Gray County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Gray County. Out here on the Texas Panhandle, you might not think the land gives up its stories easy, but this one goes back further than most folks remember.

The county was formed from Young and Bexar Territories, two names that carry a whole lot of Texas history in themselves, and it was created on August 21, 1876. Now, created and organized are two different things, and Gray County knows that better than most. The county sat there, formed and named and waiting, for a good long while before anybody got around to organizing it.

That didn't happen until May 27, 1902. Some things take time out here. The county was named in honor of Peter W.

Gray, born in 1819, died in 1874. And the man had a resume worth carving in stone. He served as a member of the first Legislature of Texas.

Think about that. The very first. Then he went on to serve as a member of the Confederate Congress.

And then, in 1874, he was appointed to the Texas Supreme bench. That year matters. Because 1874 is also the year Peter W.

Gray died. The honor and the ending arriving in the same breath. When Gray County finally organized in 1902, it named Lefors as its county seat.

Lefors held that distinction for a while, then Pampa stepped up, and since 1928, Pampa has been the county seat. A county named for a man appointed to the state's highest court the year he died, sitting out on the Panhandle, waiting twenty-six years just to get organized. Gray County didn't rush into anything.

But when it finally settled, it settled for keeps.

What the marker says

Formed from Young and Bexar Territories. Created August 21, 1876. Organized May 27, 1902. Named in Honor of Peter W. Gray 1819-1874. Member of the first Legislature of Texas. Member of the Confederate Congress. Appointed to the Texas Supreme bench in 1874. County Seat, Lefors, 1902. Pampa, since 1928.