Towns and Communities in Childress County Texas

Or bordering the county line.

Childress
A city of 6624 residents, according to the roadside sign seen when entering the city. Childress Cemetery's earliest grave stone is marked 1887. There are approximately 6000 graves in the cemetery.

Arlie
Arlie had a sizeable population of about 25 families in the area before the first post office was established. In adition to the post office, there was a school, a church, a gasoline pump station, a blacksmith shop, a grocery store, a hotel, a cotton gin, and a general merchandise store that later housed the post office. The cemetery has about 250 graves dating from 1888.
Surnames of early settlers: Adkins, Alexander, Arnn, Balch, Beal, Bearden, Bell, Bennett, Black, Bomer, Brown, Calcote, Caver, Chappell, Clark, Coleman, Covey, Connard, Cornelius, Crawford, Culbank, Davenport, Deahl, Eliott, Epps, Fields, Forbis, Garrison, Gardner, Greer, Hamman, Hays, Hill, Hunt, Jones, Kelly, Lemons, Lawrence, Mannahan, McClendon, McKnight, Mills, Motsenbocker, Nalley,Newman, Nichols, Overacre, Owens, Payne, Poling, Reid, Reynolds, Robertson, Savage, Scivally, Scott, Stephenson, Stogsdill, Ticer, Tinsley, Vest, Wagener, Walker, Walls, Welch, West, Wilks, Woods, and Wyrick.

Carey
Carey was established when the railroad was built in 1886. At one time, Carey was home to a dozen businesses, churches, and two cotton gins. There are several families still living in Carey, though most of the small town is gone. Carey gained some notoriety in 1937 when it's high school basketball team won the State of Texas championship. A nearby lake two miles from Carey contains a recreational housing community of about 50 homes. A school reunion is held every two years. About 250 graves in Carey cemetery just east of town and dates from the first grave in 1908. Surnames of early settlers: Arnn, Arnold, Blansit, Bowman, Bownds, Bostick, Bradshaw, Clifton, Collins, Cox, Dalton, Davenport, Dry, Farmer, Fite, Foust, Gaither, Gunn, Halford, Hill, Hoover, Inman, Johnson, Knox, Lambert, Lane, Long, Martin, McCracken, McGehee, McILroy, McNutt, Miller, Mills, Myers, Owen, Parrish, Phillips, Redwine, Rice, Robinson, Rutledge, Simmons, Scott, Trent, Weatherly, Webb, and Williams

Cee Vee
Located between the N. and S. Pease Rivers, in what the author Zane Grey referred to as the 'cedar breaks' and named for the Cee Vee ranch, at one time consisted of two grocery stores, a post office (1928), red brick school, a gin, and a cemetery. The Baptist and Methodist churches met in the school building. Surnames of early settlers: Alexander, Bostick, Boykin, Burns, Crain, Cook, Crooks, Eddins, Davis, Gilbreath, Hankins, Hoffman, Hitt, Jones, Long, Lyon, Lyles, Munson, Morris, Newman, Tysen, Riddell, Roberts, Robertson, Stanford, Teague, Weir, Whitten, Woodard, Worsham.

Community Center
This community consisted mostly of a red brick school building and gymnasium with classes through high school, which was highly competitive in team sports such as basketball and volleyball. There were two or three nearby houses and a general store and gas station at one time. There is no evidence of the community today. Surnames of early settlers: Hassell, Loter, Wheeler, Woodard.

Garden Valley
Located in the sandy area near the Red River, Garden Valley had a high school competing in team sports such as basketball. There were two general stores, a cotton gin, a joint Baptist/Methodist church. The town came into existence about 1895. Little remains today. Surnames of early settlers: Andrews, Bates, Biddy, Blair, Bolton, Burnett, Carradine, Crain, Harris, Heckathorn, Johnson, Kennedy, Kiker, Klihr, Metz, McAllister, Morrow, Patton, Settles, Sharp, Soles, Stewart, Stipes, Teague, Thomas, Watts, Williams, Wiles, Woodard, Woods, Wrinkle.

Gilpin-Harrell Chapel
Located in the extreme northwest corner of the county, isolated by the big ranches, the community was settled in 1887 by farmers. The first county commissioner , J. A. Taylor, was elected in 1887. Surnames of early settlers: Ballard, Estes, Nelson, Rowell, Taylor

High Point
Located south of Childress on the Paducah highway, High Point was an early school erected in 1902. There was a grocery store, a post office, a service station, and a general merchandise store built in 1906. The school was damaged or destroyed by three tornados during its lifetime.
Surnames of early settlers: Bruce, Boyd, Crawford, Fitzgerald, Groseclose, Halford, Halliberton, Heckathorn, Henson, Jones, Parr, Stewart, Taylor, Williams.

Kirkland (Click here for Old Photos) Click HERE for a map of Kirkland with names.
Kirkland was one of the earliest communities in the Childress County area, being a trading post ten miles northeast of it's present site. It was a stage coach station, and Indian trading post until the railroad came through in 1887 and the community moved to its present site. The second largest community in the county, it still exists though there are very few people living there now. At one time it was labeled "the biggest little town in Texas" with a population nearing two thousand people. There is a cemetery with about 630 graves about 1/2 mile out of town on US Hwy 287. The cemetery dates from the first grave in 1908. A school reunion is held on the first Saturday of October every year in Childress.
Surnames of early settlers: Adams, Alexander, Alford, Armstrong, Atchley, Bailey, Baird, Bass, Belt, Biggerstaff, Biggs, Billingsley, Bohannon, Boyd, Brady, Bridges, Brooks, Brown, Brumbelow, Bunn, Brummett, Byars, Campbell, Cartlidge, Casstevens, Chapman, Clark, Clements, Close, Coats, Cobb, Collins, Collyer, Cook, Cooper, Cowan, Cox, Cross, Crowder, Dial, Dill, Dillon, Dobbs, Dunn, East, Ellis, Felton, Felts, Fielder, Fowler, Furr, Green, Galbraith, Gallegly, George, Gillam, Glass, Graham, Gray, Hamilton, Hardin, Hare, Harp, Harris, Harwell, Holliman, Holtman, Howard, Hughes, Jarrell, Kelley, Key, King, Lanier, Leonard, Lincycomb, Lisenbee, Long, Low, Macon, Mallory, Maxwell, McCarkey, McCullough, McDaniel, McMinn, McNeill, Meece, Monaghan, Mock, Moore, Morris, Myers, Nichols, Nippert, Payne, Pennington, Perkins, Phillips, Pickrel, Pieratt, Pittman, Powell, Preston, Pryor, Rea, Richeson, Rickman, Roddy, Rowlett, Royall, St. Clair, Sanders, Schluter, Scott, Sides, Shanks, Sharp, Simpson, Smith, Snodgrass, Spark, Stepp, Storm, Stuckey, Taylor, Terrell, Thomas, Thompson, Trammel, Trickey, Trosper, Tyner, Waldrip, Wallace, Walling, Walraven, Ward, Weatherred, West, White, Williams, Williamson, Wright, Yeargain, and Yount.

Lazare (Cottle County)
Located about 2 miles south of the Childress county line, Lazare lies on the Cottle/ Hardeman county line on FM104. The community consisted of a general store, church, school house, auto service station, post office, railroad depot (serving the Q,A&P), and a few houses. The remnants of a couple of buildings exist today. Surnames of some early settlers: Leonard, Davidson, Harris, Mayo, Thomas

Loco / Buck Creek
The community of Loco existed from about 1892 (1^st post office) with a brick school house built in 1932 (replacing the earlier 3 room school of Buck Creek (an earlier name for Loco). Buck Creek cemetery is located 2 1/2 miles south of Loco. The earliest burial was in 1892.
Surnames of early settlers: Austin, Battles, Bell, Brown, Campbell, Carpenter, Creasy, Crow, Edwards, Fortney, Griffin, Hawkins, Irvin, Joyner, Lanier, Langston, Leslie, Malley, McLaughlin, Payne, Rogers, Salter, Smith, Steen, Terry, Thomas, Woods, Wyatt. (CC note, partial listing of Buck Creek Cemetery)

Lonnie
The church and school building was still standing in the 1970s. At one time, there was a cotton gin, a grocery store, school house, church and blacksmith shop. The cemetery is shared with Olympus. Surnames of early settlers: Austin, Carroll, Cochran, Cooley, Cox , Crook, Fletcher, Hankins, Henry, Johnson, Key, Lewis, Lovens, Mardis, Smith, Stone, Wyman,

Shores Creek
The first settlers came in 1888. A school house was built, and also used as a church in the midst of this farming community. Surnames of early settlers: Barley, Barnes, Boyd, Calloway, Cheatheam, Custer, Douglas, Groseclose, Hays, Holman, Hudson, Jones, Knight, McClures, McCrady, McFarland, Moates, Parr, Pierce, Purcell, Reese, Rucker, Sandifer, Shaw, Simmons, Spain, Summers, Taylor, Walker, Watts, Worlick,

Olympus
The community consisted of a church, a post office, a school house, and a general merchandise store. The school was consolidated with Riverside school in the 30s, with grades 1 to 4 taught at Olympus, grades 5 to 7 at Riverside, and high school at Childress. The cemetery is shared with Lonnie. Surnames of early settlers: Bowman, Clark, Keeton, Kindle, Manning, Minter, Mitchell, Morrow, Smith, Stone, Williams.

Olympus School Roster 1918-19 Olympus School Thanksgiving Service 1918

Olympus/Lonnie
The cemetery has about 140 graves dating from 1893. Surnames of early settlers: Angel, Bailey, Benningfield, Bowman, Boyd, Buzbee, Cagle, Cates, Covey, Cox, Earley, Goodson, Hall, Henderson, Huggins, Keeton, Kindle, Lankford, Loffler, Loven, Mardis, Mitchell, Morrow, Perry, Peters, Palk, Richesin, sarles, Schaefer, Smith, Stamps, Stewart, Stephens, Stone, Wattenbarger, Williams, and Worrell.

Tell
Another old community that still exists. Liquor stores in the otherwise dry county make it a popular shopping center for alcoholic beverages. Tell has a high school reunion every two years. The Tell cemetery has about 225 graves and dates from the first grave in 1900.
Surnames of early settlers: Adams, Allen, Ashby, Barrow, Blalock, Bolton, Brooks, Caldwell, Cannon, Cardwell, Carlile, Cato, Chamberlain, Copeland, Craig, Crain, Cromart, Crone, Cross, DeHart, Diggs, Drummonds, Edwards, Ellison, Ewings, Fords, Forline, Fox, Francis, Frazier, Garrison, Gephart, Goff, Hall, Hawkins, Hill, Hughes, Jones, Johnson, Keel, Lynch, Lyle, McKnight, McCoy, Merrell, Miller, Moseley, Murray, Peery, Philpott, Redwine, Rhodes, Richardson, Rothwell, Savage, Sherrod, Shields, Skinner, Smith, Spinks, Stinnett ,Tate, Tippett, Veazey, Voyles, Ward, Whitten, Wyatt, and Wygal.

Tennessee Valley (Cottle County)
Once a part of Childress County, now about a mile south of the Childress County line in Cottle County, Tennessee Valley school served a number of Childress county families. There was also a church and cemetery with about 100 graves dating from 1891. After its early heyday it continued to exist for a number of years as an elementary school (grades 1 to 7). The cemetery remains and is well tended. The cemetery is located approximately at the intersection of FM1033 and FM104. Surnames of early settlers: Bass, Beasley, Bradley, Brown, Brumbelow, Burch, Carter, Christopher, Conn, Couch, Covington, Crabtree, Cross, Cunningham, Davidson, Dennington, Evans, Fowler, Green, Groves, Harbison, Harris, Hays, Hill, Holcomb, Hunnicutt, Hutton, Inman, Johnson, Jones, Johnson, Jordon, Key, Lemons, Lovett, Macon, Martin, McMinn, Moran, Page, Parker, Payne, Pearce, Pelley, Perkins, Pierce, Potts, Sample, Scarbrough, Sears, Sharp, Thomas, Tice, Walkup, Wallace, Wallin, Williams, Winton, Wisdom, Woods and Wynn.

Union Flat
Nothing remains at this site. Surnames of early settlers: Teague, Law, Rogers, Hassell, Mitchell, Holtman, Heckathorn, Pirtle, Goodson, Gartrell, Compton, Jones, Privitt, Pyle, Conway, West, Terrell.

19 March 1999 Prepared by Colonel (USAF Ret) Sydney Key from data contained in "The Childress County Story" by Michael G. Earle, "They Followed The Rails" by Paul Ord, "Childress County Cemetery Listing" by Mike Hughes, "Tennessee Valley Cemetery Listing" provided by Lois Stiner, and Sydney Key's personal knowledge of the area

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