Lazbuddie

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Back in 1902, a man named Thomas Kelly made a move that would shape this corner of the Texas high plains for generations. He bought 55,136 acres, not a rough estimate, 55,136 acres, of the capitol syndicate's Red Tower Camp, which was part of the original XIT Ranch.

That is a serious piece of ground. Kelly set about building what he called the Star Ranch, and he did not do it halfway. Thirty windmills pulling water out of the earth.

Bunkhouses, corrals, outbuildings, and a schoolhouse. A whole world unto itself, sitting out there on the flat plains under a sky that goes on forever. The Star Ranch School building would eventually pick itself up and move to the spot where a town was quietly getting ready to be born.

The ranch itself got subdivided over time, broken into smaller ranches and farms, the way big things often do. And then came the moment that put the name on the map, and what a name it is. In 1924, two men shook hands and opened a commissary together.

D. Luther Green, who went by Laz, and Andrew Sherley, who went by Buddie. They put their nicknames together, Laz and Buddie, and called it the Lazbuddie commissary.

You cannot make that up, and nobody had to. That commissary became the beating heart of a whole rural community. Then things started moving.

By 1926 and into 1927, Lazbuddie had a post office, a Missionary Baptist Church, and a brand new brick schoolhouse. 1928 brought a Methodist Church and a community cemetery. Then came the businesses, the gins, the grain elevator. One thing after another, taking root in the high plains soil.

Lazbuddie is still out there today, an active agricultural town, doing what it has always done. Growing things. Holding on.

That is what this place was built for.

What the marker says

In 1902, Thomas Kelly bought 55,136 acres of the capitol syndicate's Red Tower Camp (part of the original XIT Ranch). Kelly developed the Star Ranch with thirty windmills plus bunkhouses, corrals, outbuildings and a schoolhouse. The ranch was later subdivided to form smaller ranches and farms, and the Star Ranch School building moved here. In 1924, D. Luther (Laz) Green and Andrew (Buddie) Sherley opened the Lazbuddie commissary, which became the center of a rural community. In 1926-27, Lazbuddie gained a post office, Missionary Baptist Church, and new brick schoolhouse. A Methodist Church and community cemetery began in 1928, followed by businesses, gins and a grain elevator. Lazbuddie remains an active agricultural town on the Texas high plains.