City of Albany

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the city of Albany, Shackelford County, Texas. Now, every town has a beginning, and Albany's beginning has a pretty fine detail right at the start. When Shackelford County needed a county seat back in 1874, Albany was chosen.

And the townsite, all 43 acres of it, was donated by Sheriff Henry C. Jacobs. The sheriff gave the land.

You don't hear that every day. The man who gave the city its name was County Clerk W. R.

Cruger, and he named it for his old home, Albany, Georgia. A wooden picket courthouse went up. The post office opened on August 1, 1876.

And by late 1877, sixteen buildings had taken root on that frontier ground. Homes, hotels, saloons, a blacksmith shop. The merchants T.

E. Jackson and the firm of Woody and Hatcher were doing business. Physicians W.

T. Baird and W. M.

Powell had located there, and so had lawyer A. A. Clarke.

Then in 1879, D. H. Meyer and Edgar Rye started publishing a paper called The Albany Tomahawk.

Now that is a name for a newspaper. Sharp and to the point. Albany was already sitting on the western cattle trail, which gave it a certain standing.

But things expanded considerably when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built a terminus right there in 1881, turning Albany into a frontier shipping point. The town kept growing. By 1882 a church building had been erected.

Music lovers organized a cornet band. And in 1883, an opera hall opened, and a permanent courthouse of native stone was built. Native stone.

That's a town saying it plans to stay. On the education side, W. S.

Dalrymple succeeded D. R. Britt as school principal and founded an adult study club called The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.

Albany had an academy, and then a college that ran from 1898 to 1915. Today, Albany's life is built around ranching, petroleum production, and small farming. And every year, the community stages a historical drama called The Fort Griffin Fandangle.

A town that started with a donated 43 acres, a wooden courthouse, and a newspaper called The Tomahawk, still putting on a show. That's Albany, Texas.

What the marker says

Chosen county seat of Shackelford in 1874, Albany had a 43-acre townsite donated by Sheriff Henry C. Jacobs. County clerk W. R. Cruger named city for his old home, Albany, Ga. A wooden picket courthouse was erected. The post office opened August 1, 1876. By late 1877 there were 16 buildings - homes, hotels, saloons, a blacksmith shop. Merchants were T. E. Jackson and firm of Woody & Hatcher. Physicians W. T. Baird and W. M. Powell and lawyer A. A. Clarke located here. D. H. Meyer and Edgar Rye began (1879) publishing "The Albany Tomahawk". Already on the western cattle trail, city expanded as a frontier shipping point when Houston & Texas Central Railroad built a terminus here in 1881. By 1882 a church building had been erected. Music lovers organized a cornet band. In 1883 an opera hall opened, and a permanent courthouse of native stone was built. Succeeding D. R. Britt as the school principal, W. S. Dalrymple founded an adult study club, "The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle". Albany had an academy, and then a college in 1898-1915. Local activities include ranching, petroleum production, small farming, and annual staging of the historical drama, "The Fort Griffin Fandangle". (1975)