DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and Hale County, this one's yours. About a mile and a quarter southwest of where you're rolling right now, there's nothing much to see. Flat land, West Texas sky, maybe a dust devil if the day's feeling ornery.
But from 1883 to 1892, that patch of ground was the first settlement in the entire county. And it all started with one man standing alone on the Llano Estacado. One man.
That's it. That was the whole population of Hale County. A Methodist minister out of New York named Horatio Graves.
Now there's a name that sounds like it was built for a headstone or a history book, and sure enough, here we are. Graves had a vision — not just to scratch out a living on the South Plains, but to found an outright religious colony. He was thinking big.
And when it came time to name the place, he reached all the way across the Atlantic and pulled out Epworth, England — the birthplace of John Wesley, the very founder of Methodism. That tells you something about the man's ambitions. He wasn't namin' a feed store.
He was layin' the cornerstone of something. He established a post office there in 1884, and since he was the only county resident at the time, you might say he was both the postmaster and the entire constituency. He carried the mail himself from Estacado.
And on top of that, he sold supplies to settlers as they trickled in and to the cowboys riding for the XIT Ranch. Minister, postmaster, mail carrier, general merchant — Horatio Graves was wearin' a lot of hats out there in the middle of nowhere. Then in 1891, he picked up his post office — as you do — moved it several miles, and started again.
Called it New Epworth. A fresh start, a new chapter. But the Llano Estacado had other ideas.
Drouth. That dry, relentless kind that doesn't negotiate. By 1893, New Epworth was abandoned.
The dream of a religious colony on the South Plains quietly folded. The residents didn't vanish, though. They joined up with the folks from Hale City, and together those two communities founded Hale Center.
One man's grand colony became the seed of something more practical, more durable, more Texas. Horatio Graves came out from New York to build a city for the faithful, and what he got — and what Hale County got — was a beginning.
What the marker says
(1883 - 1892) (1 1/4 miles southwest) First settlement in county. Established as a post office in 1884 by Horatio Graves of New York, a Methodist minister. Then only county resident, he planned to found religious colony here; named place for Epworth, England, birthplace of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Graves carried the mail from Estacado; also sold supplies to settlers and XIT Ranch cowboys. In 1891 he moved his post office several miles and started New Epworth; but drouth caused site to be abandoned in 1893. The residents joined with those of Hale City to found Hale Center. (1971)