Dunn
Dunn, Scurry County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Started as change station for teams hauling goods north after T. & P. Railway reached Colorado City in 1881. Freighters camped here beside creek. A blacksmith shop and store were started to supply them. In time a town developed. Mail was dropped at home of Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Dunn. Post office, granted 1890, was given their name; Mr. Dunn was first postmaster. In 1890, the first school was built. A well, windmill and trough were added for travelers and town. Because it was in middle of the road, well was covered when highway was paved in 1938. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Dunn began about 1881 as a change station where freighters resting their teams hauled goods north after the Texas & Pacific Railway reached Colorado City. A blacksmith shop and store sprang up to serve the wagon traffic, mail was dropped at the Dunn family home, and a post office named for them opened in 1890 with the first school built the same year. A community well, windmill, and trough once stood in the middle of the road—covered over only when the highway was paved in 1938.
Why it matters
Dunn is a small monument to the freighting economy that stitched together the West Texas frontier before the railroads and highways reached it, and to how a supply stop could grow into a town.
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Related people
- · A. T. Dunn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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