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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 287. (FM 91 on the east and FM 1167) on the west.
The mountains that comprise the mounds are visible from Highway 287. 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.
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.
Medicine
Mound Attractions
The
Medicine Mound Museum next page
Old
Mounds Cemetery - Historical
Marker
Medicine Mound Ruin
- Photos |
"New
York Steam Laundry"
Medicine Mound old photo courtesy Teresa Byrd, restored by John Bates |
Historical
Marker TextMedicine
Mound CommunityEarly
inhabitants of this area were Comanche and Kiowa Indians whose campsites were
situated around four dolomite hills called Medicine Mounds and known for their
healing properties. In 1854, area land was deeded to a railway company. Anglo
settlers began to arrive in the 1870s. A small village developed but was moved
2.5 miles north in 1908 when the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway was built.
A townsite was platted that year and was fully established by 1911. At its peak,
Medicine Mound boasted 22 businesses and a population of 500. Economic hardships,
the Great Depression and a 1933 fire that burned the entire town were primary
forces in the town's eventual demise. The last business closed in 1966.
(1999) |
Medicine
Mound Hicks & Cobb General Merchandise Store
Photo courtesy Randy Hinsley, February 2011 |
Historical
Marker TextHicks
& Cobb General Merchandise StoreThe
townsite of Medicine Mound had long been a thriving village when brothers-in-law
Lon L. Cobb and Ira Lee Hicks arrived in the area with their families in 1927
and opened a general merchandise store. The store sold such items as work clothes
and clothing material, shoes, cotton sacks, groceries and horse feed. Regular
customers warmed themselves by the fire in winter, indulging in conversation and
checkers. In 1933 a fire all but destroyed the townsite, but Hicks and Cobb rebuilt
that year with round granite cobblestones from Oklahoma. Lon L. Cobb died in 1942.
Hicks carried on and the store was among the last businesses to serve area residents
and migrant agricultural workers. Ira Lee Hicks died in 1966; the structure became
a community gathering place and a Medicine
Mound museum.
(1999) |
|
Photo courtesy Geri Bates, 2006 |
North
side of General Store
Photo courtesy Randy Hinsley, February 2011 |
The
W.W. Cole Building, one of the two remaining building.
Photo courtesy Randy Hinsley, February 2011 |
The
W.W. Cole Building in 2006
Photo courtesy Geri Bates |
| Where
did all the people go?
Photo courtesy John Bates, 2006 |
Historical
Marker (S on FM 3295, junction of FM 1167) TextOld
Mounds CemeteryThis
cemetery served residents of the original site of the community of Medicine Mound
in southeast Hardeman County. The settlement took its name from mounds that rise
abruptly from the otherwise flat topography of the county; one mound contained
springs, herbs and gypsum believed to have medicinal properties. Established by
the late 1800s, the community consisted of Gobins' General Merchandise Store,
a school and a church. The cemetery was adjacent to the one-room building used
both as a schoolhouse and sanctuary. Most early residents of the community participated
in farming or ranching activities. Little information is known about the early
pioneers buried here. It is believed that approximately nine burials took place
in the community's early history. Only one original gravestone, dated 1891, is
preserved, and it marks the burials of two infants, Smoot and Ford Kerley, children
of settlers J.C. and Ida Kerley. Other known burials are of Old Mounds residents
of Mexican descent. In 1908, the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway laid track
two and half miles north of here. Residents moved near the railroad and the previous
community came to be known as Old Mounds. In 1919, the school relocated
as well, and soon the old settlement was entirely abandoned, as was the cemetery.
Today, this burial ground is all that remains of Old Mounds, a testament
to the pioneering farmers and ranchers of this area and the Hispanic families
who lived and worked here.
Historic
Texas Cemetery - 2006 |
 |
"... about 50 yards
off FM1167..."
Photo
courtesy Clay Isbell, December 2012 |
Medicine Mound
Schoolhouse Ruin
The building pictured is indeed the Medicine Mound School, which was closed around
the mid to late 1940's. it was used as a community meeting place until the early
1970's (approximately). My father graduated from this school in 1942. Thanks for
sharing! - Emily Stone, March 12, 2013
Photographer's Note:
"I've traveled Hwy 287 between Decatur and Dumas Texas for years while heading
to destinations further west and never really ventured off the main highway until
recently. While searching for ghost towns on your website, I came across Medicine
Mound and had no clue the town existed. Even as a child back in the 70's I often
wondered what the significance of the mounds were, but we always traveled this
highway as a means to get from point A to point B, never exploring what lay beyond
the blacktop of 287. Now as an adult and self-proclaimed "back road junkie" and
photographer I have planned trips around what has become my favorite stretch of
highway, and thanks to your site I've been able to find hidden gems like the ghost
town of Medicine Mound.
I visited there just after Christmas 2012 and
found the W.W. Cole and Hicks & Cobbs buildings in pretty much the same condition
as I had seen on your website and others. But what I have not been able to find
is the story on the larger building which lies in ruins about 50 yards off FM1167
and across the street from these two buildings. It appears as though it was some
type of school (but seems rather large for the population statistics from the
past). I would appreciate if any of your readers may have some knowledge of its
past and purpose. Thanks for such an informative and intriguing website.
P.S. I have additional photos from Medicine Mound on my website below in the "Ghost
Towns and Old Mines of the West".
Clay Isbell Photography
www.clayisbell.smugmug.com
www.facebook.com/clayisbellphotography
- Clay Isbell, January 01, 2013
|
 |
|
Photo courtesy Clay Isbell, December 2012 |
| 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
|
Medicine
Mound Area Hotels > Vernon
Hotels | Quanah HotelsMedicine
Mound, Texas ForumSubject:
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
Texas Escapes
400th Texas Ghost Town 12-1-06
Medicine
Mound Area Hotels > Vernon
Hotels | Quanah Hotels
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