|
|
EMMA, TEXAS
Texas Ghost
Town
Crosby County, Texas Panhandle
Highway 207
25 Miles E of Lubbock
Not on State Map
|
Emma
Cemetery
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Emma is on that short list of ghost towns that were once county seats.
Business partners R. L. Stringfellow and H. E. Hume were storeowners
in the Crosby County seat of Estacado, when they bought a section
of land in 1890. A post office was granted that year and the name
submitted was Emma - after a woman who later married one of the partners.
History doesn't seem to record if she became Mrs. Stringfellow or
Mrs. Hume.
The central location made Emma a consideration for the county seat
and since residents of Estacado were already drifting to the newer
community, an election was held in the Fall of 1891. Emma squeaked
through by a six-point margin (109-103). The residents of Escacado
moved the courthouse and other prominant buildings to Emma and the
town prospered for awhile. By 1910 there was a population of 800 and
Emma had all essential businesses including a bank and newspaper.
Emma's future seemed bright up until it was bypassed by the railroad
in 1910.
The shoe was now on the other foot and Emma lost out to the new town
of Crosbyton in an election held
in September of 1910. This election was also close (198 to 120) and
soon the former townspeople of Estacado and Emma were moving again
- this time in an organized exodus that consisted of steam engines,
mules and most of the male population. The former courthouse was dismantled
and taken to Cedric and the next year the Emma post office moved to
Ralls. Today only the historical marker is left. |
 |
Emma
Cemetery historical marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007 |
|
|
