DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Santa Fe Railroad coming to Plainview, Texas. Now, some things change a town forever — and some things just arrive on a Tuesday. This one arrived on a Tuesday.
Well, a Monday, actually — December the thirty-first, 1906, to be precise, which is about as close to a new beginning as the calendar allows. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Santa Fe Railroad had been working the Texas Panhandle since 1886, and somewhere around 1900, somebody looked out at the South Plains and saw what the marker calls a rich agricultural domain — which is a polished way of saying there was serious money growing in that dirt, if only you could get it somewhere.
So the Santa Fe started laying plans to extend the line. Now, Plainview wasn't sitting around waiting on anybody. In 1903, the town's leaders raised seventy-five thousand dollars — seventy-five thousand — to use in promoting a rail connection.
That is a statement of intent. The men behind that effort were J.N. Donohoo, Dr.
Lee Dye, W.E. Dyer, L.S. Kinder, L.A.
Knight, Charles McCormack, J.H. Slaton, R.P. Smyth, and Dr.
J.H. Wayland. Nine names on a mission.
The city and the Santa Fe came to terms, and on December thirty-first, 1906, that first train rolled in. Regular service followed soon after, and here's the detail that'll stick with you — the oldtimers rejoiced when train whistles heralded an end to isolation. An end to isolation.
Think on that a moment. Once or twice a week, land agents arrived with trainloads of prospective settlers, and Plainview started building in earnest — a courthouse, a new schoolhouse, a new city hall, an electric plant, an opera house, residences, business buildings. And soon, the Wayland Literary and Technical Institution was under construction as well.
The South Plains opened up to settlement and agricultural expansion, and Hale County was never the same. All it took was a little organizing, a lot of money, nine determined men, and one train pulling in on the last day of the year.
What the marker says
Operating in the Texas Panhandle since 1886, the Santa Fe Railroad about 1900 laid plans to extend its line into the rich agricultural domain of the South Plains. Meantime, Plainview leaders saw the need for better transportation and in 1903 raised $75,000 to use in promoting a rail connection. J.N. Donohoo, Dr. Lee Dye, W.E. Dyer, L.S. Kinder, L.A. Knight, Charles McCormack, J.H. Slaton, R.P. Smyth, and Dr. J.H. Wayland led this endeavor. The city and the Santa Fe came to terms, and the first train reached here on Dec. 31, 1906. Regular service soon followed, and oldtimers rejoiced when train whistles heralded and end to isolation. Once or twice a week, land agents arrived with trainloads of prospective settlers. Local builders constructed a courthouse, new schoolhouse, new city hall, an electric plant, an opera house, residences and business buildings. Soon the Wayland Literary and Technical Institution was under construction. Railroad service made a major contribution to the economic development of Hale County, opening acreage to settlement and agricultural expansion. (1975)