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At about the same time the Quakers were creating their Estacado settlement, another business was forming which would bear a large impact on the beginnings of the City of Lubbock. A company was formed in Davenport, Iowa called the Western Land and Live Stock Company, with an initial capitalization of $800,000. This company began by purchasing small ranches in the Yellow House Canyon, and eventually through purchases and leases controlled 245,280 acres of land 14 miles wide and 28 miles long, mostly in Lubbock County. The Ranch, called the IOA, was managed by an experienced rancher by the name of J. K. Millwee, who had worked for John Chisum in New Mexico. The General Manager of the company was David Boaz. The size of this operation did bring many cowboys to the Lubbock area, but due to branding problems, the ranch lost many head by theft, and scarcely had the IOA commenced full scale operations when the most disastrous drought West Texas had ever experienced set in. It started in June of 1885 and lasted until the fall of 1887.
With the IOA Ranch in a highly depleted state, Frank E. Wheelock, a great-nephew of Stillman W. Wheelock, who was a major stockholder in the company, was sent to the ranch in 1887 to learn the ranch operation. In 1889, he succeeded David Boaz as general manager, a position he held until 1901 when the company finally disposed of its holdings. The last remnants of the 7,420 head of cattle were sold to J. M. Dougherty of Abilene, Texas, for $8 a head. Between 1896 and 1901, the land was parceled out to a number of individuals.
The development of Lubbock and Lubbock county was not unlike that of the rest of the Llano Estacado. Were it not for land speculation, nothing much would have happened. Initially, it was railway lands. Unlike most of the rest of the states, Texas did not elect to turn over its public lands to the Federal Government. Therefore, railways and such had to be developed through state funds. To do this, the state government provided railroads with vast amounts of checker board tracts of land, which were then disposed of to speculators. Some of those who originally purchased railroad land in Lubbock County included Derious Varcoe, Samuel Tinley, Jr., J. S. Deator, David Studebaker, Samuel Bronson, W. O. Kulp, Eli Stilson, and J. I. Case.
Adjacent to the railroad land was state owned land. Investors of substance began consolidating some of their holdings of railroad land by purchasing the state owned land.
These land purchases would lead to the creation of the IOA Ranch, and would usher in other ranchers to the area, including Zachary T. Williams, who may be considered the first semi-permanent resident of Lubbock County. He may have moved into the area as early as 1877. The Kidwell and Reynolds ranchholds were also established about the same time.
By 1880, the federal census indicated that there were twenty-five persons whose place of residence was at least temporarily in Lubbock County. Most of these were small sheep and cattle ranchers, along with a few buffalo hunters and either drifters or hands of the ranchers. Of all those counted in the census that year, only Zack Williams stayed in the area long enough to be identified with the beginnings of the City of Lubbock.
During this period and ending sometime after 1893, a number of attractive land purchase acts would bring more and more people to Lubbock County. The series of laws which became known as the Four Section Settler Acts beginning in 1887 required that actual settlers could purchase one section of land classified as agricultural land at $3 per acre, and three additional sections of pasture at $2 per acre. This act would eventually lead to the creation of the City of Lubbock. The following is a list of Settlers who made such filings:
1890
June 2 Bandy, H. M.
June 2 Clark, Albert
June 2 Clark, William S.
June 2 Crump, W. D.
June 2 Goss, D. F.
June 3 Hunt, Irvin L.
June 27 Wray, B. C.
June 27 Goble, B. M.
June 27 Burns, R. C.
June 27 Boles, George M.
July 7 Tierce, Jim
July 7 Leach, S. P.
July 12 Estes, E. W.
July 21 Wheelock, Frank E.
July 22 Hunt, L D.
July 24 Hunt, T. R.
Aug. 5 Tubbs, Isha
Aug. 13 Cobb, W. F.
Aug. 13 Coleman, J. C.
Aug. 13 Freeman, W. Y.
Aug. 13 Wilkinson, William
Aug. 14 McCauley, W. L.
Aug. 15 Adams, R. L.
Aug. 16 King, Jeff
Aug. 16 Lee, R. E.
Aug. 16 Stevenson, George F.
Aug. 16 Stevenson, J. T.
Aug. 16 Stevenson, J. W. "Walt"
Aug. 22 Lewis, C. E.
Aug. 22 Allen, D. D.
Aug. 22 Reynolds, J. J. "Jug"
Aug. 27 Jones, W. P.
Aug. 31 Singer, Rachel A. (wife of Geo. Singer)
Sept. 1 Hadley, M. L
Sept. 5 Carlisle, W. A. "Gus"
Sept. 6 Dansby, J. D.
Sept. 10 Bromley, W. C.
Sept. 10 Bromley, Thos. S.
Sept. 26 Kidney, R. F.
Sept. 26 O'Harrow, J. F.
Oct. 4 McAlister, J. R
Oct. 4 Shannon, G. W.
Oct. 6 Johnson, B. F.
Oct. 17 Cox, Luther C.
Oct. 22 Burns, Jerry
Oct. 27 Crump, R. H.
Nov. 11 Tubbs, W. O.
Nov. 21 Tubbs, William
Nov. 22 Reichel, August
Dec. 1 Kuykendall, J. W.
Dec. 2 Barker, W. C.
Dec. 2 Groves, G. O.
Dec. 2 Stevens, Elmer
Dec. 3 Wood, M. A.
Dec. 12 Fowler, E. H.
Dec. 22 Henderson, W. C. "Connie"
Dec. 24 Anderson, F. A. "Flu"
Dec. 24 Mallard, C. W.
Dec. 27 Higgins, R. F.
Dec. 29 Branch, Martha
1891
Jan. 21 James, E. C
Jan. 21 Sanders, W. E.
Jan. 21 Stubbs, Charles Frederick
Jan. 31 Hiatt, H. C.
Feb. 7 Irwin, J. I.
Feb. 25 Lemond, T. H.
Mar. 17 Lones, John B.
Apr. 15 White, Will H.
Apr. 15 Grundy, F. T.
July 24 Brown, Lawson
Aug. 15 Clark, J. H.
Oct. 6 Bugg, B. E.
Oct. 7 Branden, Thos. J.
Oct. 12 Love, J. W.
Oct. 30 Lane, Christie
Nov. 9 Bowles, J. "Jim" C.
1892
Jan. 2 McDaniel, J. A.
Jan. 2 Sutton, B. F.
Feb. 1 Strother, S. H.
Mar. 19 Wood, J. "Jeff" D.
Apr. 11 Brandy, Richard T.
May 3 Acuff, Michael S.
May 26 Mallard, C. W.
June 22 Garrott, J. C.
Aug. 31 Vaughn, W. C.
Oct. 11 Legett, J. Ben
Dec. 30 Muchlethaler, Fred
Dec. 30 Lay, W. M.
1893
Jan. 3 Moore, U. G.
Apr. 22 Long, W. S
June 1 Greer, Crawford
Nov. 2 Polk, R. F.
Nov. 2 Gholson, Sam S.
While Frederick Jackson Turner described the migration of the Anglo-Americans into the west as the "Farmer's Frontier", what made it possible was land speculation. People were building towns and creating local governments, and sometimes they were creating small fortunes.
After the Texas Constitution of 1876, the West Texas area was carved up into unorganized counties. In order to be organized, a county had to have more than 150 residents. Until then, the county was "attached" to another organized county for legal purposes. Creating small towns, with the intent that the town become the County Seat of newly organized counties, became a popular endeavor for the nineteenth century entrepreneur. His holdings within the town could then be parceled out, it was assumed, at considerable profit.
There were three alliances which figured largely in the organization of Lubbock County, and the creation of the City of Lubbock.
A Mr. W. E. Rayner, a cattleman and manager had already achieved a limited result in such speculation in Stonewall County. In 1890, he decided to try again in Lubbock. At first, he associated himself with W.D. Crump, a Confederate veteran, H.M. Brandy, a Church of Christ minister, and D. F. Goss, an attorney (later a state senator). Later there was a disagreement on where to build the town, and Mr. Rayner broke from the group. He would later build a town on the South Side of the Yellow House Canyon named Monterey.
Yet while Rayner and his group were debating the location of their town, another group, Frank Wheelock of the IOA ranch became interested in the idea of a town when both Crump and Rayner approached him, but remained uncommitted. Rollie C. Burns, his associate at the ranch approached John T. Lofton and James Harrison of Fort Worth for financial support for the project. By August 12, 1890, this group, with added support from the Crump-Gross-Brandy group, established a town called Lubbock on the north side of the Yellow House Canyon. There was a Hotel, the Nicolett, built, and the post office was moved from Singer's store to Old Lubbock, familiarly known as "North Town". Soon, with the arrival of new families from Thorpe Springs, the town began to boom.
During all this, Rayner was not quiet. On August 6th, 1890, he had laid off a town he called Monterey, but which was more frequently referred to as Ray Town, or South Town. He offered inducements to settlers, as did North Town, so that soon his town was enjoying some success.
The history of Lubbock's rapid growth has not been accidental. The early leaders of Lubbock showed both foresight, and cooperation. Many towns in various counties around Lubbock fought fiercely with each other to become the county seat. In many counties, the county seat was changed from town to town at times. But on December 19th, 1890, the two groups mutually agreed to establish a new town. This group of men, consisting of F. E. Wheelock, John T. Lofton, James Harrison, Rollie Burns, H. M. Brandy, George M. Hunt, Henry C. Hiatt, W. D. Crump, W. E. Rayner, Howard Rayner, Joseph Lang, Van Sanders, W. A. Carlisle and George C. Wolffarth came to the following agreement:
(1) To consolidate the two towns;
(2) to select a suitable section for the new town;
(3) to designate Frank Wheelock as the mutual representative;
(4) to move all buildings from the "old towns" to the new site within a month,
except "one small building in each town" which could remain and the Nicolett
Hotel for which two months or any reasonable time necessary was allowed for the move;
(5) to adopt the town plat used for the town of Monterey;
(6) to divide the town lots equitably between the two factions, and;
(7) to share equally the future cost of promoting the consolidated town.
The tract of land agreed on was Section I, Block O, purchased from H. G. Ferris of Carthage, Illinois on January 12, 1891. Along with the county, the city was named for Tom S. Lubbock, a former Texas Ranger, Confederate officer, and brother of Francis R. Lubbock, the civil war governor of the state of Texas.
A few of the early businesses that immediately went into the new business district around the town square included J. D. Caldwell's and Singer's stores, Ed T. Cox's barber shop, W. D. Phenix's blacksmith, Wheelock's livery stable, G. W. Lee's laundry, and Sanders and Lewis liquor emporium.
The city organizers, beginning in March and April of 1891 began deeding lots to their supporters. Records show that the following individuals were deeded land around this time period:
Mrs. John O'Harrow
W. E. Sanders
Sanders & Lewis
E. B. Covington
Van Sanders
Sallie McKay Coleman
James I Irvin
W. L. McCauley
George W. Fry
J. D. Caldwell
R. F. Kidney
W. F. Cobb
R. B. Robertson
W. R. Yates
Lucy Johnson
J. P. Kennedy
George W. Singer
M. C. Porter
J. O. Talbott
S. S. Gholson
W. F. Hendrix
J. B. Leggett
Tang Martin
R. A. Wilkerson
G. W. Shannon
W. A. (Gus) Carlisle
H. G. Welborn
H. Butler
S. H. Lockwood
E. Y. Lee
Sam B. Irvine
George W. Groves
William Tubbs
Isham Tubbs
W. C. Parker
G. L. Lee
E. W. Estes
Felix Franklin
Q. Bone
Joseph Lang
T. H. Lemon
George B. McCauley
E. H. Estes
R. H. Porter
John W. Allen.
Lofton and Harris
J. K. Turner
W. D. Crump
D. F. Goss
Rollie Burns
J. C. Ferguson
D. B. Jackson
Robert Linn
S. P. Stubbs
E. B. Covington
M. M. Cox
T. R. Hunt
C. E. Lewis
George M. Hunt
W. V. Marshburn
W. C. Henderson
L. O. Hunt
W. C. Hyatt
W. P. Nelson
C. A. Goodwin
J. J. Reynolds
J. L. O'Bannon
R. H. Crump
W. N. Green
J. M. Lowry
A. W. Callahan
J. B. Green
H. M. Bandy
Sid B. Swink
H. C. Knight
E. C. Knight
M. L. Hadley
J. B. Jones
Walter Gaskill
W. S. Clark
J. B. Mobley
Elmer Stevens
G. M. Bales
V. G. Moore
Isaiah Cox
E. J. Pruitt
B. F. Johnson
A. J. Pharr
D. M. Ealy
Soon, it was possible to hold an election to organize the county government. With 100 settlers, and settlers on the ranches and stock farms, the organizers were able to hold an election on March 10, 1891 with the prerequisite of 150 inhabitants. Lubbock was selected as the county seat, G. W. Shannon was elected as the first county judge, J. D. Caldwell, F. E. Wheelock, L. D. Hunt and Van Sanders were elected commissioners, William M. Lay was elected as the first sheriff, Will F. Hendrix was elected as county attorney, and George Wolffarth was elected as county clerk. The county commissioners held their first meeting on March 19, 1891, and governed the City of Lubbock until its incorporation in 1909.
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During that first year, the county commissioner's court made decisions on a number of important matters: (1) Will McCauley was appointed acting clerk until George Wolffarth could post bond and qualify, (2) Will F. Hendrix was certified as county attorney, (3) A school district was established, with George Hunt, Isham Tubbs and W. V. Marshburn as trustees, (4) established roads, (5) authorized the construction of a courthouse, (6) established taxing authorities and (7) authorized the sale of the county's four leagues of school land.
By the close of 1891, the county commissioner's court had moved from Sheriff Lay's house to a building rented from W. E. Rayner and county government was fully functional.
At its very inception, Lubbock was clearly a church town. Not only did many of the Quakers from Estacado move to the town, but Church of Christ groups led by the Reverends Smith and Brandy (an original organizer of the City) made up a large proportion of the town's population. The newly erected jail, without cells at the time, functioned as a church, a school, and a sort of social center. Later, when the cells were installed, the newly built Court House took over these functions for many years.
By 1900, the small community must have been an amusing sight. The two most imposing buildings were the Nicolett Hotel (probably the first Hotel on the South Plains) and the courthouse, with its public windmill. But that wasn't the only windmill, for almost every other house in town also sported their own windmills. All of those windmills turning in time must have been a truly magical sight. The streets of the new town were unpaved, and either dusty, or muddy, but there were also numerous trails dissecting the town in a more or less random fashion.
Most of the homes where scattered east of the town square. By 1907, this area would be called the Overton Addition. Living conditions around this period reflected what many "West Texans" might now think of as primitive. There was no electricity and heating and cooking were managed with coal stoves. Some stoves were fitted with water heating devices to allow for a Saturday night bath.
During the early 1900s, the three most common problems faced by early Lubbockites were weather, fire, and occasional fuel shortages. Most houses were frame, but West Texas windstorms would billow inside these houses almost as easily as in the streets. In winter, the northern winds would sometimes cause a sudden 20 degree drop in temperature, and severe cold spells killed many cattle and caused hardships in the years 1886 - 1887, 1898, and 1904 - 1905. Tornadoes where always another cause for alarm.
Grass fires were another nuisance. It was believed that most structural and grass fires were caused by lightening. Structural fires were fought by an early volunteer fire department and then an official fire department. The fire fighters were summoned by gun shots. Grass fires also swept the area in 1899 (a thirty-mile wall of flame consumed all the pasture from Olton to Hale Center) and in 1905, when hundreds of cattle were killed in the Yellow House Canyon.
Hunting was an early favorite activity of residents. Wolves, or "lobos", and coyotes were hunted both professionally and for sport. Almost everyone owned ice skates, for skating on the surface of small lakes and stock tanks. Traveling roller skating rinks would come to town, along with the Molly Bailey circus which everyone loved. The original Lubbock Band, usually consisting of two violins, three guitars, and a bass violin played at all of these affairs, and later at a bandstand built on the square.
Picnics were a principal form of entertainment, with some group organizing one almost every week, and square dances were held on almost every occasion (though dance halls seemed to be frowned upon). Other activities included baseball, football, bicycle riding and horse racing. Foot racing was often held on Avenue H, and wrestling, but not boxing became popular after the turn of the century. As early as 1907, a moving picture show was exhibited.
It was natural for rodeos to gain popularity in country such as this, and there is a recollection of a rodeo as early as July 4th, 1902. Occasions such as Roundup, the Fourth of July and Christmas saw big barbecues, which usually ended in a square dance. Because of the religious nature of the community, Christmas was the largest celebration with many activities.
Many early religious organizations were formed during this period, but the best remembered non-religious organization was the Literary Society. There was also a children's literary society, known as the "Brigade", a Junior League, a Mothers Club, and a dramatic society called Hawthorne Club. Other clubs not associated with the school or churches included a medical society and the forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce, the Lubbock Commercial Club founded on August 22nd, 1907. The Lubbock Commercial Club was founded with a membership of sixty businesses. Other organizations were formed for specific needs, including the Cemetery and Library Associations.
Even though the two greatest influences on the people of Lubbock were the church and school, there was certainly the crime associated with a frontier town. During some periods of these early years, gunshot wounds were the fourth leading cause of death. The most numerous crimes involved gambling, with malicious mischief coming in a distant second. Twelve people were charged with a forgotten law, refusal to work on a public road. It is interesting to note that many of the early leaders were involved with disruptions such as fist fights, particularly considering their early and later cooperation.
Indeed, cooperation was required to sustain the growth of Lubbock. One of the town's creators, W. E. Rayner, had been deeded alternate lots in the heart of town. This became a major problem when businesses required space to expand, because Rayner refused to sell, preferring to keep his holdings for greater profits later on. It became such a problem that there was talk of moving the town, so on May 16, 1906, the Lubbock Townsite Company was formed to either buy the land from Rayner or move the town to a different site. Almost everyone in town purchased shares, and a successful bid to purchase Rayner's property was made. Later, the property was sold to residences at a small profit.
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What spurred the area on towards growth was the rise of the farmer, and king cotton. Cotton was not prominent until after a mass meeting was held where townspeople joined together to build a gin in Lubbock. Frank Wheelock supervised its establishment, and seven hundred bales of cotton were ginned the following year. From that time forward, cotton grew to be one of the principal economic activities on the South Plains. By 1913, the railroad came to Lubbock, Texas, cementing the city's domination of the South Plains.
