Mobeetie Post Office
Mobeetie, Wheeler County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Early mail service in Wheeler County was established at Fort Elliott. In 1879, a U.S. post office opened in the town of Mobeetie, previously known as Sweetwater. George A. Montgomery served as the first postmaster. In 1928, after the town moved one-mile north to this present site on the Santa Fe railroad line, a new post office was built. Rural mail routes were expanded in the 1930s to serve the increasing numbers of farm families, but decreased in later years after drought and harsh conditions led to the abandonment of some farms. (1989)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Mail service in Wheeler County began at Fort Elliott before a U.S. post office opened in 1879 in the town of Mobeetie—earlier called Sweetwater—with George A. Montgomery as first postmaster. When the town relocated a mile north to the Santa Fe rail line, a new post office rose here in 1928. Rural routes expanded to reach the region's growing farm families in the 1930s, then contracted as drought and hardship emptied the surrounding land.
Why it matters
The post office's shifting fortunes mirror the boom and bust of the Panhandle itself, where the railroad, homesteading, and the Dust Bowl reshaped whole communities.
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Related people
- · George A. Montgomery
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Mobeetie
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Mobeetie claims to be the oldest town in the Texas Panhandle, beginning as a trading post in 1874 and relocating to sit nearer the protection of Fort Elliott the following year. First called Sweetwater and renamed in 1879, it grew into a rough, lively hub of hunters, cowboys, and gamblers, and in 1881 became the judicial seat of the 35th District — where Temple Houston, son of Sam Houston, served as district attorney and state senator. Bypassed by the Santa Fe Railroad in 1888 and battered by an 1898 tornado, the town faded into decline.
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