Whiteflat
Whiteflat, Motley County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This area of Motley County was first called "Whiteflat" due to the tall white needlegrass which covered the flat prairie land. A post office, named Whiteflat, was established for the rural settlement in 1890 at the request of W. R. Tilson. At its height, the community boasted four grocery stores, three service stations, three garages, two cafes, a hardware store, two gins, and three churches. A school, first housed in a one-room schoolhouse built by volunteers, opened in 1890. It was replaced by a four-room school in 1908, and in 1922 a new two-story brick structure was erected. It also served as a community gathering place. Dependent on an economy based on agriculture and small family farms, the community began to decline as a result of the Depression and dust bowl years of the 1930s. The Whiteflat School closed in 1946, when it was consolidated with Matador Schools. The local churches disbanded in the 1960s; the post office closed in 1966 following the death of the last postmaster, Ida Morris; and the last remaining retail business, a grocery store and service station, closed in 1968. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Named for the tall white needlegrass that covered its prairie, Whiteflat grew up around a post office established in 1890 for the scattered farms of Motley County. At its height it supported grocery stores, garages, cafes, cotton gins, churches, and a school that grew from a one-room building to a two-story brick structure. Tied to small family farming, the town withered through the Depression and Dust Bowl, its school consolidated away in 1946 and its last store shuttered in 1968.
Why it matters
Whiteflat's rise and slow fading tell the common American story of the small farm town — born of the plow, undone by drought, depression, and consolidation.
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Related people
- · Ida Morris
Related events
- · Dust Bowl
- · Great Depression
Themes & tags
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