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MEDICINE MOUND,
TEXAS
Texas Ghost Town
Hardeman County
FM 1167 and FM 91
9 miles SW of Chillicothe
24 miles W of Vernon
12 miles E of Quanah
42 miles E of Childress
Population:
50 (Estimated but doubtful number used since 1980)
Medicine
Mound Area Hotels - Book Here & Save
Vernon
Hotels
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"New
York Steam Laundry"
Medicine Mound old photo courtesy Teresa Byrd, restored by John Bates |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Like the old saying goes: "If you find Medicine Mound - you had to
have been looking for it." It's not that it's difficult to find -
since it still appears on the state map - it's just that it is on
a long extended spur off of Highway 82. (FM 91 on the east and FM
1167) on the west. The mountains that comprise the mounds are visible
from Highway 82. There are actually four elevations that rise 200-250
feet above the landscape. These are natural mounds that were held
sacred by the Comanches. |
Medicine Mound.
Click on photo for larger image.
Photo courtesy Ken Rudine, July 2006 |
| The older Medicine
Mound community that had been here prior to 1908 moved 2½ miles north
to be alongside the tracks of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway
as it built through Hardeman County. Medicine Mound was once a vibrant
town with a respectable population of 500 served by 22 businesses.
A devastating fire in the early 30s (arson) destroyed most of the
town. By the end of the Great Depression the population was 210 and
the town still had 6 buildings left. |
The W.W. Cole
Building, one of the two remaining building.
Photo courtesy Geri Bates, 2006 |
Today there are
three - about the same number of historical markers. The Medicine
Mound school merged with Quanah's
district in the mid-1950s - about the same time the post office closed.
It is to the staff
of Texas Escapes. Three reasons that come to mind are: #1 It doesn't
mind being called a ghost town. It is what it is and it's certainly
not pretentious (if it ever was). It is proud of it's fascinating
history - but while many former towns are proud - Medicine Mound can
boast having ... more
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Where
did all the people go?
Photo courtesy John Bates, 2006 |
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Subject: Remembering
Medicine Mound
I am
now 62 years old and have fond memories of this now, ghost town. I
lived with my grandparents in a very small house, there. Their driveway
(dirt and gravel) ran beside the Baptist church. My grandmother made
us clean up, if the lights came on at the church and off we would
go to praise God ( and see our friends). My grandfather worked at
the only service station in town and drove the gas truck home at night.
I have fond memories of walking to see my grandfather at the station.
He would always buy my brother and I a 5 cent coke in a glass bottle
and a 3 - 5 cent candy bar. We loved to watch him fix flat tires in
the back room. He would use a patch on the inner tube and would light
it to seal the patch to the tube. We sometime got to go to what we
called Punkin City to pick up gas for the station in the gas truck
with him. We loved this as we sometimes got to eat at a cafe, which
was a real treat.
My brother and I went to school in Medicine Mounds until they closed
it. Then, we rode the bus to Quanah
and back every day. The school at the Mounds had two teachers. Mrs
Matthews taught the younger kids and the principal taught the older
group. I think we only had six grades, I am not sure about that. I
do remember the school as the most fun place. There was a wooden floor
gym and you would enter the bleacher area on one floor and look down
at the gym floor in like a basement area. I remember going to the
gym after hours to be with my uncle to watch him practice basketball
with his friends. While he was practicing, my brother and I loved
to hang over the balcony and drop to the floor below. We thought this
was very daring.
When I was young I remember hearing the foxhunts at night from our
yard. I think my grandmother said they were at the King ranch. I also
remember friends who told me of finding arrowheads on the mounds.
My grandmother would never let me go there.
The last time I went to the Mounds as we all called the town, everything
was all closed up. The school was still there looking very rundown.
The station brought back so many memories, it is hard not to cry,
even as I write this. - Nancy Sue Ashmore, October 16, 2006
Anyone wishing to share stories, memories or photos of Medicine Mound,
Texas, please contact
us
More Ken
Rudine photos
Texas Escapes 400th Texas Ghost Town 12-1-06 |
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