Friona

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Friona, out there in Parmer County. Now, every town's got a beginning, and Friona's starts with the XIT Ranch, back in 1898. That's when this community first took shape, and they called it Frio, named after Frio Draw, which is Spanish for Cold Draw.

It sat right along the recently built Pecos and Northern Railroad, serving as a shipping point. Not a bad start for a little place on the High Plains. Then came 1906, and with it the George G.

Wright Land Company. They took options on area lands and set a colonization project in motion, promising fertile land and a healthful climate to anyone willing to make the move. They were casting a wide net, drawing prospective settlers all the way from Ohio to Kansas.

To sweeten the deal, the company went ahead and erected a hotel, a livery stable, and a bank. They were building something, no question about it. Now, when the post office opened on March 16, 1907, the town's name changed.

Frio became Friona. And the community's first postmaster was Sarah D. Olson.

That same year, Parmer County organized, and the Union Congregational Church became Friona's first church. A school followed the year after. Things were coming together fast.

But not everything was smooth sailing. A controversy stirred up between Friona and the neighboring town of Farwell over where exactly the county seat ought to be. It went to an election in 1913.

Voters chose Farwell. Friona residents contested the results. The matter dragged through the courts, and in 1916, a court ruled in favor of Farwell.

That one had to sting. Also in 1916, S.A. Harris started publishing a local newspaper, the Friona Sentinel.

It ran under that name until 1925, when it became the Friona Star. The town kept moving. Residents voted to incorporate the city in 1928, electing John W.

White as mayor. In the latter part of the twentieth century, Friona grew into a regional marketing center for agricultural and beef products, and it claimed a title that's hard to argue with: Grain Sorghum Capital of the World. Now here's the twist that only a place with real grit could survive.

In June of 1995, a tornado came through and destroyed the original historical marker for the community. The marker itself, gone. So when Friona's centennial year rolled around, 2006, the citizens dedicated this replacement marker in City Park, right across the street from the old Syndicate Hotel.

A town that lost its own marker to a tornado and came back to tell the story in its hundredth year. That's Friona, and that's the High Plains way.

What the marker says

When established by the XIT Ranch in 1898, this community was originally called Frio, after Frio (Cold) Draw, and it served as a shipping point on the recently built Pecos & Northern Railroad. In 1906, the George G. Wright Land Co. took options on area lands and initiated a colonization project, promising fertile land and a healthful climate to attract prospective settlers from Ohio to Kansas. The company erected a hotel, livery stable and a bank. The town's name changed to Friona when the post office opened March 16, 1907. Sarah D. Olson served as the community's first postmaster. That same year, Parmer County organized, and the Union Congregational Church became Friona's first church. A school opened the following year. A controversy between Friona and Farwell over the location of the county seat led to an election in 1913. Voters chose Farwell and Friona residents contested the results, but a court ruled in 1916 in favor of Farwell. That year, S.A. Harris began publishing a local newspaper, the Friona Sentinel; it became the Friona Star in 1925. Residents voted to incorporate the city in 1928, electing John W. White as mayor. In the latter part of the 20th century, Friona served as a regional marketing center for agricultural and beef products, and claimed the distinction of "Grain Sorghum Capital of the World." A June 1995 tornado destroyed the original historical marker for the community, and during the town's centennial year, 2006, citizens dedicated this replacement marker in City Park, across the street from the old Syndicate Hotel. (2006)