Parnell
Miami, Roberts County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(One mile east) Roberts County was created on Aug. 21, 1876, by the Texas Legislature, but remained unorganized, as in that year it had only one settler. Its 1880 population was 32. After the Santa Fe Railroad was built across this area in 1887, settlement increased. A Jan. 1889 election to organize the county was invalidated by fraudulent voting. However, the disqualified officers opened a courthouse in a vacant store in Miami (20 mi. SSE), the county seat according to the contested election, and placed the records in a heavy safe. The legally elected authorities later obtained the records by hiring a gunman to impersonate a landowner and to capture the safe when it was opened. Hauled to the legal county seat near this site, the safe was set on blocks and a 2-story frame courthouse was built around it. First known as Bennett and then as Oran, the town was renamed Parnell when the U.S. Post Office opened in March 1890. Parnell had a few businesses, about 12 residences, a school, and a saloon. Guests rode 25 to 30 miles to attend dances in the courthouse. Those attending court in Parnell had to camp out, as the hotel was small. Miami became county seat in 1898, and Parnell was abandoned. (1973, 1986)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Roberts County had a single resident when it was created in 1876, and its early county-seat fight was pure frontier drama: after a fraud-tainted election, the legally chosen officials hired a gunman to seize the county safe, hauled it to this site, and built a two-story courthouse around it. The town — successively called Bennett, Oran, and finally Parnell — grew to a school, a saloon, and a scattering of homes. When Miami won the county seat in 1898, Parnell was abandoned.
Why it matters
Parnell shows how the arrival of the railroad conjured — and then just as quickly erased — the small towns that briefly organized life on the High Plains.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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