Rhea Community

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Back in 1901, two brothers, John and Joe Rhea, made a purchase that would put their name on the map out here in Parmer County. They bought property from the Capital Freehold Land Company, which at the time was holding the land as part of the XIT Ranch.

Now that's a name that carries weight on its own, but the Rhea brothers had their own plans. They didn't hold onto all that land for themselves. They turned around and sold parcels off to farmers, and in doing so, they called a community into being.

The Rhea Community. Settlers came. And not just from nearby, either.

A number of German immigrants were among those who made their way here, migrating from the midwestern United States to try their hand at farming this stretch of the Texas panhandle. They brought their faith with them, too. Immanuel Lutheran Church organized in 1910, and when it did, it became one of the earliest congregations of that denomination in the entire panhandle.

That's not a small thing out here, where the land was still finding its people. There was also a post office, and a school. That schoolhouse pulled double duty for decades, serving not just as a place of learning but as the heart of community life, a gathering place, a center for the people of Rhea.

It held that role all the way until 1949, when the Rhea School District was divided up between the Friona and Bovina districts. That's the kind of change that can hollow a community out. But Rhea didn't hollow out.

Today it remains a viable farming and ranching community, still working the same ground the Rhea brothers first laid eyes on more than a century ago. Some places just hold on.

What the marker says

In 1901, brothers John and Joe Rhea purchased property from Capital Freehold Land Company, owners of the XIT Ranch. They later sold parcels of the land to farmers, establishing the Rhea Community. Many settlers, including a number of German immigrants, migrated here from the midwestern U.S. Early institutions included a post office, Immanuel Lutheran Church, which became one of the earliest of that denomination in the Texas panhandle when it organized in 1910, and a school. The schoolhouse also functioned as a community center until 1949, when the Rhea School District was divided into the Friona and Bovina districts. Today, Rhea remains a viable farming and ranching community.