Lone Wolf Community

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Lone Wolf Community out in Scurry County. Now, this story starts with a name — and what a name to carry. Lone Wolf.

Named for a Kiowa chief, whose tribe roamed this very stretch of Texas until the 1870s. Five miles north of Lone Wolf Mountain, the land holds that history in its bones. And when settlers eventually came to put down roots, they inherited a name that already meant something.

Something old and wide and free. When a community started taking shape out here, it needed two things before almost anything else — a place to bury the dead, and a place to school the living. A man named John Mahoney stepped up and donated the sites for both.

That cemetery, by the way, has an oldest grave date of 1892. Before there was much of a community at all, somebody was already being laid to rest in that ground. A schoolhouse went up in 1901.

And because folks out here were practical people, that same building pulled double duty as a place of worship. Church and school under one roof — not unusual on the frontier, but still something worth appreciating. The first teacher to stand at the front of that room was W.

F. Knowlton, and he had thirty-five pupils looking back at him. Thirty-five.

Out here. That's not a small number for a community just finding its footing. The local post office went by the name Winston — opened June 26, 1901, and ran until April 30, 1909.

After that, mail came by rural route. In 1906, a man named D. C.

Hazelwood built a store, and just like that, the community had a little more of what it needed to keep going. The Lone Wolf School, over the years, operated at different locations — as communities do, shifting and adjusting — until it was eventually consolidated. But that cemetery John Mahoney helped establish?

It continues in use. Area families still bring their people there. The name Lone Wolf has outlasted the post office, outlasted the schoolhouse in its original form, outlasted a whole lot of change — and it's still out here, five miles north of that mountain, holding its ground.

What the marker says

(5 mi. N of Lone Wolf Mountain) Named for Kiowa chief whose tribe roamed area until 1870s. Community development when John Mahoney donated cemetery and school sites. A schoolhouse, erected 1901, was used also for church services. First teacher, W. F. Knowlton, had 35 pupils. Local post office was Winston (June 26, 1901-April 30, 1909). Mail later came by rural route. In 1906, D. C. Hazelwood built local store. Lone Wolf School, operated at different locations, served the community until consolidated. Cemetery (with oldest grave date 1892) continues in use as burial place for area families. (1970)