HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

G. W. Smith Home

Crosbyton vicinity, Crosby County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Built 1914 for eldest son of Hank Smith, the first settler of South Plains of West Texas. Constructed of shiplap with three rooms on each side of hall. Veneered with rock from nearby canyon in 1936. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

This house was built in 1914 for the eldest son of Hank Smith, remembered as the first settler of the South Plains of West Texas. Its plain shiplap construction—three rooms on each side of a central hall—was later dressed up in 1936 with a veneer of rock hauled from a nearby canyon. It stands as a marker of a family that helped open one of the last stretches of the Texas frontier to settlement.

Why it matters

The home ties a second generation to the pioneering settlement of the South Plains, tracing how families put down permanent roots on land only recently opened to ranching and farming.

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Related people

  • · G. W. Smith
  • · Hank Smith

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryHome

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