DUANE
Duane's take
Well, the marker tells it this way, and I'm just gonna pass it along to you straight. You're rolling through O'Donnell, Lynn County, and this town has got a story that starts with a railroad man, runs through a Fourth of July picnic, and ends up with the largest cotton gin in the whole world. Pull up a chair around this campfire, friend, because we're going back to 1909.
The town is named for Tom J. O'Donnell — a promoter of South Plains railroads, including sixty miles of Santa Fe Line running from Slaton all the way down to Lamesa. Now that railroad wasn't just a novelty.
It was an honest-to-goodness freight hauler, and it mattered. H. E.
Baldridge and Charles H. Doak — two men who would go on to be organizers and first officials of Lynn County — looked at that new railroad and saw a town waiting to happen. So they founded one.
Right here. In 1909. Doak didn't wait around either.
That same year, 1909, he built a hotel in the projected town of O'Donnell — projected being the key word, meaning the town existed mostly in ambition and fresh lumber at that point. L. G.
Phillips came along and established the first store, which means somebody finally had a place to buy something. Now here's the moment everybody was waiting for. July 4th, 1910.
A big picnic was held to celebrate the arrival of the first Santa Fe train. A Fourth of July celebration for a first train. You really couldn't write a more Texas occasion if you tried.
That same year, the old Central post office — which had been sitting out on the Dee W. Harris Ranch, five and a half miles to the northwest — was picked up and moved into the new town. And on February 7th, 1911, it was officially renamed O'Donnell.
The name was now permanent. Also in 1911, W. R.
Standefer was employed to survey the townsite, so they were drawing lines and making it official. H. E.
Baldridge, one of those original founders, made an offer to the churches — free building lots. And the churches came. A Methodist church organized in 1911.
Church of Christ and Presbyterian churches in 1912. First Baptist in 1914. One by one, the steeples went up.
Then in 1923, the town was incorporated, and W. R. Sanderson became the first mayor.
The school here has improved dramatically since its early wooden building days, and it serves a large area. One of its graduates went on to become something of a legend — actor Dan Blocker, the man who played Hoss Cartwright. And then there's the cotton.
O'Donnell became a dryland farming center, and in 1961, it had what was then the largest cotton gin in the world. That year, the gin processed twenty-one thousand bales of cotton. Twenty-one thousand.
Out here on the South Plains, they didn't just plant cotton. They ginned it bigger than anybody else on earth. That's O'Donnell — born out of a railroad dream in 1909, celebrated into existence with a Fourth of July picnic, and at its peak, spinning more cotton than anywhere in the world.
Not bad for a town that started as a projected idea and a hotel.
What the marker says
Named for Tom J. O'Donnell, promoter of South Plains railroads, including 60 miles of Santa Fe Line from Slaton to Lamesa. On this new railroad (important as freight hauler) town of O'Donnell was founded in 1909 by H. E. Baldridge and Charles H. Doak-- two of the organizers and first officials of Lynn County. Doak built a hotel in projected town of O'Donnell in 1909. L. G. Phillips established the first store. On July 4, 1910, a big picnic was held to celebrate arrival of first Santa Fe train. Old "Central" post office (previously on Dee W. Harris Ranch, 5.5 mi. NW) was moved to new town in 1910 and was officially renamed O'Donnell on Feb. 7, 1911. W. R. Standefer was employed to survey townsite in 1911. H. E. Baldridge offered free building lots to churches. A Methodist church was organized in 1911; Church of Christ and Presbyterian churches in 1912; First Baptist in 1914. Town was incorporated in 1923, with W. R. Sanderson as first mayor. School, improved dramatically since its early wooden building, serves a large area. A graduate is actor Dan Blocker ("Hoss" Cartwright). Now a dryland farming center, O'Donnell in 1961 had what was then the largest cotton gin in the world, ginning 21,000 bales of cotton during that year. (1969)