County Line Community

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the County Line Community, out here on the Lubbock and Hale county line. Now, every community has to start somewhere, and this one started with a land purchase. In 1901, W.G.

Murray, John H. Pettit, and the J.G. Hardy family came out to this stretch of West Texas and bought up land.

Farming families, all of them, and like most folks who settle a place, one of the first things they needed was a school. So they built one. And they didn't do it easy, either.

The lumber for that schoolhouse had to be hauled all the way from the nearest railhead at Canyon City. Every board, every beam, carried out across the plain. By 1903, the Hale and Lubbock county commissioners made it official and established the school district.

Then in May of 1906, W.G. Murray donated a five-acre tract to Lubbock County, setting aside ground for a school, a church, and a cemetery. Three things a community needs to call itself one.

That multi-room schoolhouse did a lot of work. It served as a place of worship for Baptist, Methodist, and Church of Christ congregations, and as a community center besides. One building, a whole lot of purposes.

Now here's a thing worth knowing. The community would eventually be named County Line, on account of its proximity to the Lubbock and Hale county boundary. But for a good stretch of the early twentieth century, it went by several other names.

Murray. Pettit. Harral.

All prominent neighbors. The Murrays had founded a cattle and sheep enterprise. J.H.

Pettit established a ranch. And L.A. Harral was a charter member of the Baptist church and sat on the school board.

When a place gets called by so many names, you know it had no shortage of people worth remembering. The community kept building itself up. Joe Ed Hart put in the first cotton gin in the area sometime in the 1920s.

The County Line Community Club got organized in 1924, the first of several social groups to take root out here. Orville Vaughn built the first store. By 1940, County Line had several grocery stores, blacksmith shops, and garages to its name.

Then in 1945, the nearby Anton-Irish Clearfork Field was discovered, and oil became an important part of the local economy. The ground itself had something to offer. But not everything was smooth going.

Back in 1936, a court case over boundaries and elections went to court, and it was ruled in the school's favor. A small victory. Four years later, though, in 1940, County Line School consolidated with Abernathy, and the schoolhouse doors closed.

You might think that would be the end of it. But communities are stubborn things. Even after the school was gone, County Line kept on functioning for another fifty years.

Social clubs. A few businesses. Two cotton gins running through the early 1990s.

And then, slowly, modernization took its toll. The local population dwindled. The stores and shops fell quiet.

Today, only the church and the cemetery remain as physical evidence of what once was a vibrant community. The land those early families purchased in 1901, the lumber they hauled, the five acres Murray donated, the names they gave to a place still finding itself. All of it now held by two things that tend to outlast everything else: a house of worship and a ground of rest.

What the marker says

In 1901, W.G. Murray, John H. Pettit and the J.G. Hardy family purchased land in this area. These early farming families started a local school, built with lumber hauled from the nearest railhead at Canyon City. In 1903, Hale and Lubbock county commissioners officially established the school district. Murray donated a five-acre tract to Lubbock County in May 1906 for a school, church and cemetery. The multi-room schoolhouse was also a place of worship for Baptist, Methodist and Church of Christ congregations and further served as a community center. Although the community would ultimately be named for its proximity to the Lubbock and Hale county boundary, both it and the school were known by several names throughout the early 20th century, including Murray, Pettit and Harral, all prominent neighbors. The Murrays founded a cattle and sheep enterprise, J.H. Pettit established a ranch, and L.A. Harral was a charter member of the Baptist church and a school board member. Joe Ed Hart built the first cotton gin in the area in the 1920s. The County Line Community Club, organized in 1924, was the first of several social groups. Orville Vaughn built the first store, and by 1940, several grocery stores, blacksmith shops and garages opened in County Line. After the discovery of the nearby Anton-Irish Clearfork Field in 1945, oil became an important part of the economy. A 1936 court case regarding boundaries and elections was ruled in the school's favor, but in 1940 County Line School consolidated with Abernathy. Even after the school closed, the community continued to function for another fifty years until modernization resulted in a dwindling local population. Social clubs and a few businesses including two cotton gins continued through the early 1990s. Now only the church and cemetery remain as physical evidence of a once vibrant community. (2019)