DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Picture this: December 1902, out on the flat edge of West Texas, more than a hundred people gathered around a bonfire — not inside a courthouse, not inside a church, but down in a ravine to the southwest of Tahoka Lake, firelight flickering against the dark. They voted right there to petition for county organization and to pick a townsite for a county seat.
They'd call it Tahoka — an Indian word meaning 'fresh water.' Now that is a founding. That's how you start a town in Texas. Around a fire, in a ravine, in December.
Early in 1903, B. G. Sweet, Jack Alley, and W.
T. 'Bill' Petty organized the Tahoka Townsite Company, and things started movin' fast. Sweet surveyed and platted the town himself, and then he and L. E.
King went right ahead and opened the first mercantile store — set it up opposite the southwest corner of the public square, as if they'd always known exactly where that square would be. County elections were held on April 7, 1903. And on April 30th, the Tahoka Post Office opened its doors, with Fannie N.
Henderson serving as postmaster. From there, Tahoka didn't walk — it ran. Before long the town was boastin' a two-story frame courthouse, a school, two churches, a hotel, and several businesses.
And on October 9, 1903, a newspaper hit the streets — The Lynn County News, first published by Otis and Inez Lilly. A town with a newspaper is a town that knows it's goin' somewhere. By 1906, a bank and a cotton gin had been built.
Then came 1910, and the Santa Fe Railroad extended its line all the way from Slaton to Tahoka — and for several years after that, Tahoka stood as one of the largest cattle shipping points in the entire nation. Not in the county, not in the region. The nation.
On June 13, 1915, the community was incorporated, and J. E. Stokes was elected mayor.
What started as a hundred souls huddled around a bonfire in a ravine had become a town with a railroad, a newspaper, a bank, a gin, and a mayor. Tahoka has gone right on serving as a trade center for the farmers and ranchers of Lynn County ever since. Not bad for a decision made by firelight.
What the marker says
In Dec. 1902, over 100 people met around a bonfire in a ravine to the southwest of Tahoka Lake and voted to petition for county organization and to select a townsite for a county seat to be named "Tahoka," an Indian word meaning "fresh water," Early in 1903, B. G. Sweet, Jack Alley, and W. T. "Bill" Petty organized the Tahoka Townsite Company. Sweet surveyed and platted the town, and he and L. E. King established the first mercantile store opposite the southwest corner of the public square. County elections were held on April 7, 1903, and the Tahoka Post Office opened on April 30, with Fannie N. Henderson as postmaster. Tahoka soon boasted a 2-story frame courthouse, school, two churches, a hotel, and several businesses, including a newspaper, "The Lynn County News," first published on Oct. 9, 1903, by Otis and Inez Lilly. In 1906, a bank and a cotton gin were built. The Santa Fe Railroad was extended from Slaton to Tahoka in 1910, and for several years Tahoka was one of the largest cattle shipping points in the nation. The community was incorporated on June 13, 1915, and J. E. Stokes elected mayor. Tahoka serves as a trade center for Lynn County farmers and ranchers. (1974)