Name: Olney, Texas
Address: Olney, TX

Woodrow, TX RoadyGoat

Woodrow, Texas, out there on the high plains southeast of Lubbock, is cotton country, plain and simple. It's hard to imagine the place without it. You drive through in late summer, and it's just endless white fields stretching to the horizon. That iconic Texas crop really took hold out here once the railroad came through in the early 1900s, making it easier to get the harvest to market. Before that, it was mostly ranching, but the land is good for cotton, and the sandy loam soil drains well, which is crucial. The farmers around Woodrow learned early on that dryland farming was the way to go, relying on rainfall rather than irrigation. It's a gamble, of course, but the deep roots of the cotton plants can usually find enough moisture. Generations have passed down knowledge of the best planting times and techniques to maximize yields in this challenging environment. Even with modern technology and equipment, there's still a deep connection to the land out here. The whole town still revolves around the rhythm of the cotton season, from planting in the spring to harvest in the fall. It's more than just an economy; it's a way of life.

15.9 mi away

The Novelist Who Made This Town Famous RoadyGoat

The town gets its name from a Texas Revolution diplomat, but its fame in the wider world comes from someone else entirely, a writer named Larry McMurtry. McMurtry grew up right here in Archer City, and he never really left it behind. He set his coming-of-age novel The Last Picture Show, published in nineteen sixty-six, in a thinly disguised version of this very town, and he dedicated the book lovingly to his hometown. Later, after he had become one of the most celebrated authors in the country, McMurtry did something unusual. He came home and opened an enormous rare bookstore, called Booked Up, right in downtown Archer City. At its peak it spread across four separate buildings and held hundreds of thousands of volumes, turning a tiny prairie town into a genuine pilgrimage spot for book lovers. McMurtry died in twenty twenty-one, and after the collection changed hands more than once, a regional writers group finally bought the flagship store and its rare books in twenty twenty-four to keep his legacy alive. So the name honors a founder of the republic, but the soul of the place owes a great deal to a bookish native son.

RoadyGoat → · 17.1 mi away

When Hollywood Came To The Prairie RoadyGoat

Archer City has one honor almost no small Texas town can claim. Hollywood came here and made a movie that would win Academy Awards, filmed on these very streets. In nineteen seventy-one, director Peter Bogdanovich brought a camera crew to Archer City to shoot The Last Picture Show, based on Larry McMurtry's novel. They filmed it in stark black and white to capture the bleakness of a fading nineteen fifties oil town, and they used the real buildings of downtown, including the old movie theater. The result was extraordinary. The film earned eight Academy Award nominations, and two of its actors, Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman, took home Oscars for their supporting roles. Imagine that. A little town on the North Texas plains, named for a revolution-era diplomat, becomes the backdrop for one of the most acclaimed American films of its decade. The story on screen was fictional, but the dusty streets, the wind, and the quiet were all genuinely Archer City.

RoadyGoat → · 17.1 mi away

Keathley, George Dennis

1944

George Dennis Keathley, Medal of Honor recipient, was born on November 10, 1907, the son of William F. and Bertha Mary (Leberman) Keathley, near Olney, Young County, Texas. A native of Tennessee, William Keathley moved to Texas to teach in a one-room school where his future wife was one of his students. After his wife inherited her German-immigrant parents' 640-acre farm, William took up farming and raised cattle, hogs, cotton, and wheat. As youngsters, George and the other Keathley children found themselves doing numerous chores on the farm. Before graduating from high school in Olney, George Keathley moved to Lawton, Oklahoma, to live and work for his older brother. John Keathley ran a meat market on the Fort Sill Military Reservation and provided work for his younger brother. Keathley graduated from high school in Lawton and then enrolled at Cameron State School of Agriculture and Junior College (now Cameron University). He graduated from Cameron State in May 1930 with an associate degree in agriculture. In the fall of 1933 Keathley entered Texas A&M where he majored in agriculture and selected the cavalry branch for his military science requirement. Working his way through college, Keathley experienced economic problems that forced him to leave school in the spring of 1935; he later attended summer sessions in 1936, 1939, and 1940. He found employment with the Soil Conservation Service first in Dalhart and then in Lamesa and worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps on soil-erosion and other projects. While in Lamesa, he met Inez Edmunson. They married on April 12, 1942. He also became a stepfather to Inez's two daughters. Keathley joined the United States Army in Lamesa on May 15, 1942. Assigned to the 338th Infantry Regiment, Eighty-fifth Infantry Division, Keathley completed his basic and infantry training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and took part in his unit's maneuvers in Louisiana and South Carolina. From June through August 1943, Keathley participated in desert training in California. Although soft spoken, Keathley adapted to military training, and his leadership abilities earned him promotions to corporal, sergeant, and staff sergeant. On January 2, 1944, the Eighty-fifth Infantry Division arrived in French Morocco, North Africa. After a period of amphibious training, the 338th Infantry Regiment landed at Naples, Italy, on March 27, 1944. Over the next several months, Staff Sergeant Keathley witnessed the horrors of combat in Italy and earned a Bronze Star for directing his platoon after its platoon leader had been wounded. On June 5, Keathley experienced the liberation of Rome as the regiment entered the city. On September 14, 1944, Keathley's company found itself in a bitter confrontation with German defenders on the western ridge of Mount Altuzzo in northern Italy. The Germans had established pillboxes, minefields, and tank barriers in the region. After all the noncommissioned officers and officers of the Second and Third platoons in Company B became casualties, Keathley, a guide for the First platoon volunteered to take command of the two platoons' twenty survivors. Aware that his men were low on ammunition, Keathley crawled from one casualty to another taking their ammunition. He then proceeded to distribute the valuable ammunition to each man, provide encouragement, and administer first aid. Assisted by a mortar barrage, the Germans launched a counterattack using hand grenades and firing automatic weapons. Keathley continued to shout orders, and his men responded in kind. After suffering a mortal wound to his left side from an enemy grenade, Keathley continued to provide direction to his men while firing his rifle at the enemy. Supported with friendly artillery fire, the Americans held their position as the Germans withdrew. Minutes later, Staff Sergeant Keathley died on the battlefield in the arms of his close friend Charles Dozier. His final words: "Please write my wife a letter and tell her I love her a

Tsha Handbook →

Olney, TX

1923

Olney, at the intersection of State highways 132, 114, 251, and 79 and Farm roads 210 and 3329, in north central Young County, was settled in 1879 and 1880 by Boone McCarty, L. Pankonon, and the Neely brothers. Pitts Neal formed a partnership with the Neelys to establish a site for annual roundups held by local ranchers. In 1889 John W. Groves donated two acres for a townsite, and J. M. Brisco built the first store. A post office was established when pioneer G. W. Hutchings agreed to carry the mail there from the Farmer post office. The name Olney came either from a news article noticed by Hutchings and the Farmer postmaster concerning Senator Roger Q. Mills 's activities at Olney, Illinois, or from Richard Olney, secretary of state for President Cleveland. The first school opened in 1891. The town was incorporated in 1909 when rail service started with the Wichita Falls and Southern Railway, which discontinued service in 1954. Olney was moved a mile north to gain access to the line, and in 1910 the Gulf, Texas and Western began providing service, but ceased operations in 1942. Rail service was discontinued in 1942. Oil was discovered in 1923. With the production of the Swastika Pool in 1924 Olney became a leading oil town; it had three refineries and a population of 5,000 by 1930. In 1951 a tornado struck, killing two, injuring seventy-five, and causing $2 million in property damage. Olney had a population of 3,872 in 1960; 3,624 in 1970, when the town supported 116 businesses; and 4,060 in 1980. Olney is an agribusiness center and manufactures apparel, recreational vehicles, aluminum products, rubber hose, and agricultural airplanes. It has an airport, a hospital, a library, and a nursing home. In 1990 the population was 3,519. In 2000 it was 3,396.

Tsha Handbook →

Snow, Henry Leland

1953

Henry Leland Snow, aeronautical engineer, industrialist, and crop dusting pilot, was born on May 31, 1930, in Brownsville, Texas, to Arkansas-born Carrie Beth (Sewell) Snow and Texas native Henry Evans Snow. His grandfather, Elbert C. Snow, had come to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in 1909 and had taken up farming south of Donna. By 1935 Henry Evans Snow moved his family to the farming community of Santa Rosa where he continued his vocation as a supervisory civil engineer. Henry Leland Snow, who went by his middle name Leland, developed a fascination with flying at an early age. At age six he had already made up his mind to be a pilot, and at the age of nine he was building balsa wood and tissue paper models with wingspans taller than he was. By 1942 the family moved to Harlingen, where his father later established his own engineering firm. Leland Snow attended Harlingen High School, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, the Shop Club, and a cast member in theatrical productions produced by the Masque and Wig Club. At age fifteen he began working at the Harlingen airport in exchange for flying lessons. He received his pilot's license at age sixteen and soon started flying crop dusters to earn money. He graduated from Harlingen High School in 1947. Just after graduating high school Leland learned of an Aeronca plane that had been heavily damaged in a bad storm. He purchased the wreck for $200, repaired it, and was able to fly it to College Station where he attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University). While still in school, he began designing plans to construct an agricultural application airplane that would be superior to other planes in use, and to that end, he used his mother's car as collateral that enabled him to borrow $1,200 from a Harlingen bank in 1951. He graduated from A&M in 1952 and went on to study aeronautical engineering at graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin from where he graduated in 1953. While at UT he was a member of the student branch of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. After graduation Leland Snow returned to his Harlingen home and worked on his airplane construction; he used the family garage at 401 Buchanan Avenue. He envisioned his plane with wings attached to the base of the fuselage thereby providing greater stability. He completed his S-1 aircraft in 1953. Needing to earn a living, Snow used his plane for crop dusting farms in the Harlingen area. He flew out of Harvey Richards Field, once the municipal airport of Harlingen. When his work for the local agricultural scene ended, he flew a crop duster to Nicaragua and began treating crops there. He returned in early December 1953. Snow continued improvement of his plane in his home and garage and in 1955 had designed his advanced S-2 model applicator, but he needed working capital to further his dream. When he could not secure funding in the Valley, he found his financial opportunity in North Texas. In Olney, Texas, a small community about forty-five miles south of Wichita Falls, not only was capital offered to him but also a manufacturing location. During World War II Olney was the site of a U. S. Navy bomber pilot school with its large airfield. The local business leaders were aware of the volatile nature of oil and ranching, industries that had dominated the town’s economy, and looked for a more stable enterprise. They were impressed by Snow’s endeavor and agreed to provide the funds for him to pursue his dream. He moved his two partially-finished planes in five cattle trucks to Olney in January 1958. The existing facilities at the municipal airport served as the site of Snow's aircraft production. He founded Snow Aeronautical Company and began construction of his manufacturing facilities. In the summer of 1958 his S-2B was certified, and two orders for it soon followed. By 1965, 300 of Snow's aircraft had been manufactured and delivered. The company's upward rise was inter

Tsha Handbook →

Confluence of the Brazos, Trinity, and Red River Watersheds, The

1759

The Trinity, a major Texas river rises 250 yards west of this 1250-foot mound. South of this site water drains to the Brazos, and north and west to the Red. This high point has been important in Texas history. It guided Capt. Diego Parilla to battle Indians on the Red in 1759 and aided Capt. R. B. Marcy in mapping a California trail in 1849. Marcy and Maj. R. S. Neighbors used it as a beacon point in finding a site for an Indian reservation in 1854. It also was on U.S. Cavalry maps for 1870s Indian campaigns. (1976)

Historical Marker → · 3.0 mi away

St. Luke Lutheran Church

1883

In 1883 when this area was still a roundup point on the cattle range, German families of the Lutheran faith began settling in the Salt Creek Valley. The following year William Bernhardt received a bible, prayer book, and a devotional book or "Hauspostille" from a visiting cousin. The families began using the books to conduct religious services in their rock and log cabins. Henry Kunkel, the pioneering son of a large family from Posen, Germany, acted as leader. They also started a Sunday School. In 1886 the first formal service was conducted by Pastor Bartelo of Hamilton County. Through the years, several Lutheran pastors conducted worship services for the fellowship. In 1896 the Lutheran Board of Missions assigned Pastor F. M Rudi to this field. On Reformation Day, October 31, 1897, Pastor Rudi officially organized the St. Luke Lutheran Church. The members met in the Terrapin School building until 1914 when a church house was constructed near their homes at a site which was two miles northwest of Olney. A second structure was built in 1926 at the same location. Many of the church members moved into Olney. In 1967 the congregation relocated in town and built this structure.

Historical Marker →

Site of Cottonwood Spring

1849

19th century oasis around a lone cottonwood tree and a good spring. Wagon ruts from heavy traffic attracted here are still visible on hill to the southwest. In 1849, Capt. Randolph B. Marcy, U.S. Army camped with his soldiers at this spring as they mapped a gold-seekers' road to California. Capt. Marcy was to return as escort (1851) for Col. W. F. Belknap, en route to establish Fort Belknap (15 miles southwest), and with Maj. Robert S. Neighbors (1854), exploring for Indian reservation sites. Maj. Enoch Steen of the 2nd U.S. Dragoons was here in 1855, platting a route to Fort Riley, Kan. The Leach wagon train camped here in 1857 while opening the Butterfield Overland Mail route, along the Preston Road to Red River. Riding to the north of Red River to fight wild Comanche raiders, two expeditions camped here in 1858: Capt. John S. ("Rip") Ford with Rangers, in April; Maj. Earl Van Dorn with U.S. Cavalry in the fall. Maj. Neighbors in August 1859, escorting Texas Indians to reservations in present Oklahoma, found the spring dry. Water returned, however. Cattlemen used the spring for generations, until in mid-20th century, the water table dropped permanently and the cottonwood died. (1974)

Historical Marker → · 8.2 mi away

Olney, Texas

Music in Olney

Songs About Olney

Artists From Olney

Rivers & Roads in Song near Olney

History of Olney

Woodrow, TX RoadyGoat

The Novelist Who Made This Town Famous RoadyGoat

When Hollywood Came To The Prairie RoadyGoat

Keathley, George Dennis

Olney, TX

Snow, Henry Leland

Confluence of the Brazos, Trinity, and Red River Watersheds, The

St. Luke Lutheran Church

Site of Cottonwood Spring

Everything Near Olney