Notla Community

Duane's take

Now, I'm telling this one straight from the official marker, so let me set the scene for you. Way out in southeastern Ochiltree County, there is a place called Notla. And if that name strikes you as a little peculiar, well, hold on, because the story behind it is exactly as good as you're hoping it is.

But we'll get there. First, let's go back to the turn of the twentieth century, when the State of Texas was actively promoting the sale of public school lands to encourage folks to settle the rural stretches of this state. By 1901, a community had started to take shape out here, sitting right between Ochiltree, the county seat at the time, and Glazier, the nearest railroad point.

The land was open. The roads were old cattle ranch and wagon freighter trails. And the people who came, came to stay.

Among the first to purchase land and put down roots were R.E. Wamble, born in 1876, and his wife Emma Jane Taylor, born in 1861. They were early, and they were committed.

The community they joined had a name in those days, a plain and honest name: Half-Way. Named for its location on the Ochiltree-Glazier Road, right in between. No poetry to it.

Just geography. More families followed. William F.

Taylor, born in 1860, and his wife Helen Short, born in 1869, came out in 1906. The very next year, they donated one acre to Ochiltree County so the community could have a school. They called it Ridge School, and it became the first beating heart of this little settlement.

The Gerhart family came. The Good family. The Norris family.

The Westerfield family. One by one, southeastern Ochiltree County was filling in. Then came the roads.

In the 1910s, a highway was developed running from Dallas to Canadian to Denver. They called it the D-C-D Highway, and it rolled right through Half-Way, incorporating that stretch of the old Ochiltree-Glazier Road. That same section of road would later become FM 281.

Progress has a way of paving over what came before. In 1919, Frank L. Hamilton, born in 1866, and his wife Mary Lucy, born in 1872, moved onto Section 209.

Now, the automobile was quickly replacing the horse and buggy by this point, and the Hamiltons read that moment with clear eyes. They opened a general store, two gas pumps out front, right there on the D-C-D Highway. They were ready for the future.

And then came December 21, 1920. The Hamiltons applied for a post office. They wanted to call it Alton.

Simple enough. Except, as these things go, that name was already taken somewhere else in Texas. The application came back.

The name was unavailable. Now, here is where the story earns its ending. Somebody, and the marker doesn't say who got the credit, somebody looked at the word Alton and flipped it around.

Notla. A-L-T-O-N spelled backwards. That became the new name of the community, born from a rejected postal application and a little sideways thinking.

Mary Hamilton served as postmaster for twenty-two years. In 1924, a new school was built on the south side of the D-C-D Highway, and they named it Notla School. It replaced Ridge School as the center of community life.

Over the years, nondenominational Sunday School and church services were held inside those walls, along with social gatherings and group events of all kinds. A schoolhouse does a lot of work in a small community. The post office closed in 1944.

Notla School had merged with Perryton back in 1939, and then in 1966, the school building burned. Today, the residents and descendants out here still recall the spirit of many generations who built this place. A community that started as Half-Way, got renamed by bureaucratic accident, and answered to Notla ever since.

Spelled backwards, standing right-side up.

What the marker says

At the turn of the 20th century, the State of Texas promoted sale of public school lands to encourage settlement of rural areas. By 1901, a community developed in southeastern Ochiltree County between Ochiltree, then the county seat, and Glazier, the nearest railroad point. R.E. Wamble (1876-1957) and his wife, Emma Jane (Taylor) (1861-1949), were among the first to purchase land and settle here. The community was originally called Half-Way for its location on the Ochiltree-Glazier Road. Earlier cattle ranch and wagon freighter trails comprised the local transportation network. William F. Taylor (1860-1947) and his wife, Helen (Short) (1869-1956), came in 1906, and the following year donated one acre to Ochiltree County for the community's Ridge School. Other early settlers included the Gerhart, Good, Norris and Westerfield families. The D-C-D Highway, developed in the 1910s from Dallas to Canadian to Denver, incorporated the Half-Way section of the Ochiltree-Glazier Road. This section of road later became FM 281. Frank L. Hamilton (1866-1960) and his wife, Mary Lucy (1872-1966), moved onto Section 209 in 1919. The Hamiltons opened a general store with two gas pumps, as the automobile was quickly replacing the horse and buggy. On Dec. 21, 1920, they applied for a post office named Alton, but as that name was already in use, Notla (Alton spelled backwards) became the new name for the community. Mary was postmaster for 22 years. Notla School, built in 1924 on the south side of the D-C-D Highway, replaced Ridge School as the center of the community. Over the years, many social and group events, including nondenominational Sunday School and church services, were held in the school. The post office closed in 1944 and the school, which merged with Perryton in 1939, burned in 1966. Today, residents and descendants recall the spirit of many generations. (2020)