Former Office Site of Texas Land & Development Company
Plainview, Hale County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Unique agricultural pioneer. Founded in 1912 by J.W. Grant and M.D. Henderson, who obtained Eastern and European capital to develop 65,000 acres of Hale, Floyd and Swisher county lands. This area became one of the most productive in America, because of the irrigated and drylands farming methods used by T.L. & D., which operated until 1956. Winfield Holbrook was the vice president and general manager; W.J. Klinger, secretary-treasurer; D.D. Bowman and W.F. Lowe, farm superintendents. Mary L. Cox, of the staff, wrote local history. (1973)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1912, the Texas Land & Development Company was an agricultural experiment on an enormous scale, drawing Eastern and European capital to develop 65,000 acres across Hale, Floyd, and Swisher counties. By pioneering irrigated and dryland farming methods on the High Plains, the company helped make the region one of the most productive in America before winding down in 1956. Its officers, farm superintendents, and even a staff historian left their mark on Panhandle agriculture.
Why it matters
The company's irrigation-driven model showed that the semi-arid Texas plains could be turned into rich farmland, reshaping the agricultural map of the American West.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the early twentieth century, the Texas High Plains around Plainview were still largely seen as ranch country, a vast, flat, semi-arid grassland better suited to cattle than crops. Rain was unreliable, and many people doubted that large-scale farming could ever succeed there.
All the same, this was an era of big ambitions for American agriculture. Railroads were reaching the Panhandle, land companies were selling acreage to newcomers, and both farmers and investors were testing new ideas about how to make dry country productive. Irrigation and dryland farming methods were at the center of that experiment.
The Texas Land & Development Company was founded in 1912 in the middle of this transformation, when the High Plains were turning from open range into one of the country's important farming regions.
People & events
The company was founded by J.W. Grant and M.D. Henderson, who did something unusual for a regional land venture: they brought in capital from the East and from Europe. With that backing, they set out to develop some 65,000 acres across Hale, Floyd, and Swisher counties, an enormous amount of land to bring under cultivation.
Its success depended on the people who ran the operation day to day. Winfield Holbrook was vice president and general manager, and W.J. Klinger was secretary-treasurer. In the fields, farm superintendents D.D. Bowman and W.F. Lowe oversaw the hands-on work of applying irrigated and dryland methods to the plains.
The company also employed Mary L. Cox, a staff member who wrote local history. Her work means the company helped make the region's history as well as record it. The Texas Land & Development Company operated until 1956, more than four decades of shaping the land around Plainview.
Its place in the American story
The High Plains became one of the most productive farming regions in America, and companies like this one helped show that it could be done. By combining irrigation with careful dryland techniques, the company showed that semi-arid land written off as cattle range could grow crops on a large scale.
That lesson mattered well beyond Texas. Across the Great Plains and the arid West, the twentieth century brought an agricultural revolution built on irrigation, mechanization, and new farming science. It turned huge areas into the croplands that feed much of the nation.
The company's financing also says something about the era. Money from Eastern cities and from Europe flowed into Western land development, and the American interior was built partly on investment from far away.
If you visit
The marker stands at the site of the company's former offices in Plainview, so the building where these decisions were made is no longer the point. The real exhibit lies around you, in the wide, flat farmland of Hale County that stretches toward the horizon.
As you drive the surrounding countryside, look at the fields and imagine the same land as open grassland before 1912. Consider how much effort, capital, and experimentation it took to farm this country, and how much it still depends on water.
Plainview makes a good base for exploring the Texas Panhandle and the High Plains. Pair this stop with other agricultural and frontier history markers in the region for a fuller picture of how ranch country became farm country.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · J.W. Grant
- · M.D. Henderson
- · Winfield Holbrook
- · Mary L. Cox
Themes & tags
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