DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the marker has to say, and I'm gonna let it speak for itself — with maybe just a little dramatic seasoning from me. Higgins, Texas. Out in Lipscomb County, where the Panhandle sky stretches so wide it'll humble you before you even say good morning.
The town was platted, the post office opened, and the first train rolled in all in the same year — 1887. That's the kind of year that puts a place on the map fast. Named for G.
H. Higgins, a wealthy railroad stockholder, which tells you something right there about who was making things happen in those days. In its early life, Higgins was a cattle shipping point — those longhorns and crossbreeds moving through, bound for markets far away.
Ranching anchored the land, farming built around it, and for decades that was the rhythm of the place. But then comes the part of this story you don't forget. April 9, 1947.
A devastating tornado struck Higgins. An estimated forty-five people were killed. One hundred and forty were injured.
You let those numbers sit a moment, because they deserve that. A small town absorbing that kind of loss — it rewrites a community's story. There's a before and an after, and everybody in Higgins knew exactly where the line fell.
The town held on. Towns like this do. And then, in 1957, oil drilling began in the area, adding yet another chapter to what Higgins is made of — ranching, farming, and oil, the three legs the place stands on to this day.
From a train's first whistle in 1887, through cattle drives, through a sky that turned murderous on an April afternoon, all the way to oil rigs turning in the earth — that's Higgins, Texas. Still standing. Still on the map.
What the marker says
Town platted, post office opened and first train arrived, 1887. Named for G. H. Higgins, wealthy railroad stockholder. Early cattle shipping point. Devastating tornado struck April 9, 1947. An estimated 45 were killed, 140 injured. Ranching, farming, and oil are chief area industries. Oil drilling was begun in 1957. (1967)