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History in
a Pecan ShellAround
1909 J. C. (Jim) Bowles and partner Bob Crump formed a townsite company, hoping
to lure a railroad. Land was
bought and a school was built. A railroad (the Santa Fe) did get interested –
after a bonus was paid to them by George
Littlefield, of the famed Yellow House Ranch.
To lure settlers, the
townsite company named the town Shallowater. It wasn’t until June of 1913 when
the railroad was completed and Shallowater declared itself officially founded.
Ranching
in the area was declining and farmers were moving in. Cotton
took the place of cattle. Shallowater
was thriving in the 1920s with new businesses blossoming every month. Gas stations,
blacksmiths, hotels, drugstores and barbers flourished.
A park was built
as well as a public well.
In the early 1920s, the railroad designation
for its depot at Shallowater had been Pacita.
By 1928 the population
had increased to 250 residents – a respectable figure for that time. The town
weathered the Great Depression and the rural exodus of the post war period. First
population figures after WWII
showed just over 1,000 residents in 1960 and 1,339 ten years later.
By
the late 1980s, the population was just over 2,000, declining to 1,708 for the
1990 census – the same number used for 2000. |
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Freight
train near Shallowater
Photo
courtesy Leaflet, wikipedia
See Texas
Railroads |
1940s
Lubbock County map showing Shallowater
(Near Hockley County line)
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos, please contact
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