Fletcher Ranch
Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1878 James Robert Fletcher, his wife, and son Lorenzo Thomas (1868-1939) came here from Granbury. Their caravan included a small herd of cattle and work animals. A carpenter came to construct a two-story ranch house. Fletcher filed for a patent on this land because of the nearby spring-fed creek, large trees for wood, coved for animal protection and ample grass. The first spring Fletcher planted sorghum for his cattle, making this one of the first cultivated areas in the county. He shipped Merino sheep from California and made an unsuccessful attempt at raising the first sheep on a large scale in the area. Lorenzo ("Lo") walked to school at Buffalo Gap and later to Buffalo Gap Presbyterian College, marking a trail with buffalo skulls which could be seen by moonlight. After his father died in 1886, Lorenzo took over the ranch operations. In 1889 he married Lula May Cummings whom he met at Buffalo Gap College. They had three children. Their daughters have developed the Lytle Cove land into a wildlife refuge for birds, deer, and wild turkey. This ranch is recognized as the oldest property in Taylor County still occupied by the original family. (1979)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1878, James Robert Fletcher led his family and a small herd from Granbury to this West Texas spot, drawn by a spring-fed creek, timber, and grass. He planted sorghum for his cattle in the first spring — among the earliest cultivated fields in Taylor County — and even shipped Merino sheep from California in a bold if unsuccessful venture. His son Lorenzo, who as a boy marked a moonlit trail to school with buffalo skulls, took over the ranch and passed it down through generations that still hold it today.
Why it matters
Recognized as the oldest property in Taylor County still held by its founding family, the ranch embodies the pioneering, experimental spirit of frontier stock-raising on the West Texas plains.
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Related people
- · James Robert Fletcher
- · Lorenzo Thomas Fletcher
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Taylor County
Abilene, TX
Created in 1858, Taylor County honors brothers Edward, James, and George Taylor—Tennesseans aged 18, 20, and 22 who came to Texas in 1833 and died together at the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Organized in 1878 with its first seat at Buffalo Gap, the county saw the Fort Concho–Fort Belknap stagecoach and Kansas-bound longhorn herds pass through before the county seat moved to Abilene in 1883. The marker also surveys how Texas named its 254 counties, most for the heroes of independence, statehood, and the Confederacy.
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