Childress
A city of 6624 residents, according to the roadside sign
seen when entering the city. Childress Cemetery's earliest grave
stone is marked 1887. There are approximately 6000 graves
in the cemetery.
EARLY
CHILDRESS ST. NAMES
Arlie
Arlie had a sizeable population of about 25 families in the area
before the first post office was established. In adition
to the post office, there was a school, a church, a gasoline
pump station, a blacksmith shop, a grocery store, a hotel, a
cotton gin, and a general merchandise store that later housed
the post office. The cemetery has about 250 graves dating from
1888.
Surnames of early settlers: Adkins, Alexander, Arnn, Balch, Beal,
Bearden, Bell, Bennett, Black, Bomer, Brown, Calcote, Caver,
Chappell, Clark, Coleman, Covey, Connard, Cornelius, Crawford,
Culbank, Davenport, Deahl, Eliott, Epps, Fields, Forbis, Garrison,
Gardner, Greer, Hamman, Hays, Hill, Hunt, Jones, Kelly,
Lemons, Lawrence, Mannahan, McClendon, McKnight, Mills, Motsenbocker,
Nalley,Newman, Nichols, Overacre, Owens, Payne, Poling, Reid,
Reynolds, Robertson, Savage, Scivally, Scott, Stephenson, Stogsdill,
Ticer, Tinsley, Vest, Wagener, Walker, Walls, Welch, West,
Wilks, Woods, and Wyrick.
Carey
Carey was established when the railroad was
built in 1886. At one time, Carey was home to a dozen businesses,
churches, and two cotton gins. There are several families
still living in Carey, though most of the small town is gone.
Carey gained some notoriety in 1937 when it's high school basketball
team won the State of Texas championship. A nearby lake
two miles from Carey contains a recreational housing community
of about 50 homes. A school reunion is held every two years.
About 250 graves in Carey cemetery just east of town and dates
from the first grave in 1908. Surnames of early settlers: Arnn,
Arnold, Blansit, Bowman, Bownds, Bostick, Bradshaw, Clifton,
Collins, Cox, Dalton, Davenport, Dry, Farmer, Fite, Foust, Gaither,
Gunn, Halford, Hill, Hoover, Inman, Johnson, Knox, Lambert, Lane,
Long, Martin, McCracken, McGehee, McILroy, McNutt, Miller,
Mills, Myers, Owen, Parrish, Phillips, Redwine, Rice, Robinson,
Rutledge, Simmons, Scott, Trent, Weatherly, Webb, and Williams
Cee
Vee
Located between the N. and S. Pease Rivers,
in what the author Zane Grey referred to as the 'cedar breaks'
and named for the Cee Vee ranch, at one time consisted of two
grocery stores, a post office (1928), red brick school, a gin,
and a cemetery. The Baptist and Methodist churches met in the
school building. Surnames of early settlers: Alexander, Bostick,
Boykin, Burns, Crain, Cook, Crooks, Eddins, Davis, Gilbreath,
Hankins, Hoffman, Hitt, Jones, Long, Lyon, Lyles, Munson, Morris,
Newman, Tysen, Riddell, Roberts, Robertson, Stanford, Teague,
Weir, Whitten, Woodard, Worsham.
Community Center
This community consisted
mostly of a red brick school building and gymnasium with classes
through high school, which was highly competitive in team
sports such as basketball and volleyball. There were two
or three nearby houses and a general store and gas station at
one time. There is no evidence of the community today. Surnames
of early settlers: Hassell, Loter, Wheeler, Woodard.
Garden Valley
Located in the sandy area near the Red River, Garden Valley
had a high school competing in team sports such as basketball.
There were two general stores, a cotton gin, a joint Baptist/Methodist
church. The town came into existence about 1895.
Little remains today. Surnames of early settlers:
Andrews, Bates, Biddy, Blair, Bolton, Burnett, Carradine, Crain,
Harris, Heckathorn, Johnson, Kennedy, Kiker, Klihr, Metz, McAllister,
Morrow, Patton, Settles, Sharp, Soles, Stewart, Stipes, Teague,
Thomas, Watts, Williams, Wiles, Woodard, Woods, Wrinkle.
Gilpin-Harrell Chapel
Located in the extreme northwest corner of the county, isolated
by the big ranches, the community was settled in 1887 by farmers.
The first county commissioner , J. A. Taylor, was elected in
1887. Surnames of early settlers: Ballard, Estes, Nelson,
Rowell, Taylor
High Point
Located south of Childress on the Paducah highway, High Point
was an early school erected in 1902. There was a grocery
store, a post office, a service station, and a general merchandise
store built in 1906. The school was damaged or destroyed
by three tornados during its lifetime.
Surnames of early settlers: Bruce, Boyd, Crawford, Fitzgerald,
Groseclose, Halford, Halliberton, Heckathorn, Henson, Jones,
Parr, Stewart, Taylor, Williams.
Kirkland
(Click here for Old Photos)
Click HERE for a map
of Kirkland with names.
Kirkland High School 1917-1958 List of Students
Kirkland was one of the earliest communities in the Childress
County area, being a trading post ten miles northeast of it's
present site. It was a stage coach station, and Indian
trading post until the railroad came through in 1887 and the
community moved to its present site. The second largest
community in the county, it still exists though there are very
few people living there now. At one time it was labeled
"the biggest little town in Texas" with a population
nearing two thousand people. There is a cemetery with about
630 graves about 1/2 mile out of town on US Hwy 287. The
cemetery dates from the first grave in 1908. A school reunion
is held on the first Saturday of October every year in Childress.
Surnames of early settlers: Adams, Alexander, Alford, Armstrong,
Atchley, Bailey, Baird, Bass, Belt, Biggerstaff, Biggs, Billingsley,
Bohannon, Boyd, Brady, Bridges, Brooks, Brown, Brumbelow, Bunn,
Brummett, Byars, Campbell, Cartlidge, Casstevens, Chapman, Clark,
Clements, Close, Coats, Cobb, Collins, Collyer, Cook, Cooper,
Cowan, Cox, Cross, Crowder, Dial, Dill, Dillon, Dobbs, Dunn,
East, Ellis, Felton, Felts, Fielder, Fowler, Furr, Green, Galbraith,
Gallegly, George, Gillam, Glass, Graham, Gray, Hamilton, Hardin,
Hare, Harp, Harris, Harwell, Holliman, Holtman, Howard, Hughes,
Jarrell, Kelley, Key, King, Lanier, Leonard, Lincycomb, Lisenbee,
Long, Low, Macon, Mallory, Maxwell, McCarkey, McCullough, McDaniel,
McMinn, McNeill, Meece, Monaghan, Mock, Moore, Morris,
Myers, Nichols, Nippert, Payne, Pennington, Perkins, Phillips,
Pickrel, Pieratt, Pittman, Powell, Preston, Pryor, Rea,
Richeson, Rickman, Roddy, Rowlett, Royall, St. Clair, Sanders,
Schluter, Scott, Sides, Shanks, Sharp, Simpson, Smith, Snodgrass,
Spark, Stepp, Storm, Stuckey, Taylor, Terrell, Thomas, Thompson,
Trammel, Trickey, Trosper, Tyner, Waldrip, Wallace, Walling,
Walraven, Ward, Weatherred, West, White, Williams, Williamson,
Wright, Yeargain, and Yount.
Lazare
(Cottle County)
Located about 2 miles south of the Childress county line,
Lazare lies on the Cottle/ Hardeman county line on FM104.
The community consisted of a general store, church, school house,
auto service station, post office, railroad depot (serving the
Q,A&P), and a few houses. The remnants of a couple
of buildings exist today. Surnames of some early settlers:
Leonard, Davidson, Harris, Mayo, Thomas
Loco
/ Buck Creek
The community of Loco existed from about 1892 (1st
post office) with a brick school house built in 1932 (replacing
the earlier 3 room school of Buck Creek (an earlier name for
Loco). Buck Creek cemetery is located 2 1/2 miles south
of Loco. The earliest burial was in 1892.
Surnames of early settlers: Austin, Battles, Bell, Brown,
Campbell, Carpenter, Creasy, Crow, Edwards, Fortney, Griffin,
Hawkins, Irvin, Joyner, Lanier, Langston, Leslie, Malley, McLaughlin,
Payne, Rogers, Salter, Smith, Steen, Terry, Thomas, Woods, Wyatt.
(CC note, partial listing ofBuck
Creek Cemetery)
Lonnie
The church and school building was still standing
in the 1970s. At one time, there was a cotton gin, a grocery
store, school house, church and blacksmith shop. The cemetery
is shared with Olympus. Surnames of early settlers: Austin, Carroll,
Cochran, Cooley, Cox , Crook, Fletcher, Hankins, Henry, Johnson,
Key, Lewis, Lovens, Mardis, Smith, Stone, Wyman,
Shores Creek
The first settlers came in 1888. A school house was built,
and also used as a church in the midst of this farming community.
Surnames of early settlers: Barley, Barnes, Boyd, Calloway, Cheatheam,
Custer, Douglas, Groseclose, Hays, Holman, Hudson, Jones, Knight,
McClures, McCrady, McFarland, Moates, Parr, Pierce, Purcell,
Reese, Rucker, Sandifer, Shaw, Simmons, Spain, Summers, Taylor,
Walker, Watts, Worlick,
Olympus
The community consisted of a church, a post office, a school
house, and a general merchandise store. The school was
consolidated with Riverside school in the 30s, with grades 1
to 4 taught at Olympus, grades 5 to 7 at Riverside, and high
school at Childress. The cemetery is shared with Lonnie.
Surnames of early settlers: Bowman, Clark, Keeton, Kindle, Manning,
Minter, Mitchell, Morrow, Smith, Stone, Williams.
Olympus School Roster 1918-19 Olympus
School Thanksgiving Service 1918
Olympus/Lonnie
The cemetery has about 140 graves
dating from 1893. Surnames of early settlers: Angel, Bailey,
Benningfield, Bowman, Boyd, Buzbee, Cagle, Cates, Covey, Cox,
Earley, Goodson, Hall, Henderson, Huggins, Keeton, Kindle, Lankford,
Loffler, Loven, Mardis, Mitchell, Morrow, Perry, Peters, Palk,
Richesin, sarles, Schaefer, Smith, Stamps, Stewart, Stephens,
Stone, Wattenbarger, Williams, and Worrell.
Tell
Another old community that still exists. Liquor stores
in the otherwise dry county make it a popular shopping center
for alcoholic beverages. Tell has a high school reunion
every two years. The Tell cemetery has about 225 graves
and dates from the first grave in 1900.
Surnames of early settlers: Adams, Allen, Ashby, Barrow, Blalock,
Bolton, Brooks, Caldwell, Cannon, Cardwell, Carlile, Cato, Chamberlain,
Copeland, Craig, Crain, Cromart, Crone, Cross, DeHart, Diggs,
Drummonds, Edwards, Ellison, Ewings, Fords, Forline, Fox, Francis,
Frazier, Garrison, Gephart, Goff, Hall, Hawkins, Hill, Hughes,
Jones, Johnson, Keel, Lynch, Lyle, McKnight, McCoy, Merrell,
Miller, Moseley, Murray, Peery, Philpott, Redwine, Rhodes, Richardson,
Rothwell, Savage, Sherrod, Shields, Skinner, Smith, Spinks, Stinnett
,Tate, Tippett, Veazey, Voyles, Ward, Whitten, Wyatt, and Wygal.
Tell School Reunions
Tennessee Valley (Cottle
County)
Once a part of Childress County, now about a mile south of the
Childress County line in Cottle County, Tennessee Valley
school served a number of Childress county families.
There was also a church and cemetery with about 100 graves dating
from 1891. After its early heyday it continued to exist
for a number of years as an elementary school (grades 1 to 7).
The cemetery remains and is well tended. The cemetery is
located approximately at the intersection of FM1033 and FM104.
Surnames of early settlers: Bass, Beasley, Bradley, Brown, Brumbelow,
Burch, Carter, Christopher, Conn, Couch, Covington, Crabtree,
Cross, Cunningham, Davidson, Dennington, Evans, Fowler, Green,
Groves, Harbison, Harris, Hays, Hill, Holcomb, Hunnicutt, Hutton,
Inman, Johnson, Jones, Johnson, Jordon, Key, Lemons, Lovett,
Macon, Martin, McMinn, Moran, Page, Parker, Payne, Pearce, Pelley,
Perkins, Pierce, Potts, Sample, Scarbrough, Sears, Sharp, Thomas,
Tice, Walkup, Wallace, Wallin, Williams, Winton, Wisdom, Woods
and Wynn.
Union Flat
Nothing remains at this site. Surnames
of early settlers: Teague, Law, Rogers, Hassell, Mitchell, Holtman,
Heckathorn, Pirtle, Goodson, Gartrell, Compton, Jones, Privitt,
Pyle, Conway, West, Terrell.
19 March 1999 Prepared
by Colonel (USAF Ret) Sydney Key from data contained in
"The Childress County Story" by Michael
G. Earle, "They Followed The Rails" by Paul
Ord, "Childress County Cemetery Listing" by Mike
Hughes, "Tennessee Valley Cemetery Listing" provided
by Lois Stiner, and Sydney Key's personal knowledge of
the area
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