Hargus Farm
Eastland vicinity, Eastland County, Texas
Marker Inscription
North Carolina native Larry Hargus (1810-87) and his wife Mary (Corder) (1824-1910) came to Eastland County in 1879. In 1881 they bought the original tract of their farm at this site from C.U. Connellee, a founder of Eastland. Members of the Hargus family were active in the development of a local Methodist church and a son, James, was a Texas Ranger and a Civil War veteran. The family farm was later inherited by Larry Hargus' son Barry, who lived here with his wife Mackie (Gilbert) and eight children. This land has remained in the family for over 100 years. (1982)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
North Carolina natives Larry and Mary Hargus came to Eastland County in 1879 and, in 1881, bought this tract from town founder C.U. Connellee. The family helped build a local Methodist church, sent a son into the Texas Rangers, and passed the working farm down through generations who raised large families on the land. More than a century later the property remained in Hargus hands.
Why it matters
Century-old family farms like this one embody the quiet persistence of the settlers who turned raw West Texas rangeland into permanent agricultural communities.
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Related people
- · Larry Hargus
- · Mary Corder Hargus
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Cattle grazed the Eastland County grasslands in the 1850s, and the U.S. Army's frontier forts drew a first trickle of families from the older Southern states. The Civil War emptied the region when the garrisons withdrew and settlers fled to fortified refuges like Blair's Fort, but pioneers returned afterward and organized the county in 1873. A contested county-seat fight moved the government from Merriman to the newly founded town of Eastland in 1875.
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Built in 1920 by C. U. Connellee, the 'Father of Eastland,' this theatre hosted road shows, musical performances, and plays as a regional showplace for years. Interstate Theatres bought it in 1946 and remodeled it into the Majestic movie house, adding a marquee to a stuccoed, Art Moderne facade fronted by a bank of six entry doors.