Groom
Groom, Carson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded 1902 by W. S. Wilkerson, local landowner, when Rock Island Railroad built west; named for Col. B. B. Groom, 1880s agent of Franklyn Land & Cattle Co. Col. Groom was first to try power farming on Plains. Town is today hub of rich farming and ranching area.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Groom sprang up in 1902 when the Rock Island Railroad pushed west across the Texas Panhandle and landowner W. S. Wilkerson founded a townsite along the tracks. It took its name from Col. B. B. Groom, an 1880s cattle-company agent remembered as the first to attempt power farming on the High Plains. The town became the hub of a rich farming and ranching country.
Why it matters
Groom's founding shows how the railroads turned the open Panhandle grassland into a settled landscape of farm and ranch towns.
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Related people
- · W. S. Wilkerson
- · B. B. Groom
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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