Norton
Runnels County, Runnels County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Named for George W. Norton of Kentucky, who about 1882 bought and later developed the divide between Oak and Valley creeks. Post office, established in 1894, was at first in home (1.5 miles northeast) of postmaster Marion A. Wilkerson. This facility and a few country businesses - including stores, cotton gins, blacksmith shops -- were drawn into town, which was platted by O. C. Bivins in 1903. First homes are said to have been built by Dr. W. W. Mitchell and Les Trimmier. High school was established in 1906. Early institutions included several churches and a Masonic Lodge.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
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.
Why it matters
Norton captures how thousands of American communities coalesced around a post office, a school, and a cotton economy as settlers filled the western prairies in the late nineteenth century.
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Related people
- · George W. Norton
- · Marion A. Wilkerson
- · O. C. Bivins
- · Dr. W. W. Mitchell
- · Les Trimmier
Themes & tags
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