Liberty Community and Finney Switch

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Liberty Community and Finney Switch, out in Hale County. Now, every good Texas community has to start somewhere, and this one started with three brothers and a long road west. In 1887, Joseph B.

Leach and his brothers, John and Dee, immigrated to this part of the Panhandle plains from Liberty, Kentucky. Joseph filed on a 160-acre homestead and got to work. He built a half-dugout and sod house, and put up a windmill.

Out here on the flat, treeless expanse of the South Plains, that windmill wasn't just a convenience. It was a statement of intent. The Leach brothers kept things moving, hauling freight for merchants over in Plainview.

And word must've traveled, because more families followed. That five-mile square area started filling in, slowly but surely. By 1892 there were enough children in the settlement that a schoolhouse was erected.

Once you've got a schoolhouse, you've really got a community. Methodist and Baptist services were held in that building, and so were community activities. The place needed a name, and the settlers called it Liberty, for Joseph Leach's Kentucky home.

Then came the early 1900s, and a man named William R. Finney settled nearby with his family. Now, William Finney probably didn't know it at the time, but his land was about to put his name on the map.

In 1906, the Santa Fe Railroad, running its line from Amarillo down to Plainview, located a switch right there on Finney's land. And just like that, the site had a new name: Finney Switch. That's the kind of thing that changes a place.

Soon, irrigation wells came in and improved agriculture. Dairy farming began. The old Liberty Schoolhouse was moved in 1912, and then in 1920 a four-room brick building was erected south of Finney.

The community was growing into something with real permanence. Around 1925, the first business opened, a store. The Baptist and Methodist congregations, who'd been sharing space since the beginning, each built their own sanctuaries by 1940.

But communities, like everything else, have their seasons. With the consolidation of the Liberty and Plainview Schools in 1948, and with changes in farming, the population began to decrease. The story of Liberty Community and Finney Switch is one of those quiet Texas tales: people who came with nothing but grit and a homestead claim, built something real out of sod and brick and belief, and left their mark on the land long after the crowds thinned out.

What the marker says

In 1887 Joseph B. Leach and his brothers, John and Dee, immigrated to this area from Liberty, Kentucky. Joseph filed on a 160-acre homestead and built a half-dugout and sod house and a windmill. The Leach brothers often hauled freight for Plainview merchants. More families arrived in this five-mile square area. By 1892 there were enough children for a schoolhouse to be erected. Methodist and Baptist services and community activities were held in the building. The settlement was called "Liberty" for Joseph Leach's Kentucky home. William R. Finney and his family settled nearby in the early 1900s. When the Santa Fe Railroad from Amarillo to Plainview located a switch in 1906 on Finney's land, the site became "Finney Switch". Soon irrigation wells improved agriculture and dairy farming began. Liberty Schoolhouse was moved in 1912 and in 1920 a four-room brick building was erected south of Finney. About 1925 the first business, a store, opened. The Baptist and Methodist congregations built sanctuaries by 1940. With the consolidation of the Liberty and Plainview Schools in 1948 and changes in farming, the population decreased. 1979