 miles W of Vega
Boise was a shipping point with a depot and was used until the Rock Island discontinued Panhandle service.
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Boydston, TX - Gray County
Near Interstate-40 and
the Gray / Donley County Line
24 Miles S of Pampa
The town was named for Henry Sanford Boydston, the first settler here. Mr. Boydston donated land for the town cemetery. - which remains in place. A post office was granted in the early 1890s about the same time the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railroad arrived.The Boydstun Cemetery still remains
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Bunker Hill, TX - Dallam County
Not found on a map
Union Mennonite Cemetery
The only thing remaining is the old one room school house which sits off of a paved road between highways 102 and 1727. The Union Mennonite Cemetery is located in the Bunker Hill area on private property. The graves are between the years 1929 and 1935.
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Chamberlin, TX - Dallam County
Located near US Highway 54
10 miles NE of Dalhart
The town was located alongside the tracks of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It had no post office but was served by a single store.
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Coldwater, TX - Sherman County
SE of Stratford
Sherman county was organized in 1889 and Coldwater, named after the creek of the same name, became the county seat. When the railroad bypassed the town, Stratford became the county seat in 1901. The Coldwater Cemetery still remains.
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Conway, TX - Carson County
Interstate 40 & Hwy 207
9 miles S of Panhandle
12 miles E of Amarillo
The town, located alongside the tracks of the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway, began before the arrival of the railroad. The town was named in honor of a former county commissioner (H. B. Conway) and a post office was granted in 1903. The Lone Star school, established in 1892, is said to be the first in the Panhandle.
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Cuyler, TX - Carson County
Hwy 60 between Panhandle
and White Deer
A rural school community on the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, the district was organized around 1910 and named after Cornelius C. Cuyler, one of the owners of the White Deer Settlement.
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Dozier, TX - Collingsworth County
FM 1036 and FM 1547
10 miles S of Lela
6 miles NW of Samnorwood
Located near the Salt Fork of the Red River in north central Collingsworth County. A post office was granted in 1904 with the Dozier school district being organized five years later when a schoolhouse was built.The Dozier Cemetery still remains
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Eldridge, TX - Gray County
FM 291 and County Road X
5 Miles North of Alanreed, Tx
I-40, Exit 135
Eldridge, located at the forks of North McClellan Creek and McCellan Creek, was named after Colonel Eldridge, stationed at nearby Fort Elliot. The area was first used as a supply depot for the Army during the Red River Wars. A Post Office opened in March 1886. The Eldridge Cemetery , established in 1888, was the first cemetery in Gray County and is currently open to the public via County Road X.
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Electric City, TX - Hutchinson
3 miles N of Borger
On the southern bank
of the Canadian River
The town was built in 1926 during the Hutchinson County oil boom. The name is a reference to the Riverview Power Plant, constructed by the Panhandle Power and Light Company to furnish electricity to the oil fields - allowing them to drill at night.
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Fort Elliot, TX - Wheeler County
State Highway 152
W of FM 48
1 mile E of Mobeetie
Fort Elliot was established June 5, 1875 and was one of the last forts established in Texas for purpose of clearing the region of Indians.The post was abandoned in 1889. A a civilian post office operated from 1878-1880 adjacent to the fort. The Fort Elliot Cemetery is E of Cowboy Creek, NW of Fort Elliot.
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Gazelle, TX - Hall County
W of Parnell
N of State Highway 86
Gazelle was granted a post office in 1893 with the postmaster submitting the name - in honor his friend, a conductor on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad. The post office officially closed in 1903.
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Giles, TX - Donley County
Co Road Z
5 Miles SE of Hedley
Giles grew up around water tanks and stock pens on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway near Browder Springs. Cattle-shipping pens were built on the site to accommodate the needs of area ranches. R. E. Montgomery, townsite agent for the railroad, surveyed the area early in 1888. A section house was built one mile northwest, and Edgar L. Mevis, a railroad employee, opened a general store. A post office opened at the community in 1888. Annie Rhone Mevis served as postmistress and became legendary for her kindness to those in need. The post office closed in 1939..
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Glenrio, TX - Deaf Smith County
Hwy 840 off I - 40
23 miles SW of Adrian
Glenrio, originally named Rock Island, started as a as a railroad siding on the Rock Island Railroad around 1903. In 1908 the town was renamed Glenrio by the railroad. The town was split by the Texas / New Mexico state line and had a post office on the New Mexico side of the line. The town didn't survive being bypassed by Interstate 40 in September 1973.
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Goodnight, TX - Armstrong County
14 miles SE of Claude
40 miles SE of Amarillo
Named for famed cattleman Charles Goodnight. The first building in town was reportedly Goodnight's ranchhouse, built in 1887. The Fort Worth and Denver City Railway soon came through and established a depot and the post office opened in 1888. Besides the Goodnight Ranch facilities, only two churches and the Goodnight Cemetery remain today.
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Hulver, TX - Hall County
4 Miles S of the Prairie Dog
Fork of the Red River
S of Hwy 86 on CR 24
6 Miles W of Estelline
Hulver was Hall County's first post office south of the river. Opened in 1891, the post office was named for the middle name of William Hulver Meador of nearby Newlin, Texas. Hulver was the site of the Mount Nebo school, also the first (school) south of the river. The post office closed in 1898. It reopened about twelve years later and closed for good in 1920. Hulver's school closed in 1930. Only the Hulver Cemetery remians as a reminder of the town.
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Ideal, TX - Sherman County
Formerly in Hutchinson County
SE Corner of Sherman County
Other than having a post office, there are no details for this town.
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Isom, TX, - Hutchinson County
Now inside Borger city limits
In 1900 John F Weatherly, a rancher, opened a store in his ranchhouse which also became the first post office. Mrs. Weatherly opened a cafe and the community had a school by 1907. In October of 1919 the Isom post office closed. In December 1926, a petition declared a merger with Borger.
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Jeffry, TX, - Hutchinson County
FM 281
21 Miles NE of Stinnett
Jeffry, Located in NE hutchinson County, had a post office from March 1902 to October 1918. Holt School, built in 1906 on land donated by Ben Holt. The Holt Cemetery is all that remains of the town.
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Jericho, TX, - Donley County
Intersection of Highway 70 & I-40
Exit 124
Jericho was was established in 1902 as a station on the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway and was granted a post office in the same year. In the 1930s, Route 66 was moved one-half mile north, by-passing the town and was the begining of the end. The post office closed in 1955. The Jericho Cemetery still remains - it received its first burial in 1895 which predates the town and the railway station by seven years.
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Kerrick, TX, - Dallam County
36 miles NE of Dalhart
17 miles N of Stratford
The town was named for Harrison S. Kerrick, a railroad official and area landowner. Kerrick's post office was in operation from 1933 until 1961. Kerrick schools consolidated with the Stratford District in 1950.
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Kings Mill, TX, - Gray County
Highway 60
1.5 miles W of FM 2300
6 Miles SW of Pampa
The post office was opened under the name Elca in 1916, but the name was changed to Kings Mill in the 1920s after Englishman Andrew Kingsmill, a representative of British investors who held the bonds for the White Deer Lands Trust. In 1907, a depot at the new community was built by the Southern Kansas Railway of Texas. The post office was closed in 1966.
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Kirkland - Childress County
Highway 287 and FM 1033
8 Miles SE of Childress
The town was in Hardeman County, seven miles NE of its present site. When the railroad came through, citizens moved the town across the county line to be on the rails. The Kirkland Cemetery is located half a mile from the Kirkland town site
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Laketon - Gray County
Highway 60
15 miles E of Pampa
Located on a spur of the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway in the early 1900s, Laketon was named for several local small playa lakes. A post office was established in 1907 and discontinued in 1910, but was reestablished in 1929 only to close for good in 1954.
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Landergin - Oldham County
Interstate 40 and CR 29 by Exit 28, 7.5 mi west of Vega.
Exit 28, 7.5 miles W of Vega.
The town of Landergin was establishedin 1908 with the arrival of the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway on land owned by Patrick and John Landergin. The Landergins established a supply store near the railroad switch, and a small community developed.
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Lesley - Hall County
Highway 256
7 miles W of Lakeview
In 1902 local resident James P. Montgomery opened a post office at his home and named it after his son, Lesley. It remained in Montgomery house until 1907, when it was moved to the town's general store. The post office closed in 1915. The Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery remains in Lesley, TX.
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Lillie - Collingsworth County
2.5 Miles W of Hwy 83 intersection
of the Salt Fork of the Red River
Lillie was once a part of the Rocking Chair Ranch. Organized as one of Collingsworth county's school districts around the turn of the century, the village was granted a post office in 1905 which remained in operation only until the Spring of 1910. Lillie lives on in the name of nearby church on FM 2344.
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Lipscomb - Lipscomb County
State Hwy 305
49 miles SE of Perryton
Lipscomb was established in 1886 with a post office opening the same year. When county was organized in 1887, Lipscomb became the county seat, named for A. S. Lipscomb, secretary of state in Republic of Texas. The first courthouse was built in 1887and a new courthouse was erected, 1916. The Lipsomb Cemetery was established in 1887.
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Loco - Collingsworth County
FM 1438 and 1035
N of Childress
Named for the abundant locoweed growing in the area, the settlement began in the 1880s. A post office opened in late 1892 and closed in 1908. In 1930 the Arlie post office moved to Loco and was renamed. Buck Creek Cemetery (Loco Cemetery) remains - located 0.6 miles north of US-62E on FM 1438.
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Lonnie - Childress County
1 Mile E of US 83
on County Road L
Lonnie sits on land once owned by the Diamond Tail Ranch. The town had its own post office from 1909 to 1913
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Lutie - Collingsworth County
Hwy 86 and FM 1439
12 miles N of Wellington
Lutie sits on land once owned by the Rocking Chair Ranch. Although not originally called Lutie, the name was changed to Lutie in 1909 with the opening of its post office, which closed in 1913. The Pleasant Valley school district was organized in 1908.
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Machovec, TX - Moore County
7 Miles N of Dumas
Hwy 287
Although there is no record of such a town, Machovec does appear on early Moore county maps.
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Masterson, TX - Moore County
19 Miles S of Dumas
Hwy 287
Masterson was founded in 1927 as a support community for Canadian River Gas plant. The Bivins Elementary School, in Masterson, was built in 1937. The Masterson post office was established in 1950 and was located in the Exell Store, built in 1948.The Bivins school was closed in 1978 and the post office closed in 1984.
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Middle Water, TX - Hartley County
20 Miles SW of Dalhart
on Hwy 54
Middle Water, named for the nearby Middle Water Creek, was first established in 1888 as a division of the XIT Ranch. The brick school opened in 1931 and closed some time around 1960. The local post office was run out of a residence in Middle Water.
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Middlewell, TX - Moore County
Intersection of FM 722
and Middlewell Rd
14 miles NE of Channing
Middlewell, was named by it's proximity to the middle of three water wells located on the LIT Ranch in the 1870s. The wells were named East Well, Middle Well and West Well. The original Middlewell School was established in 1902. In 1908 the school was moved to a frame structure 3/4 mile North of the Middlewell. From 1908 to 1927 school was held in the frame building, and in 1927 classes were moved into the new brick building. Classes continued to be held until 1963 when the school was consolidated with the Bivins School. The school building was used as the Community Center from 1963-1976.There is reference to a Middlewell Private Cemetery with only one memorial for Bennie E. Ford, who past away, Dec. 6, 2014.
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Mobeetie, TX - Wheeler County
Hwy 152
12 miles NE of Wheeler
31 miles E of Pampa
Mobeetie began in 1878 as Hidetown, a buffalo hunter's camp. The residents petitioned the state to become a recognized county and they chose the name of Sweetwater because of the proximity to Sweet Water Creek. In 1879, a request was made for a post office, but was denied due to the previous existence of a town by that name. In a search for a new name, it came to be that "Mobeetie" was the Cheyenne word for Sweetwater and the name stuck. Mobeetie was elected county seat when Wheeler County was organized in 1879. The first courthouse in the Texas Panhandle was built in Mobeetie in 1880. In 1907, with a controversial election, the county seat was moved to Wheeler. The Mobeetie Cemetery is till in use today.
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Moluck, TX - Hansford County
NE Hansford County
There is no information for the town of Mulock. It is shown on a 1907 Hansford postal map along with a reference to a postcard dated 1914 and cancelled with the Mulock postmark. The postcard reference refers to the post office as being located in a sod home near a crossing of the Palo Duro Creek along the Dodge City / Tascosa Trail with Ira Mulock being the postmaster. A June 1, 1900 USPOD Postal Route Map shows the Moluck site as being part of the current mail route. There is a reference to the New Hope Cemetery as being close to Mulock.
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Newlin, TX - Hall County
12 miles SE of Memphis
3 Miles N of Estelline
The town was nmaed after WJ Newlin. He supposedly camped there with Charles Goodnight on a buffalo hunt in the late 1870s. A post office was established in February 1890 and the first school also began in 1890. The school was consolidated with Estelline in 1947 and the post office was closed in 1968. The Newlin Cemetery is located at 34°36'20"N 100°26'45"W and is still in use today.
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