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Matador
Ranch cowboys enjoying a catered meal
Photo courtesy Paul Cloyd |
Motley
county was named after Dr. Junius Mottley (2 Ts) a signer of the Texas Declaration
of Independence who was killed at San Jacinto.
History in a Pecan
Shell:
1879: Matador Ranch founded
1886: Post Office opened under
the name Matador
1891: Ranch Manager sponsored cowboys to set up businesses
(for one day) to insure compliance with the General Land Office's requirement
that county seats have 20 registered businesses.
1893: The county voted for
prohibition
1894: Courthouse burns and Sheriff Joe Beckman (a former Matador
Ranch cowboy) turns up missing
1896: Townspeople upset at Matador Ranch's
domination vote out civic leaders that are ranch puppets
1900: The resourceful
anti-ranch faction moves in 40 families from Erath County to vote for town interests
1912: Matador is incorporated
1913: The Motley County Railroad appears
1940: The population reaches its high water mark of 1,302 |
Matador
Attractions and LandmarksMotley
County Courthouse
The
Motley County Historical Museum - Early ranch and farm life, and the history
of the Matador Land and Cattle Co.
Housed in the Traweek Hospital
Building at Dunee and Bundy Streets. 806-347-2651 |
Matador's
Endangered Buildings
Matador has several buildings on the Historic Commission's
Endangered Buildings List.
Bob's
Oil Derrick Service Station
c. 1940
The
Traweek Hospital Building c. 1928
Matador
Hardware and Supply c. 1916
The
First National Bank Building date unk. |
| "Downtown
Matador showing an abandoned grocery store, completely open to the elements. Locals
pass by without so much as a second glance." - Wes Reeves, 2007 photo |
| Spot
Grocery Interior - Photo courtesy Wes Reeves, 2007 |
Motley County History
A Family Story |
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William Thomas "Billy" Cloyd
Sheriff of Motley County
November
1896 to November 1900
Photo Courtesy Paul Cloyd |
"My
great grandfather William Thomas “Billy” Cloyd was sheriff of Matador, Texas and
also worked on the Matador Ranch.
His first wife was Floyd Mary Nelson,
from Floydada, and they were married Dec. 24,1891. They had five children: Willie
Gertrude, Sam Bedford, (my grandfather), Hattie M., Annabelle, and Chester.
Floyd Mary Cloyd died March 16, 1902.
His second wife was Ava Martin,
from Motley Co., and they were married July 30,1903.
William Cloyd died
six months later in January, 1904.
William Cloyd was a Mason and his
last wish was that his children be placed in the Masonic Orphanage in Fort Worth.
Thomas, Floyd and Ava are in the Matador cemetery side by side.
I have been to the grave sites and also been through the old jail where they
lived. The living quarters were downstairs and the jail was upstairs. My grandfather
had told me about living in the jail when he was a little boy and watching his
dad hang men from a trap door in the ceiling. Sure enough, when I visited the
jail there was the trap door."
- Paul Cloyd, August 15, 2004 |
Matador
Texas ForumSubject:
Motley County Jail
All the stories I heard as a boy growing up in Matador
had it that no one was actually ever hanged in the Jail. It is true that the trap
door is there. - Earle Price, May 22, 2005
Anyone
wishing to share history or photos of Matador, please contact
us.
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