History of Hutchinson County, Texas: 104 Years, 1876-1980 Page: 52 of 526
This book is part of the collection entitled: Texas History Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Hutchinson County Genealogical Society.
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A.S. Stinnett,
Stinnett, the county seat of Hutchinson County, is
located at the junction of State Highway 152, and
State Highway 15. It has a population of approximately
2,700 people. Most of the inhabitants are
employed in the production, refining, distribution,
and sale of natural gas and petroleum products.
In 1925, A.S. Stinnett and Joe Williams procured
the right-of-way for a branch line of the Rock Island
Railroad from Amarillo, Texas to Liberal, Kansas.
While Stinnett was engaged in this work, he became
aware of the need for a town near the center of
Hutchinson County. The site of Stinnett was selected
because it was out of the rough country along the
Canadian River, and it was not a great distance from
a central location.
On July 24, 1926, A.S. Stinnett and Joe Williams
paid W.A. Starnes $48,000 for the surface rights of
Section 22 of block M-23 of the Texas Central Railway
Survey. Mr. Starnes reserved the mineral rights.
At the time of purchase, the land was a productive
corn field.
Williams and Stinnett had hoped that the railroad
would give them the townsite; instead, they had to
give the railroad a share of the dividends. For some
reason they had to "cut in" several other people. As
finally set up, the Stinnett Townsite Company consisted
of R.I. Underwood, Ray Johnson, Les Whittaker,
Festus Newbold, A.S. Stinnett, Joe Williams,
and the Rock Island Railroad.
Two shrewd townsite promoters, Ace Borger and
J.T. Peyton, were engaged. The land was surveyed
and subdivided into blocks, lots, streets, avenues
and alleys for public use. The right and privilege to
construct gas, water and sewer lines, and to erect
telephone and electric light poles was reserved to the
company. A small townsite building was constructed.
Bill Christian suggested the name of "Town of
Stinnett" in honor of A.S. Stinnett. This name was
accepted by the Rock Island Railroad. The town of
Stinnett was dedicated on August 11, 1926; however,
no land could be sold as part of Stinnett before
the filing of the plat on September 14, 1926. All land
sold before that date was sold as part of Section 22
of Block M-23.
On August 15, 1926, Ace Borger and J.T. Peyton
declared a big "Dollar Day" event. Lots were placed
on sale, and a picnic with games arranged. Hundreds
of people gathered for the event. Corner lots
sold as high as $1,250 and "inside" lots sold as high
as $1,000. Within four months, these men had sold
$400,000 worth of lots. Of these $150,000 lapsed.
$250,000 was collected and divided among the
stockholders. The Rock Island used the $25,000
they received to build a railway station at Stinnett.
Although the ready sale of lots had been very
encouraging, the promoters were aware that Stinnett
needed greater security if it were to endure permanently.
In 1901 the county seat of Hutchinson
County had been located at Plemons. Plemons a
small riverside town, was located about ten miles
south and east of Stinnett. Ace Borger sought to
secure the county seat for Stinnett. A petition calling
for an election to move the county seat from Plemons
to Stinnett was circulated. He was successful in getting
an election called for September 18, 1926.
In 1926, there were at least 25,000 living within a
radius of five miles of Borger, but these people had
not been in the community long enough to acquire
the full rights of citizenship. There were about 500
legal voters in the county. Many "heated" discussions
of the desirability and possibility of moving the
county seat occured. Many people thought that the
Plemons boosters would file an injunction to hold the
county seat should Stinnett win the election.
As soon as it was determined that Stinnett had won
the election, Ace Borger set about arranging for the
removal of the court records from Plemons to Stinnett.
The County Commissioners canvassed the
election returns on September 20 and advised each
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History of Hutchinson County, Texas: 104 Years, 1876-1980 (Book)
History book describing Hutchinson County, Texas, featuring local history, photographs, illustrations, and biographies.
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Hutchinson County Historical Commission. History of Hutchinson County, Texas: 104 Years, 1876-1980, book, 1980; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20204/m1/52/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Genealogical Society.