Community of Sidney

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Community of Sidney, out in Comanche County. Now settle in, because this one starts quiet and grows into something worth knowin'. It begins, as so many good Texas stories do, with a couple of men and a creek.

Around 1870, William Yarborough and J. A. Wright, early settlers both, came out and located themselves on Jimmie's Creek.

Just two men and a piece of land. But land has a way of attracting company. A community started to take shape, and by 1877 those settlers had built themselves a log schoolhouse, set it right near a spring.

A man named W. D. Cox stepped up as the first teacher.

That same year, 1877, the Methodist church was founded. And then, a few years on, the Baptist church and the Church of Christ followed. Now here's something that tells you a lot about the character of the place: all three denominations took turns using that same log schoolhouse for worship.

One building, several congregations, everybody making it work. That's a community that knows how to be neighborly. Come 1883, Tom Davis opened a store, and it wasn't long before J.

C. Stapp bought an interest in it. By 1886, Stapp had become the first postmaster, and he named the post office after his young son Sidney.

A father naming a post office after his boy. That name stuck to the whole town. In the 1880s, Holstein dairy cattle were brought to the area, and they became the basis of a major industry right there in Sidney.

The place was growin'. Between 1890 and 1910, Sidney had several doctors' offices, drug stores, gins, a general store, a barber shop, a lodge hall, and even a telephone exchange. That is not a little settlement on a creek anymore.

That is a town with ambitions. The school got reorganized in 1902 and became an accredited high school. And then there is this.

Around the turn of the century, Sidney found itself sharing in something remarkable. Nearby Round Mountain was drawing national attention, because it was the first field laboratory of one Dr. Robert T.

Hill, born 1858, died 1941, and described on this marker as a world-famous geologist. His studies vastly increased knowledge of the geology of North America and Texas. And after his death, he had his ashes scattered atop Round Mountain.

The very place where his work began. A man who spent his life studying the earth, returning to one particular piece of it at the end. Sidney, Texas.

Started by two men on a creek, built up log by log and year by year, and neighbor to a mountain that holds the ashes of a man who helped the world understand what the ground beneath our feet is made of.

What the marker says

Began about 1870 when William Yarborough and J. A. Wright, early settlers, located on Jimmie's Creek. As a community developed, the settlers built a log schoolhouse near a spring, in 1877. W. D. Cox was the first teacher. The Methodist church was also founded in 1877 and a few years later the Baptist church and Church of Christ were started. All denominations took turns using the log schoolhouse for worship. In 1883 Tom Davis opened a store and soon J. C. Stapp bought an interest in it. In 1886 Stapp became the first Postmaster, naming the post office after his young son Sidney. Holstein dairy cattle, basis of a major industry, were brought here in the 1880s. Between 1890 and 1910 Sidney had several doctors' offices, drug stores, gins, a general store, barber shop, lodge hall, and telephone exchange. Reorganized in 1902, the school became an accredited high school. Around the turn of the century, the town shared in the national attention focused on nearby Round Mountain--first field laboratory of the remarkable Dr. Robert T. Hill (1858-1941), world-famous geologist. His studies vastly increased knowledge of the geology of North America and Texas, and after his death, he had his ashes scattered atop the mountain. (1969)