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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's
Endangered Buildings
Motley
County Courthouse next page
Motley
County Jail next page |
 |
Matador
City Hall and water tower
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, September 2007 |
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 |
| |
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 |
 |
1891
Limestone Motley County Jail, Matador TX
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, September 2007 |
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 |
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us.
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