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WINGATE,
TEXASRunnels County,
Panhandle / West Texas
FM 53
53 miles NE of San
Angelo
18 miles NE of Bronte
54 miles
SW of Abilene
Population:
132 (est 2000) |
Entering
Wingate
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007 |
History in a Pecan
Shell
There
aren't too many towns in Texas named after lawyers, but Wingate is one. In this
case it was W. J. Wingate, who practiced law in nearby Ballinger.
Settlement was in the early 1890s. The town built a school in 1891 and opened
a post office the following year. The "Progressive Era" was good to Wingate and
the town got their first bank in 1917. The town had twenty businesses in the 1920s
as well as a new high school.
The population reached 250 in 1940 and by
1990 it remained at 216. It has since declined to 132 - the figure that appears
on the state map. |
| A
closed Exxon Station in Wingate |
Wingate
Cemetery
Photos courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007 |
Wingate SchoolPhotographer's
Note: This is the abandoned school at Wingate TX in northern Runnels County.
There isn't much left in Wingate; but a huge cotton gin is still in operation.
The white fringe on the edges of the roads is from the gin. - Stephen
Taylor, December 30, 2005 |
| A
wintry scene in Wingate |
Another
view of Wingate School
Photos courtesy Stephen & Elizabeth Taylor |
Wingate
Texas ForumWingate
Bank Robbery 1920s
Dear TE, My mother was born in Wingate, Texas in 1923. Although she passed
away several years ago, she often talked of a bank robbery she and her parents
witnessed one stormy day when she was a child in Wingate. In viewing the Wingate
website, I see that a bank was established there in the late 1800's, early 1900's.
My mother's maiden name was Cotton and I would estimate that this robbery occurred
in the mid to late 20's or perhaps as late as the early 30's.
According
to my mother, the townspeople of Wingate acted quickly and shot and killed, at
least one of the young gunmen and possibly two. Their bodies were held for authorities
in a factory or warehouse near my mother's home. Being a history buff, of sorts,
I'm curious if Wingate's archives have such an occurrence on record and what the
details of the incident were. - David R. Ryder, arena197@yahoo.com Eagle Point,
Oregon, November 03, 2006
Wingate,
Texas School c. 1951
My father, Robert N. Cooke, graduated from UT in
1950 as an engineer. Winters was home and, for some reason, he returned to Winters
while looking for a job. The family wound up on my grandfather's farm near Wingate
and my dad's first job was principal and Superintendent of the Wingate School.
This was in the 1950 / 1952 time frame. I was only five years old but can still
remember field trips to Church Peak Mountain to look for rocks with my dad's science
class. I would be very interested to learn where the school records now reside.
- Rhea Cooke, San Angelo, Texas
Anyone
wishing to share history, stories or photos of Wingate, Texas, please contact
us
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