City of Levelland

Levelland kept growing through the Great Depression, reaching 1,663 people in 1930. The county's oil boom of the 1950s brought a refinery and gas plant and machine shops serving the fields, alongside the cotton compresses, warehouses, gins and grain elevators already there. Civic clubs raised $50,000 to open a municipal park in 1951. South Plains College, a two-year school, opened in 1958 and by 1974 had 2,338 students, and the South Plains Museum was established in 1968. The population rose from 8,265 in 1950 to 13,809 in 1980.

What the plaque says

City of Levelland Surveyed and platted in 1912 as "Hockley City" by cereal magnate C. W. Post. Although only a barren townsite, place won race for county seat in 1921. The first meeting of county officers was held at future courthouse site-- in a Cadillac automobile. Soon city square boasted a temporary courthouse (16 by 32 feet), a well, and a community black-eyed pea patch. When a post office opened, in 1922, city was renamed Levelland, for its topography. Prosperity arrived with the coming of the railroad in 1925 and discovery of oil in the county in 1937. (1972)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Fifth Street Missionary Baptist Church — steps away
• Hockley County — 5.3 mi
• The Spade Ranch — 9.8 mi
• Site of Primrose School — 18 mi