Site of Old Pease City
Crowell, Foard County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded in 1880 by Benjamin E. Lower, John Wesley and wife, first settlers. Lower became the first postmaster, 1880; Mrs. Wesley was second, 1882. Place was named for Pease River and E. M. Pease, Texas Governor (1853-57 and 1867-69). Second group of settlers was family of W. T. Dunn. Stone post office-trading post served 3,500 square miles of sparsely settled country. Mail delivery was by stage or horse. The post office was abolished 1885 when Margaret became seat of Hardeman County. In 1891 site of Old Pease City and Margaret became part of Foard County. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1880 by early settlers Benjamin E. Lower and the Wesley family, Pease City grew around a stone post office and trading post that served some 3,500 square miles of thinly settled North Texas country, with mail carried by stage or horseback. Named for the Pease River and Governor E. M. Pease, the town faded when its post office closed in 1885 and the county seat shifted to Margaret. The site later became part of Foard County.
Why it matters
Pease City is a classic frontier ghost town, showing how tiny trading posts rose and vanished with the shifting fortunes of settlement and county government.
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Related people
- · Benjamin E. Lower
- · E. M. Pease
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Foard County
Crowell, TX
Foard County was assembled in 1891 from pieces of four neighboring counties as settlement thickened across northwest Texas. It honors Robert L. Foard (1831–1898), a Confederate officer and prominent Columbus lawyer. The county seat of Crowell grew after a railroad reached it in 1908, tying this ranching country into the wider Texas economy.
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