James Petty Flynt
Ballinger, Runnels County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Sheriff of Runnels County 1908-1914; 1920-1924. Elected at age 30. Last man to hold combined post of tax collector-sheriff in county. His activities as law officer included Texas Ranger service in World Wars I and II. He was elected secretary-treasurer of Runnels County Fair Association at its organization in 1911. He also served with the state game department from 1924 to 1940. In 1899 he married Carrie Jane Patterson. They had 7 children.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Petty Flynt was elected sheriff of Runnels County at age 30 and served two terms, from 1908 to 1914 and again from 1920 to 1924—the last man to hold the combined office of sheriff and tax collector there. His long law-enforcement career included Texas Ranger service during both World Wars, and he later worked for the state game department from 1924 to 1940. He also helped organize the Runnels County Fair Association in 1911.
Why it matters
Flynt's decades as sheriff, Ranger, and game warden trace the professionalization of law enforcement in rural Texas across the first half of the twentieth century.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · James Petty Flynt
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sons of Hermann Lodge No. 216
Runnels County, TX
Founded locally in 1904 as the Rowena chapter of the Sons of Hermann, this lodge belonged to a worldwide German fraternal and benevolent society that offered mutual aid, insurance, and fellowship to its members. The order took its name from Hermann (Arminius), the ancient Germanic leader who, around A.D. 9, checked Roman expansion east of the Rhine. In immigrant-heavy Central Texas, such lodges helped newcomers preserve their culture while building a safety net.
SPJST Lodge No. 49
Runnels County, TX
On May 2, 1904, eighteen charter members organized SPJST Lodge No. 49 in Runnels County, just eight years after the founding of the Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas. Like its parent society, the lodge promoted fellowship, mutual aid, and the preservation of Czech language and culture among Central Texas immigrant families. Halls like this became gathering places for dances, meetings, and community support.
Oldest Rock Building in City
Runnels County, TX
Raised in 1903 at the turn of a booming West Texas cattle-and-farming frontier, this was reportedly the oldest stone building in its town. Its two-foot-thick walls, bound with a homemade sand-and-lime mortar, were built to last in an era when settlers relied on nearby stone rather than shipped-in brick. It first served the practical heart of an agricultural community as a grain and feed store.
Norton
Runnels County, TX
In the rolling divide between Oak and Valley creeks, Runnels County ranch land gave way to a small farming town after George W. Norton bought the surrounding country around 1882. A post office opened in 1894 in the postmaster's home before the community pulled its stores, cotton gins, and blacksmith shops into a townsite platted in 1903, adding a high school by 1906. Churches and a Masonic lodge soon rounded out a typical West Texas farm town.