DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how that marker tells it, straight out of Comanche County. Around 1875, when the Indian threat had been removed and settlers were pushing into this part of Texas fast as they could stake a claim, a little rural community started taking shape right here. Nothing grand at first — a few homes, a school, and a trading post-store run by a man named W.
F. Matheney. Now, Matheney ran his business under a shortened version of his name — Theney — and that name stuck to the place itself.
That's the marker's word on it, not mine. Then along came the pioneer families. Among them was B.
F. Barnes, who settled at a spot called Jones Crossing in 1876. His great-grandson, Ben Barnes, Lieutenant Governor of Texas, was reared right here in Comyn-Theney.
Not bad roots for a future Lt. Governor. In 1881, the Texas Central Railroad came pushing through.
When it did, a railroad official by the name of M. T. Comyn made sure the town and the depot both carried his name.
The school, though — the school stayed Theney. Stubborn little school. So you got yourself a hyphenated town: Comyn-Theney.
And with the railroad came commerce. The settlement soon could boast several general stores, a post office, a drug store, a blacksmith shop, a lumber yard, a cotton gin, a cafe, a barber shop, and a hall for the Woodmen of the World. A proper little Texas town.
Then came 1918, and with it a different kind of boom altogether. The Humble Pipeline Company started building a tank farm here to store oil coming in from new West Texas fields. Several hundred people descended on the place — a tent city, just like that.
And then, just as fast, in 1919, when construction ceased, the townspeople moved away. The tent city folded up and blew off like it had never been. The school kept going, though.
Theney Consolidated School formed in 1924, built a new plant, and by all accounts became an outstanding high school. But declining attendance caught up with it, and it closed in 1952. Two names, one town, a railroad man, a future lieutenant governor, an oil boom that lasted a year, and a school that outlasted all of it.
That's Comyn-Theney.
What the marker says
During the rapid settlement of this area following the removal of the Indian threat, about 1875, a rural community developed here. Besides a few homes and a school, it had a trading post-store, operated by W. F. Matheney. His name, shortened to "Theney" for business purposes also came to designate the town. Among the pioneer families was that of B. F. Barnes, at nearby Jones Crossing, 1876. His great-grandson Ben Barnes, Lt. Gov. of Texas, was reared in Comyn-Theney. During 1881 the Texas Central Railroad was built through here and a depot established. M. T. Comyn, a railroad official, succeeded in having the town and depot named for him, but the school remained Theney. Soon the settlement could boast several general stores, a post office, drug store, blacksmith shop, lumber yard, cotton gin, cafe, barber shop, and a hall for the Woodmen of the World. In 1918, when Humble Pipeline Company began building a tank farm here to store oil from new West Texas fields, a tent city of several hundred sprang up. But when construction ceased in 1919, the townspeople moved away. Theney Consolidated School, formed in 1924, soon built a new plant and became an outstanding high school. Declining attendance caused it to close, 1952. (1969)