Townsite of Old Farmer

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some towns out here in Young County grew up slow, the way cedar creeps across a pasture. But Old Farmer, well, Old Farmer had a different kind of beginning.

It started with a man of the cloth and a campfire. The year was 1877, and a missionary by the name of Reverend William H. Farmer came through this stretch of Texas and made camp right here.

Just a man, a fire, and whatever he carried with him. You'd never have guessed that spot of ground would turn into anything at all. But it did.

Reverend Farmer stayed connected to the place, and before long he had himself a general store. Then in 1878 he became the town's first postmaster. Think about that.

The same man who camped here one year was handing out the mail the next. Now the town took his name, and Old Farmer started filling in. A school went up.

Two churches. A newspaper, which means somebody had opinions worth printing. Three doctors, which means enough people were around to get hurt or sick.

Seventeen businesses. Seventeen. And a Justice of the Peace Court, which means enough trouble was brewing to need somebody official to sort it out.

For a while, Old Farmer had the feel of a place that was going somewhere. Towns like that, they rise fast and they quiet down quiet. But here's the thing the marker wants you to know before you drive on.

The old Farmer ranch house is still standing. Out here where so much has faded back into the grass, that house is still there. The missionary camped, the town grew, the town stilled, and the ranch house remained.

Some things just hold on.

What the marker says

Named for a missionary, Rev. William H. Farmer, who camped here 1877. Later he had a general store; first postmaster, 1878. Town once had a school, 2 churches, a newspaper, 3 doctors, 17 businesses, a Justice of the Peace Court. The old Farmer ranch house still stands.