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Wellington
Texas Landmarks |
History
in a Pecan Shell
The counties first resident settled the area in 1876.
When the county
was organized in 1890, Wellington had a rival for county seat. Only two miles
from Wellington, Pearl City was thought to be a
shoe-in.
The management of the Rocking Chair Ranch urged their employees
to join the Wellington camp. The strange name was in honor of the Duke of Wellington.
(A distant relation of a Rocking Chair Ranch partner was present at the Battle
of Waterloo.) Voters in the county were offered free town lots if they voted for
Wellington. Hardly anyone was surprised when Wellington defeated Pearl
City.
Wellington got a saloon (moved from Pearl
City) and a post office (mail via Memphis)
in the same year of 1891. The county voted dry in 1898, eliminating the saloon.
Cotton replaced cattle
as the major economic influence and the town had 600 people when the Wichita
Falls and Northwestern Railway came through in 1910.
The arrival
of the Fort Worth and Denver Northern Railway occurred while the new courthouse
was being constructed in 1931 and further improvements in the city's infrastructure
resulted in an increased population. |
| | Bura
Handley
Chances
are good that those citizens of Wellington whose age is less than 60 years may
sometimes wonder just what the man whose name adorns the Bura Handley Community
Center was really like. Perhaps this small accounting of history will provide
some answers to that question, as well as a degree of insight into the character,
integrity, and sheer genius of the man whom I was privileged to call my “Dad”,
while others simply referred to him as “Mister Wellington.” |
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