Hamlin

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Hamlin, Jones County, Texas. Now, every town out here on the West Texas plains has a beginning, and Hamlin's beginning is the kind that starts with a handshake and a land deed. In September 1902, an early settler by the name of R.

D. Moore conveyed 320 acres of land to the International Construction Company, also called the Orient Land Co., out of Kansas City, Missouri. That land was earmarked for a town site along the Panhandle Gulf Railway.

The town that grew up on those acres was probably named for an Orient executive named W. H. Hamlin, and by 1905 the Hamlin community was organized and had its first post office to prove it.

Now, 1905 was just the opening act. The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway reached Hamlin in 1906, and that same year a newspaper called the Hamlin Herald rolled off the press for the first time. You give a place a railroad and a newspaper, and it starts to believe in itself.

By 1907, Hamlin was incorporated as a town, a school system was established, and a movie theatre opened its doors, all in that same year. People were arrivin' and they were staying. By autumn of 1908, Hamlin had grown to more than one thousand citizens, with more railroads reaching the area.

That growth was no accident. Hamlin became a major shipping point, with its economy rooted in agriculture and the railroad. And when a town starts movin' goods, the businesses follow.

Cotton compresses, a cotton oil mill, an ice plant, a cement and plaster plant, a grain elevator, several cotton gins, an electric generating plant, an ice cream factory and bottling works, and a telephone company. That is not a small town listing its ambitions. That is a town already living them.

Churches formed in those early days too, the Church of Christ, Baptist, Methodist, and the Church of the Nazarene taking root alongside all that commerce. And in 1909, Central Nazarene College was established, giving the community something to hand down to the next generation. In 1925, the Oscar Depriest School System for African American students began operation, marking an important chapter in the life of the community.

Then in 1928, oil was discovered near Hamlin, broadening the area's economic growth with oil and gas exploration. Agriculture, railroad, and now oil. The town was layering its future, one resource at a time.

By 1950, the population stood at 3,564. The school system was integrated in 1965. And when the census came around in 1990, 2,791 people still called Hamlin home.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the marker tells us, Hamlin remains a center for farming and varied manufacturing. Three hundred and twenty acres of West Texas dirt, deeded over in September 1902, and look what rose up from it. Some towns are built.

Hamlin was believed into being.

What the marker says

Early settler R. D. Moore conveyed 320 acres of land to the International Construction Co. (also called the Orient Land Co.) of Kansas City, Missouri, for a town site along the Panhandle Gulf Railway in September 1902. Probably named for Orient executive W. H. Hamlin, the Hamlin community was organized in 1905, the same year it received its first post office. The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway reached Hamlin in 1906 and a newspaper, the Hamlin Herald, was first printed that same year. Hamlin was incorporated as a town and a school system was established in 1907. By autumn 1908, Hamlin had grown to more than one thousand citizens as more railroads reached the area. Hamlin quickly became a major shipping point, with its economy based on agriculture and the railroad. Among the town's business operations were cotton compresses, a cotton oil mill, an ice plant, a cement and plaster plant, a grain elevator, several cotton gins, an electric generating plant, an ice cream factory and bottling works, and a telephone company. Churches formed in Hamlin's early days included Church of Christ, Baptist, Methodist and Church of the Nazarene. A movie theatre opened in 1907. Central Nazarene College was established in 1909. The Oscar Depriest School System for African American students began operation in 1925. Oil was discovered near Hamlin in 1928, broadening the area's economic growth with oil and gas exploration. In 1950, the town's population was 3,564. The school system was integrated in 1965. The population of Hamlin in 1990 was 2,791. At the dawn of the 21st century, Hamlin remains a center for farming and varied manufacturing. (2000)