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 Dickens County USGenWeb Project Hosted by Rootsweb Dickens County Historical MarkersThe markers encountered in Dickens County are designated Official Texas Historical Markers received from The Texas Historical Commission. Markers are erected to commemorate historical sites, buildings and events; institutions such as churches, businesses, and organizations; and individuals whose achievements have been recognized.The most common types of markers are the aluminum with raised lettering on a black background. Some of the earlier markers may be made of stone, usually granite, featuring either engraved lettering or a metal plate with inscription. Another marker is the round medallion, which identifies a structure as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. An interpretive plate offering historical background of the building often accompanies the medallion. The inscriptions on the roadside markers are written by the historians of the county, based upon research done by contributors to the Dickens County Historical Commission.
On April 1, 1893, the Commissioners voted to receive the new courthouse, "having examined the building in a body and the same having been built according to the plans and specifications heretofore adopted." Marker Title: DICKENS COUNTY COURTHOUSE Current Use: Active Courthouse Index Entry: Dickens County Courthouse City: Dickens County: Dickens Year Marker Erected: 1962 Marker Location: Courthouse Square, Hwy. 82, Dickens (marker is inside of courthouse) Marker Size: Medallion Only Owner: County Service Dates: 1893-present Construction Date: 1893 Architect: E. L. Aiken Contractor: E. L. Aiken Style: Romanesque Revival Square Footage: RTHL Date: 1962 SAL Date: 1992 National Reg. District: no Nat. Register Listing: 1980 Description: Designed by E. L. Aiken, the Dickens County Courthouse was built in 1893 in the traditional quadrilateral form with intersecting halls defining county offices on the ground floor, and the county courtroom dominating the second floor. Substantial Modifications: 1936:Nugent Construction Company of Spur, courthouse remodeling removed central domed tower and cornice. 20 feet was added on the east side. A basement was incorporated into the addition for storage of county records, new doors and windows were added. Marker Title: DICKENS COUNTY JAIL Marker Location: Hwy 82 Marker Narrative: The Dickens County Jail is a two-story stone structure located northeast of the courthouse. It displays architectural detailing similar to the courthouse. The rusticated stonework symbolized the jail's permanence and security. Facing south, the front facade features an arched main entrance with heavy stone voussoirs. The remaining openings on all elevations are tall rectangular windows capped with large stone lintels. The structure is still used as the county jail. The Dickens County Jail represents one of the oldest structures in the small West Texas town of Dickens and has served as the county jail since its completion. Marker Title: DICKENS CEMETERY Marker photo by Kay Laster Marker Location: from Dickens, take S.H. 114/U.S. 82 east, about .5 miles Marker Attached to: Post Marker Date: 1994 Marker Text: DICKENS CEMETERY The only cemetery to serve the town of Dickens. This graveyard began in 1891, the same year the town was founded. Mrs. C.F. Jones, wife of pioneer settler and town barber C.F. Jones, died in 1891 and was buried by her husband at the foot of a hill overlooking the Croton Breaks. The owner of the property, M.S. Crow, at the suggestion of his attorney, W.C. Ballard, donated five acres of land surrounding the grave site for a community cemetery. W.C. Ballard, considered by many to be the "Father of Dickens", died in 1913 and was buried here, as well. Many early settlers, city and county officials are interred in this graveyard. Also buried here are veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Through the years, the site of the Dickens Cemetery has increased through additional land donations. A fence was erected in 1919, and in 1948 local citizens formed a cemetery association to care for the grounds and monuments. Now, encompassing more than eighteen acres, the cemetery serves as a reflection of area history. Marker Title: DICKENS COUNTY Photo by Kay Laster Marker Location: Courthouse Square, Highway 82, Dickens, TX. Explanation of Marker Size: pink granite highway marker; courthouse ground Marker Date: 1936 Marker Text: Formed from Young and Bexar territories. Created Aug. 21, 1876. Organized April 15, 1903. Dickens City, County Seat. Marker Title: PITCHFORK RANCH Marker Location: from Dickens, take U.S. 82 east, about 17 miles Marker Size: 18x28 Marker Attached to: Post Marker Date: 1983 Marker Text: PITCHFORK RANCH Irish-born, Jerry Savage established and open range ranch at this site about 1879. In 1881, St. Louis businessman Eugene F. Williams and Texas cattleman Dan B. Gardner purchased the ranch and in 1883 joined forces with landholder Sam Lazarus to form the Pitchfork Land & Cattle Company, Inc. Williams´ heirs later acquired controlling interest of the cattle empire. The first structures here were dugouts in the river bank, while the present buildings date from 1902. Pitchfork Ranch has doubled it original size to 165,000 acres and now operates ranches in Kansas and Wyoming. Marker Title: FOURTH U.S. CAVALRY Photo by Ron Brantner PRIVATES GREGG, WILLIAM MAX, W.H. KILPATRICK & OTHER SOLDIERS Marker Location: Spur Cemetery, local road of Highway 70, .25 miles east of Spur city limits Marker Size: Centennial - grey granite Marker Date: 1936 Marker Text: In Memory of: Pvts Gregg, William Max, W. H. Kirkpatrick and other soldiers, who met death in this region while serving under General R. S. McKenzie, 4th U.S. Calvary, 1871-1872, and 1874-1875; with no hope of honor, if victorious; no dream of mercy, if they fell; and the certainty of death by torture, if taken alive. They fought savage Comanches and cleared the Plains for the white man. Marker Title: SITE OF ANDERSON´S FORT OR SOLDIER´S MOUND Photo by Ron Brantner Marker Location: from Spur, take Highway 70 north, about 6 miles Explanation of Marker Size: grey centennial Marker Date: 1936 Marker Text: Here behind extensive breastworks Major Thomas M. Anderson, Tenth U.S. Infantry, maintained a supply camp for the cavalry under General Ranald S. Mackenzie, Fourth U.S. Cavalry who in 1874-1875 forced the Indians of the region onto reservations and opened the plains to white settlement. Marker Title: TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION AT SPUR Marker Location: Located on FM 2794 at western city limits, Spur (school grounds near business parking) (entrance to ag substation). Marker Size: 27" x 42" Subject Marker Date: 1989 Marker Text: Authorized by the Texas legislature in 1908, seven agricultural experiment stations were established in the state. Providing facilities for agricultural scientists to develop information and procedures and solutions to regional agricultural problems, the stations and their programs ultimately affected agricultural methodology far beyond regional boundaries. Known as the rolling plains experiment station or substation No. 7, the Texas agricultural experiment station at Spur opened at this site in December 1909. Land was provided by the S.M. Swenson and Sons Land and Cattle Company. Soil and water conservation programs were developed, including a system of terracing called "Syrup Pan". Providing full use of rainfall and diverted water, the system resulted in vastly improved crop yields. Other programs at this station included the drafting of legislation which resulted in the establishment of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service; brush control using chemical, mechanical, and biological methods; and livestock breeding and nutrition experiments. Although this station was officially closed in 1986, results of the research conducted here are still influencing agricultural programs worldwide. Marker Title: DICKENS SPRINGS Index Entry: Dickens Springs City: Dickens County: Dickens Subject Codes: WA, PK Year Marker Erected: 2000 Marker Location: Dickens Springs Park on US 82, Dickens Marker Size: 27" x 42" Marker Text: At one time, water covered this area. Sandstone, the prominent rock around this site, is porous, causing exposed strata at canyon rims to form a natural drainage outlet for upland aquifers, making possible the existence of these springs. Situated at the head of a canyon ravine immediately below the Upper Prairie Region of the Rolling Plains, the ancient springs have been a favored human habitat since the earliest human occupation in this region. Many nomadic tribes have used the site, leaving behind a wealth of archeological evidence. John A. Askins and his family settled near these springs in late 1883, and it became known to pioneers as Askins Springs. A traveling real estate developer called Dr. M. S. Crow arrived here in 1891 and was a driving force in the organization of the town of Dickens about a half-mile west of the Askins land. In 1891 he gave a speech proclaiming his intent to give ten acres around "Crow Springs," as he called them, to the town of Dickens. The new city park became known as Dickens Springs. Generations of Dickens citizens and tourists, attracted by the rugged and colorful scenery and the unique collection of plants, have visited this site for picnics and social gatherings. In 1978 the departments of Anthropology and of Park Management at Texas Tech University made an intensive survey of the land surrounding Dickens Springs. Though many artifacts were lost to souvenir hunters, the university workers uncovered a variety of ancient tools, rarely of local origin. In the 21st century, Dickens Springs continues to provide water and beauty to the area for modern visitors as it did for the nomadic peoples of the past. (2000) 
Marker Title: RED MUD CEMETERY Address: County: Dickens Year Marker Erected: 2001 Marker Location: Red Mud Cemetery, Marker Size: Rock Boulder Marker Title: ESPUELA Address: 3 mi. S of Dickens on Sh 70, 3 mi. W on FM 1868 City: Dickens County: Dickens Year Marker Erected:2002 Marker Location: 3 mi. S of Dickens on Sh 70, 3 mi. W on FM 1868 Marker Size: 27" x 42" Marker Text: In 1870, J.H. Parrish built a dugout on the west bank of Duck Creek a half-mile southeast of this site. He farmed and established a small store serving travelers and, later, cattlemen and buffalo hunters. As the last of the Native American tribes left this area in 1876, commercial buffalo hunters moved into the region. They left tens of thousands of buffalo carcasses in their wake. From 1879 to 1884, this area was free range land for 30 cattle outfits. The Espuela Land & Cattle Company purchased most of the free lands and 20 sections of public domain territory from the state, fencing 569,120 acres. The company purchased most of the free range cattle, and located their headquarters about two miles west of what became the Espuela townsite. By the mid-1880s, the community that had begun with Parrish's small store was the largest in the county. Parrish platted the town and became its first postmaster in 1883. A one-room schoolhouse replaced a dugout already in use by the children and their teacher. Dickens County was created that year, and Espuela became first the temporary and then the permanent county seat. In summer 1891 the town boasted a gristmill, blacksmith shop, several stores, a hotel, a bootmaker, a saloon, a newspaper, civic organizations and a cotton gin. Neither a courthouse nor a jail were ever erected. On March 8, 1892, another election was held because of boundary issues surrounding Espuela, and Dickens was voted the county seat. Though many settlers and businesses moved on, the town of Espuela survived as long as the land & cattle company existed. In 1905, the company sold the Spur Ranch near this site to E.P. and S.A. Swenson. The post office moved to the new town of Spur in 1910. All that remains of the town of Espuela is the cemetery. Marker Title: MARSHALL CLINTON FORMBY, JR. (APR. 12, 1911 - DEC. 27, 1984) Index Entry: Formby, Jr., Marshall Clinton, (APR. 12, 1911 - DEC. 27, 1984) Address: McAdoo Cemetery, 1.5 mi. SW of McAdoo on CR 103 City: McAdoo County: Dickens Year Marker Erected: 2003 Marker Location: McAdoo Cemetery, 1.5 mi. SW of McAdoo on CR 103 Marker Size: Grave Marker Marker Text: Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr. (APR. 12, 1911 - DEC. 27, 1984) Marshall Formby moved with his family from Hopkins County, Texas, to McAdoo at the age of five and worked most of his life for the betterment of West Texas. A graduate of Spur High School, Formby earned a degree in government from Texas Tech University before serving in World War II. A pioneer radio station owner in several West Texas towns, he later completed a law degree. His public service continued as a Texas Highway Commissioner and member of the Texas Tech Board of Regents. Active on many civic and cultural boards, Formby received numerous honors and awards. Recorded - 2002 Marker Title: MARSHALL CLINTON FORMBY, JR. Index Entry: Formby, Marshall Clinton, Jr. City: McAdoo County: Dickens Year Marker Erected: 2003 Marker Location: 3 mi. S of McAdoo on FM 264 at intersection with US 82 Marker Size: 27" x 42" Marker Text: Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr. (April 12, 1911 - December 27, 1984) Born in Hopkins County in East Texas, Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr., moved with his family to McAdoo (3 MI. N) when he was five years old and spent his adult life working for the betterment of this part of the state. Educated at Texas Technoligical College (NOW Texas Tech University), the University of Texas and Baylor University School of Law, Formby used his talents in a variety of business and public service opportunities. Marshall Formby maintained extensive farming interests in West Texas in addition to oil ventures and radio, newspaper and cable television enterprises. He served as Dickens County Judge from 1936 to 1940 and was elected to the Texas Senate, although his participation as a U.S. Army Captain in the European Theatre of World War II kept him away from the State Capitol and much of his term. Formby continued his statewide public service as a Governon-Appointed member of the Texas Highway Commission in 1953-59, including two years as chair. During his tenure, he worked for the paving of farm to market roads and for the implementation of the interstate highway system in Texas. A member of the Texas Tech Board of Regents, he also served 12 years on the state's college coordinating board. Active in the Baptist Church adn in numerous civic organizations, Marshall Formby received many awards and honors for his service to his community, region and state. He died at his home in Plainview in 1984 and is buried in the McAdoo Cemetery.
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