DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Lamesa Farm Workers Community in Dawson County. Now settle in, because this is a story about land, labor, and a community that built something real out of hard circumstances. By the 1920s, Dawson County's cotton economy was expanding fast — faster, it turned out, than the local labor supply could keep up with.
Lamesa, like a lot of places across the country at the time, began to rely on migrant laborers from Mexico to meet the demand of those cotton fields. And out of that need grew something worth remembering. One federal effort to bring some order to all of this was the creation of farm labor communities — places designed to give farmers a dependable source of workers, and to give those workers and their families something that shouldn't have been remarkable but was: safe and sanitary living conditions.
In 1941, the Farm Security Administration approved an application for a migrant labor camp on fifty acres of land southeast of Lamesa. August 17, 1942, the first families moved in. What they moved into was the Lamesa Complex — fifty residential buildings, a gate house, a manager's residence, and a community center.
Now here's the part that set Lamesa apart from other labor communities of its kind: indoor plumbing. Running water. That was not a given.
Not everywhere. Not then. But Lamesa offered it.
And it didn't stop there. The community also provided a medical clinic, educational programs, a nursery, recreational activities, and religious services. The families who lived there harvested cotton, worked in cotton gins, cotton oil mills, feed mills, and egg processing plants.
They didn't pay rent for their homes, but they were expected to perform maintenance work around the camp and contribute to the camp welfare fund. They were building something, even while they were working someone else's fields. And in whatever time was left over — and you can imagine it wasn't much — they lived.
They played baseball. They observed both Mexican and United States holidays. They listened to Conjunto music.
Traditional Mexican entertainment reflected who they were: a bicultural community, holding onto both worlds at once. The Lamesa Farm Workers Community operated from 1942 until 1980. And then, in 1980, the Ybanez family bought the community — to provide low-income housing for Hispanic families.
Today that place is known as Los Ybanez. The cotton fields are still out there southeast of Lamesa. The fifty acres remain.
And a community that was built to serve a labor need ended up outlasting that original purpose entirely — because the people who lived there made it worth keeping.
What the marker says
By the 1920s, Dawson County’s rapidly expanding cotton economy was outgrowing its labor supply. Like other areas of the country, Lamesa began to rely on migrant laborers from Mexico to increase the available pool of seasonal workers. One effort to federally regulate migrant labor was the creation of farm labor communities to ensure a dependable source of labor for farmers and to provide safe and sanitary living facilities for migrant workers and their families. The Lamesa Farm Workers Community, present day Los Ybanez, operated from 1942 until 1980. In 1941, the Farm Security Administration approved an application for a migrant labor camp on 50 acres of land southeast of Lamesa. The first families moved in on August 17, 1942. The Lamesa Complex consisted of 50 residential buildings, a gate house, manager’s residence, and a community center. Unlike other labor communities, Lamesa provided its residents with indoor plumbing and running water. Additionally, Lamesa offered a medical clinic, educational programs, nursery, recreational activities, and religious services. The families who lived at Lamesa harvested cotton, worked in cotton gins, cotton oil mills, feed mills, and egg processing plants. They did not pay rent for their homes but were expected to perform maintenance work around the camp and contribute to the camp welfare fund. The little time available for social activities included traditional Mexican entertainment and reflected their bicultural background. Residents played baseball, observed Mexican and U.S. Holidays, and enjoyed Conjunto music. In 1980, the Ybanez family bought the community to provide low-income housing for Hispanic families. (2010)