Green Machinery Co., Inc.
Plainview, Hale County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded by George Emmett Green (1875-1960), whose work revolutionized Texas agriculture. Mechanically-gifted, Green mastered water well development, worked as pattern maker and draftsman in pump factories, and operated a plant of his own in his native Missouri before moving here in 1909 with his wife Salome (Rich) and their children. In 1911 he dug Hale County's test irrigation well on the J.H. Slaton farm, reaching a commercial yield of 1400 gallons of water per minute. This won him fame, as irrigation had long been considered the missing ingredient in South Plains agriculture -- the key factor that would enable this fertile area to produce foodstuffs and fibers to supply millions of consumers. Once deep water was found, Green tackled related problems and invented (1915) the hollow-shaft, right-angle gear drive for irrigation pumps, which made it possible to use automotive-type engines for irrigation power. With a goal of commercial pumps at moderate prices, Green established this factory in 1911, and reduced irrigation well installation costs to a figure that farmers could afford. His descendants still own and operate the business. (1974)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
George Emmett Green came to Plainview from Missouri in 1909, bringing a gift for machinery and years of experience in pump factories. In 1911 he drilled Hale County's test irrigation well, striking a commercial flow of 1,400 gallons a minute and proving that the fertile but dry South Plains could be farmed at scale. Four years later he invented the hollow-shaft, right-angle gear drive that let automotive engines power irrigation pumps, and built a factory to make affordable pumps that ordinary farmers could buy.
Why it matters
Green's inventions unlocked large-scale irrigation on the Texas High Plains, transforming a semi-arid region into one of the nation's most productive farming belts.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
When George Emmett Green moved to Plainview in 1909, the Texas South Plains was a land of rich soil and too little rain. Cattle ranching had dominated the region, and farming was just taking hold. Railroads and land promoters were pulling in settlers, but anyone farming there depended on unpredictable rainfall in a semi-arid climate.
Beneath that dry surface lay a vast store of groundwater, part of what is now known as the Ogallala Aquifer, which stretches beneath much of the Great Plains. The question was whether that water could be raised in quantities large enough, and cheaply enough, to make farming practical at scale.
The early 1900s were also a time of rapid mechanical change across America. Gasoline engines and automobiles were spreading, and inventive tinkerers were adapting new machines to the work of the farm. Green's career sits right where that wave of invention met the old problem of water on the Plains.
People & events
Green was born in 1875 and grew up in Missouri with a gift for machines. He learned the water well business thoroughly and worked as a pattern maker and draftsman in pump factories, the people who design and shape the parts other workers cast and assemble. He even ran his own plant in Missouri before deciding to move to Texas.
In 1909 he came to Plainview with his wife, Salome Rich Green, and their children. Two years later, in 1911, he dug Hale County's test irrigation well on the J. H. Slaton farm. It produced a commercial yield of 1,400 gallons a minute, proof that the water was there and could be brought up in useful volume, and it made Green's name across the region.
Green kept going. Finding deep water was only the first problem; pumping it affordably was the next. In 1915 he invented the hollow-shaft, right-angle gear drive for irrigation pumps, which let automotive-type engines drive pumps that were set deep in wells. He had already founded this factory in 1911 with the goal of building good pumps at moderate prices, and he brought the cost of installing an irrigation well down to a level ordinary farmers could afford. His descendants still owned and ran the business when the marker was placed in 1974.
Its place in the American story
Irrigation was long seen as the missing piece of South Plains agriculture. Once it became practical, the region could grow food and fiber on a scale that served millions of people far beyond Texas. Green's well and his pump innovations were part of the foundation of that transformation.
His story is a classic piece of American innovation: a skilled craftsman who knows his trade from the drafting table to the factory floor spots a practical problem and solves it with a clever mechanical idea. The right-angle gear drive connected a fast-spreading new technology, the engine, to an ancient need, lifting water.
The larger story also carries a lesson that is widely recognized today. Irrigation on the High Plains became a backbone of the national farm economy, but the groundwater it relies on recharges slowly, and conserving it has become a major concern. Green's breakthrough opened the door to that abundance, and the question of how to sustain it is still being worked out.
If you visit
Plainview sits in the heart of the flat, wide-open South Plains, and the drive itself tells part of the story. Look out at the fields stretching to the horizon and remember that much of this farming became possible because people like Green learned to bring water up from deep underground.
The marker honors a working business rather than a museum, so treat the site with the respect you would show any active company and enjoy the marker from a public spot.
This stop pairs well with a broader High Plains road trip through Lubbock and Amarillo, where farming, ranching and the history of water shape almost every town. Keep an eye out for irrigation equipment along the roadsides; it is the modern descendant of the problem Green set out to solve.
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
- · George Emmett Green
Themes & tags
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