DUANE
Duane's take
The marker's got the story, and I'm just the one fool enough to tell it out loud — so here's what it says about Old Farwell, Hansford County, Texas. Now, picture 1886. Somebody stakes a town about a half mile northeast of where you're standing right now.
They call it Farwell — named for John V. Farwell, an early surveyor, and the members of his family. The Farwells, you should know, were Chicago department store executives.
Not exactly your typical West Texas pioneers. But they had a stake out here, a mighty big one. They operated the XIT Ranch across this county and nine others.
And how'd they come by that? Well, the marker tells it plain: the XIT Ranch was their fee — payment for building the Texas State Capitol, from 1882 to 1886. A ranch the size of a small nation, traded for a building that's still standing in Austin to this day.
So these Chicago executives had skin in the game, and Farwell was supposed to be the crown jewel — the county seat of Hansford County, which had been created back in 1876 and finally organized in 1889. Supposed to be. That's where the trouble starts.
There was an election. And Farwell lost it. Lost the county seat to a town called Hansford.
Now here's the part that ought to sting a little — Hansford served as county seat all the way until 1928, and then it, too, ceased to exist. So the town that beat Farwell is also gone. Both of them, swallowed up by time and the Texas Panhandle, which has a way of doing exactly that.
What's left of Old Farwell today? Stones. Just stones.
But not ordinary stones — those are the remains of the casing of a well. Two hundred feet deep, dug entirely by hand, to bring water to the town. Think on that for a moment.
Someone went down two hundred feet with nothing but muscle and determination, trying to make a go of a place that the county seat election had already left behind. A town named for a Chicago merchant prince, built on ranch land traded for a capitol dome, beaten at the ballot box by a town that didn't survive either. All that's left is a pile of stones from a hand-dug well.
Out here on the High Plains, even the ghost towns have ghosts.
What the marker says
Established 1886 about 1/2 mile northeast of this site. Intended to be county seat of Hansford County, created 1876, organized in 1889. Lost election to town of Hansford, which served till 1928 but is also now non-existent. Named for early surveyor John V. Farwell and members of his family, Chicago department store executives who operated XIT Ranch in this and 9 other counties - their fee in payment for building of the Texas State Capitol, 1882-86. Stones here are from the casing of a 200 foot well dug by hand to supply water to the town. (1964)