Lamkin

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Lamkin, Comanche County. Now, Lamkin has a story that goes like this: you build it, something destroys it, and you build it again. And again.

And maybe one more time after that. It all started in 1870, one-half mile north of where you're standing now, right there on the banks of the Leon River. George Lamkin donated the land for the townsite — and the town took his name for its trouble.

From the beginning, the place had what a frontier community needed: a general store, a blacksmith shop, a gin, a post office, and a drugstore. Not bad for a stretch of Texas riverbank. But the Leon River had opinions about all of that.

Several floods came through over the years, and fires took their turn too. And here's the part that makes you appreciate those early settlers — they rebuilt. Every time.

Pioneer merchants, the marker calls them, and it says they rebuilt gamely. That word does a lot of work. Gamely.

Because it wasn't once. It wasn't twice. It was the flood of 1908 that finally ended the argument.

That flood destroyed old Lamkin entirely, and only then did the town pack up and move to its present site. You could say the river finally won that particular negotiation. Then, two years later, the Cotton Belt Railroad arrived — and that changed everything.

Lamkin became a shipping center for the farmers and ranchers of the region. By 1920, this town had grown into something worth talking about: two gins, a hotel, a bank, a produce house, a lumberyard, a blacksmith shop, three general stores, a post office, four churches, a telephone exchange, and a drugstore. The Consolidated Public School had an average attendance of over two hundred students.

The basketball team was county champion four consecutive years. And every year, people came out for the horse and mule show. This was a town alive.

Then 1922 arrived, and fire destroyed a major portion of the business firms. Lamkin rebuilt — because that's what Lamkin did. But when the railroad discontinued in 1936, the town didn't recover.

Without the railroad, the reason for all that bustling commerce quietly disappeared. Before we leave Lamkin's story, there's one more tale the marker wants told — and it's one that's been passed down since 1869. Two miles east of here, on Resley's Creek, nineteen renegade Indians raided the home of Mrs.

Elizabeth Ewell. She was a widow, and she and her two sons were not at home at the time. The raiders ransacked the place.

When Mrs. Ewell and her sons returned, what greeted them were clouds of feathers — from mattresses that had been ripped open. A posse drove the Indians away.

That image has a way of staying with you. A widow comes home to a sky full of feathers where her belongings used to be. And yet she stayed.

And she wasn't alone in that. Lamkin itself stayed, rebuilt, flooded, burned, and built again — until finally, in 1936, the railroad left and took the future with it. What remains is the marker, the memory, and those feathers still drifting somewhere in the telling.

What the marker says

Originally established 1870, one-half mile north on bands of the Leon River. Named for George Lamkin, donor of land for townsite. Business firms included general store, blacksmith shop, gin, post office and drugstore. Despite several floods and fires, pioneer merchants gamely rebuilt. Only after the flood of 1908 destroyed old Lamkin was town moved to present site. Two years later with the coming of the Cotton Belt Railroad, Lamkin developed into a shipping center for farmers and ranchers. By 1920, the town had 2 gins, a hotel, bank, produce house, lumberyard, blacksmith shop, 3 general stores, post office, 4 churches, telephone exchange and drugstore. Consolidated Public School had average attendance of over 200. Basketball team was county champion for 4 consecutive years. Annual attraction was horse and mule show. In 1922, fire destroyed a major portion of business firms. Lamkin rebuilt but failed after railroad discontinued, 1936. An often-related pioneer story was of 1869 Indian raid 2 miles east of here on Resley's Creek. The home of Mrs. Elizabeth Ewell was ransacked by 19 renegade Indians. The widow and her 2 sons were not at home but on their return were greeted by clouds of feathers from ripped mattresses. A posse drove the Indians away. (1967)