Community of Comyn-Theney
Comyn, Comanche County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the rapid settlement of this area following the removal of the Indian threat, about 1875, a rural community developed here. Besides a few homes and a school, it had a trading post-store, operated by W. F. Matheney. His name, shortened to "Theney" for business purposes also came to designate the town. Among the pioneer families was that of B. F. Barnes, at nearby Jones Crossing, 1876. His great-grandson Ben Barnes, Lt. Gov. of Texas, was reared in Comyn-Theney. During 1881 the Texas Central Railroad was built through here and a depot established. M. T. Comyn, a railroad official, succeeded in having the town and depot named for him, but the school remained Theney. Soon the settlement could boast several general stores, a post office, drug store, blacksmith shop, lumber yard, cotton gin, cafe, barber shop, and a hall for the Woodmen of the World. In 1918, when Humble Pipeline Company began building a tank farm here to store oil from new West Texas fields, a tent city of several hundred sprang up. But when construction ceased in 1919, the townspeople moved away. Theney Consolidated School, formed in 1924, soon built a new plant and became an outstanding high school. Declining attendance caused it to close, 1952. (1969)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
After settlers poured into this part of Comanche County around 1875, a rural community grew up around W. F. Matheney's trading post, whose shortened name—"Theney"—stuck to the town. The Texas Central Railroad arrived in 1881, a depot took the name of railroad official M. T. Comyn, and the settlement blossomed with stores, a gin, and lodge halls. A 1918 oil pipeline tank farm briefly conjured a tent city of hundreds before construction ended and residents drifted away.
Why it matters
Comyn-Theney's boom-and-bust arc—railroad, then oil, then decline—distills the volatile forces that made and unmade small towns across rural Texas.
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Related people
- · W. F. Matheney
- · Ben Barnes
- · M. T. Comyn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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