Della Plain

Della Plain also tried to found a college. In 1890 J. R. McLain brought the Rev. B. F. Fronabager from Seymour, who organized a board, raised $500 and put up an administration building for the Della Plain Male and Female Institute, meant to teach from the elementary grades through college, with English, history, mathematics, languages and art. It opened that fall but could raise no more money; after six months it closed and was sold for debts. Sixteen oxen later took about seven days to haul its building to Floydada, where it joined the public school in 1895.

What the plaque says

Della Plain A severe drought in the mid-1880s brought Baylor County rancher T. J. Braidfoot to this area in search of better conditions for his cattle. In 1887, with the support of J. R. McLain of Seymour, he founded the settlement of Della Plain at this site. Other early contributors to the town's development included Seymour residents I. R. Darnell and Dr. L. T. Wilson. Named for J. S. McLain's daughter Della and for the surrounding terrain, it was hoped the town would become the county seat when Floyd County was formally organized. Della Plain became an early agricultural center for the region and was soon the site of a school, church, post office, stores and a newspaper, the "Della Plain Review." Growth, however, was limited by an inadequate water supply and by the establishment of the nearby towns of Lockney (1889) and Floydada (1890). Rapid decline began after Floydada was named the seat of Floyd County in 1890. Four years later the community cemetery was all that remained of Della Plain. Despite its brief history, the pioneer town had a dramatic impact on the region. Its residents led in the later development of the county and nearby cities. Their descendants still live in the area. (1982, 1987)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway — 28 mi
  Red canyons below the Caprock escarpment where the Texas State Bison Herd, descended from calves Mary Ann Goodnight saved in 1878, has right of way on the park roads.
• Bob Wills Museum — 33 mi
  The old Turkey school, now holding Bob Wills's boots, hats, his father's fiddle and his barbershop tools, in the cotton town that fills each April for Bob Wills Day.

More markers nearby

• Commercial Hotel — 5.7 mi
• Dolphin Ward Floyd — 5.7 mi
• Organization of Floyd County — 5.7 mi
• First National Bank of Floydada — 5.8 mi