DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker at Wizard Wells tells it, here's the story as Duane sees it laid out. Now, before there was ever a town, before there was ever a well, before there was ever a name worth arguing over — the Kiowa Indians knew about this place. They found the mineral waters here and used them for medical purposes.
That's where this story begins. Not with a deed or a deed holder, but with people who already understood what this ground had to offer. Then came George Washington Vineyard, sometime in the 1870s.
He settled here, taking up a claim that had originally been established by a man named David Rowland. Vineyard dug a well for his home. Straightforward enough.
Except the water came up tasting of minerals, and Vineyard wasn't interested in drinking that. He set it aside. Here's where the story takes its turn.
George Washington Vineyard was a suffering man — sore eyes, ulcers on his legs. And whether out of desperation or curiosity, he started bathing in that water. Started drinking it.
And he was cured. Now you cannot keep news like that quiet in Jack County, Texas. Word spread.
And before long, folks suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, stomach disorders, skin diseases — they started arriving. They came in their wagons and they camped along Bean's Creek, because that's what you did when a well in the middle of nowhere was the thing standing between you and your misery. The crowd grew.
And where a crowd grows, commerce follows. Three hotels opened. Several bath houses went up to serve the visitors.
The town of Vineyard was formally laid out in 1882, and a man named J. H. Grisham opened the first general store.
From there the town filled out — churches, a newspaper, a school, a sawmill, a blacksmith shop, a post office. A whole living, breathing community built around that one well George Vineyard almost didn't bother with. Then 1898 arrived, and the Rock Island Railroad made its decision.
It bypassed Vineyard entirely, running its tracks two miles to the south. A new community called Sebree sprouted up right there at the rail line. Visitors who came by train now had to take a hack — a hired carriage — out to the resort.
The railroad had rerouted the journey, but it hadn't stopped it. And then came the final twist in this tale. In 1915, a man named H.
F. Stamper, along with his sons Clint and H. F.
Jr., went before the Legislature with a petition. When they were done, the name of the town of Vineyard had officially become Wizard Wells. And Sebree — that rail-stop community two miles south — was renamed Vineyard.
The names swapped places. The town built around a miraculous well became Wizard Wells, which, when you think about what that water did for one man's sore eyes and suffering legs, might just be the most honest name a town in Texas ever carried.
What the marker says
The Kiowa Indians first visited this location and used the mineral waters for medical purposes. George Washington Vineyard settled here in the 1870s, taking up a claim originally established by David Rowland. Vineyard dug this well for his home but the mineral-tasting water was not used. He suffered from sore eyes and from ulcers on his legs but was cured by bathing in and drinking the water. The news spread and visitors suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, stomach disorders, and skin diseases began coming to the well. Those seeking treatments often camped along Bean's Creek in their wagons. Soon three hotels and several bath houses opened to serve the increased visitor population. The town of Vineyard was laid out in 1882 and J. H. Grisham opened the first general store. The town later included several churches, a newspaper, school; sawmill, blacksmith shop, and post office. In 1898 the Rock Island Railroad bypassed Vineyard and Sebree community was started (2 miles south). Visitors arriving by train took a hack to the resort. H. F. Stamper and his sons, Clint and H. F. Jr., petitioned the Legislature in 1915 and the name of Vineyard became "Wizard Wells". Sebree was changed to Vineyard. (1980)