Nolan County
Sweetwater, Nolan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Nomadic Indians crossed this region before Anglo-American pioneers arrived here in the 1870's. The first settlers were buffalo hunters such as I.S. (Tuck) Focht, who later became a rancher and businessman, and cattlemen such as confederate veteran John R. Lewis. Created in 1876, Nolan County was one of 54 countries carved from Bexar Territory. It was named for Philip Nolan (1771-1801), an Irish-born adventurer who came to Texas to capture wild horses and was killed in a skirmish with Spanish soldiers. Sweetwater, a small settlement that had grown up around a general store, was awarded the county's first post office in March 1879. It was also named the county seat when Nolan County was organized in January 1881. Sweetwater moved 2 miles northwest to its present location on the Texas & Pacific Rail Line in April 1881. It became an important rail center when the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient and later the Santa Fe Railroad also routed their track through the town. The economy of Nolan County is based on cattle and sheep ranching; cotton and feed grain crops; and gypsum, line, and petroleum production. The population of the county increased from 640 in 1880 to 16,220 in the 1970 census. (1975)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Long crossed by nomadic Indians, this region drew Anglo-American buffalo hunters and cattlemen in the 1870s, and Nolan County was created in 1876—named for Irish-born adventurer Philip Nolan, killed by Spanish soldiers while capturing wild horses in 1801. The town of Sweetwater grew from a general store into the county seat, then shifted two miles to meet the Texas & Pacific rail line in 1881. Additional railroads soon made it a regional hub, its economy built on ranching, cotton, and mineral production.
Why it matters
Nolan County's rise from buffalo range to rail center captures the transformation of the West Texas frontier, where railroads determined which settlements would flourish and which would fade.
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Related people
- · Philip Nolan
- · John R. Lewis
Related events
- · Organization of Nolan County
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Texas & Pacific Railway
Sweetwater, TX
When the Texas and Pacific Railway pushed west across the state in the early 1880s, it remade the map of West Texas one whistle-stop at a time. Sweetwater got its first train on March 12, 1881, and grew up along the tracks as a genuine railroad town—homes, stores, and shipping pens clustering where the line ran. For nearly a century the depot moved settlers in and cattle and crops out, until passenger service ended and the station came down in 1969.
Sweetwater Cemetery
Sweetwater, TX
The oldest marked grave here belongs to an infant, Purl Ray Scott, who died in 1880—a year before the Texas and Pacific Railroad founded the town of Sweetwater. Handcrafted tombstones and wrought-iron fences mark the resting places of pioneers, immigrants, community leaders, and Civil War veterans. The graveyard reflects the hardships of pioneer life on the West Texas plains.
Former Townsite of Wheat
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A small farming settlement grew here in the late 1880s and took the name Wheat after a bumper wheat crop the year its post office opened in 1890. Served by postmasters Minerva Thomas and G. W. McCall, it had a school that doubled as a church. When the Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad bypassed the community in 1907, residents relocated two stores and a cotton gin to the new railside townsite of Hermleigh, and Wheat faded away.
Neinda Community
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