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LEFORS, TEXAS

Gray County, Texas Panhandle
First County Seat in Gray County
Hwy 273 and FM 2375
10 miles SE of Pampa
57 miles NE of Amarillo

Population: 610 (1990) 816 (1980)

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History in a Pecan shell

First there were the buffalo. Then a man with the pioneer name of Travis Leach moved into the area in the 1880s. The other settlers consisted of a few others - the Lovett, Lefors, and Thut families. Emma Thut* was the first unmarried woman in Gray County. At 14 she was getting worried about becoming an old maid so she married the man LeFors. They lived in a dugout, which was the custom, and Emma's father Henry was the first postmaster.

The first post office had dirt walls and the "mailboxes" were carved into the walls. Henry expected Lefors to grow and carved 14 boxes into the walls, although only four were used. Thut also brought in the lumber for the first Gray County Courthouse. After the county seat became Pampa, the Thut family moved into the old courthouse.

Lefors had a severe blizzard in 1938 and 90% of the town was destroyed in 1975. Each disaster claimed one life.

In 1932 Lefors became a stop on a railroad built between Childress and Pampa. The railroad let the whole town ride to Childress and back for free.

Lefors, Texas Forum

*There is no Emma Thut... she is Emma Lang... a sister to Henry Thut's wife... She married Perry LeFors. Thank you. - Ray Carter

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