Emma

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Emma, Crosby County — and friend, it is quite a tale. In the spring of 1891, two merchants out of a little settlement called Estacado decided the land needed a new town. R.L.

Stringfellow and H.E. Hume were their names, and they got to work. They organized a general store, they laid out a townsite, and they opened the whole affair with a picnic and a town lots sale.

Now that is how you throw a grand opening. Stringfellow named the place Emma — in honor of his future wife, Emma Savior, or Sevall, depending on who was doin' the spellin'. That fall, something significant happened.

The county seat of Crosby County was moved from Estacado to Emma. And when I say moved, I mean moved. Residents physically dismantled the Estacado courthouse — took it apart piece by piece — and hauled every last bit of it to Emma's town square.

Along for the ride came Estacado's businesses, including the Crosby County News, edited by a man named J.W. Murray. Land speculators showed up too.

Julian Bassett of C.B. Livestock Co. arrived. So did John R.

Ralls — founder of the town that would one day carry his name. For the next two decades, Emma boomed. By 1910 the town had several hundred residents.

There was a post office, the Meyer Hotel, a school. Emma was the county seat. Emma had the courthouse.

Emma had the people. Emma had everything. Except a railroad.

In 1910, the South Plains Railroad made its way through that part of Texas — running from Lubbock to Crosbyton — and it bypassed Emma by approximately five miles. Five miles. Later, Ralls became an additional stop along that same line.

County residents voted in a disputed election to move the county seat to Crosbyton. And once the county seat went, well — soon most of Emma's residences and businesses followed, picking up and heading to Crosbyton and Ralls. As for that courthouse the folks of Emma had so carefully hauled in piece by piece back in 1891?

It was hauled out again — this time to a place called Cedric, where it served as housing before it was eventually razed. Emma, the former county seat, quickly became a ghost town. Today, the land around Emma is still agricultural.

But of the town itself — the picnic, the hotel, the newspaper, the courthouse on the square — nothing remains. Nothing, that is, except the Emma Cemetery. That's where the only remaining link to the men and women who once inhabited that place now rests, quiet under the South Plains sky.

What the marker says

In the spring of 1891, merchants R.L. Stringfellow and H.E. Hume of nearby Estacado founded the town of Emma, named in honor of Stringfellow's future wife, Emma Savior (or Sevall). The two men organized a general store and laid out the townsite, which opened with a picnic and town lots sale. In the fall of that year, the county seat was moved from Estacado to Emma; residents dismantled the Estacado courthouse and moved it piece by piece to its new site on Emma's town square. Along with the courthouse came many of Estacado's businesses, including the Crosby County News, edited by J.W. Murray. Land speculators, including Julian Bassett of C.B. Livestock Co. and John R. Ralls, founder of the town of Ralls, also came to the area. During the next two decades, Emma experienced a boom. By 1910, the town had several hundred residents, supporting a post office, the Meyer Hotel and a school. That year, however, the South Plains Railroad bypassed the community by approximately five miles, traveling from Lubbock to Crosbyton. Later, Ralls became an additional stop along the railway. County residents voted in a disputed election to move the county seat to Crosbyton. Soon most of Emma's residences and businesses were moved to Crosbyton and Ralls; the old courthouse was hauled to Cedric, where it served as housing and was eventually razed. Although the area around Emma is still agricultural, the former county seat quickly became a ghost town as residents moved to other communities. Today, the Emma Cemetery is the only remaining link to the men and women who once inhabited the town. (1968, 2004)