DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, out here on the South Plains, water wasn't just a convenience — it was the whole ballgame. And it was abundant water from Running Water Draw that pulled J.
W. and T. W. Morrison out to this stretch of Hale County in 1881, where they planted a ranch headquarters about ten miles west of where you're standin' right now.
Most of the early settlers in the region ended up workin' for that ranch. It was the kind of operation that grew, too — eventually attracting partners, including a wealthy cattleman by the name of C. C.
Slaughter. That's the kind of name that sounds like it belongs on a deed, and apparently it did. But the man with a vision for something more than cattle was Dennis Rice.
In 1884, Dennis and Martha S. Rice purchased several sections of land along the draw, south of this very site. Rice had plans.
Big plans. He wanted a town. He wanted a railroad running right across his land.
And if you've ever tried to lure a railroad, you know that's a project requiring patience and optimism in roughly equal measure. While he waited, Rice got practical. In 1890 he opened the Wadsworth Post Office — right there in his dugout.
A post office in a dugout. That's not a detail you dress up; that's just the frontier being exactly what it was. The following year, 1891, it was renamed Running Water.
Then came the masterstroke. July 4th, 1892. Dennis Rice organized the Running Water Townsite and Investment Company and threw a picnic and barbecue — for the express purpose of selling town lots.
Nothing says come build your life here quite like free food on Independence Day. And it worked. Before long, Running Water had a blacksmith shop, a grist mill, a two-story store building, residences, churches.
The early one-room schoolhouse eventually gave way to a proper brick structure. This was a real community taking shape along that draw. Now here's where the story takes that particular kind of Texas turn.
The Fort Worth and Denver Railroad — the very thing Rice had been angling for all along — came through in 1928. And it bypassed Running Water. Just... went around it.
The railroad that was supposed to seal the town's future instead quietly began to unravel it. Running Water held on — thriving, the marker says, for several more years. But in 1935, the post office packed up and moved to Edmondson Switch, right there on the railroad line, and many residents followed along.
By 1937, the settlement that had once been Wadsworth, then Running Water, was renamed Edmondson. The draw is still out there. The water ran.
The people came, built something real, and then the railroad drew a different line. That's how it goes sometimes — the very thing you're reaching for reshapes the whole story on its way past.
What the marker says
Attracted by abundant water from Running Water Draw, J. W. and T. W. Morrison established a ranch in 1881 with headquarters about ten miles west of here. Most of the early settlers in this region worked for the ranch. Later, several partners joined the operation, including wealthy cattleman C. C. Slaughter. In 1884 Dennis and Martha S. Rice purchased several sections of land along the draw south of this site. Rice hoped to start a town and lure the railroad across his land. He began Wadsworth Post Office in his dugout in 1890. It was renamed Running Water in 1891. Rice organized the Running Water Townsite and Investment Company and staged a picnic and barbecue, July 4, 1892, for the purpose of selling town lots. Soon the community had a blacksmith shop, grist mill, a two-story store building, several residences and churches. The early one-room schoolhouse was later replaced by a brick structure. Although the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad bypassed Running Water in 1928, it remained a thriving village for several years. In 1935 the post office moved to Edmondson Switch on the railroad and many residents relocated here. In 1937 the name of this settlement was changed to Edmondson. 1978