E.L. Woodley

Shamrock's cemetery began with a deed. In 1908, the year the town had two banks and a cotton oil mill, W. B. Smith conveyed ten acres to Woodley, Frank Exum and C. R. Moore for the Shamrock Cemetery Association. Three years later the town, which dated from the Rock Island railroad's arrival in 1902, incorporated and Woodley became its first mayor. After the family left for Baird and then Brownwood, he died in 1952 and was buried in that cemetery with his wife Minnie.

What the plaque says

E.L. Woodley Born in Jacksonville, Alabama, on August 14, 1872, to farmers Jackson Monroe and Alice (Pike) Woodley, Edward Leonidas (E.L.) Woodley was an early Shamrock pioneer, landowner and political leader. In 1885, the Woodley family moved to Iredell, Bosque County. On June 25, 1895, he married Alice Minerva "Minnie" Roberts (1874-1969) in Comanche. They had four children: Opal, Edward Jr., Mary Lynn and James. In 1902, E.L. served as the first railroad agent for the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Texas Railroad, which caused the family to relocate to the area that would become Shamrock. Woodley helped organize a townsite company to create Shamrock, and seeing its success, bought out the company and opened a land office. His sale of 120 acres to the Shamrock Investment Company became 35 blocks known as "Woodley's South Side Addition," and many streets were named for family members. When the company dissolved in 1912, Woodley was the president and majority shareholder. After Shamrock incorporated in 1911, E.L. Woodley became the first mayor, securing necessary infrastructure to support the growing city. He also personally donated land for a community cemetery and five churches, and to expand the city park. Woodley led major business endeavors, including banking, lumber, petroleum, ranching, tea, orchards, mining and farming. E.L. amassed an incredible fortune in these businesses. The Woodley family split their time between Dallas and Shamrock. After the 1929 stock market crash, E.L. Lost much of his fortune. The family moved to Baird, Callahan County, where he continued civic and business interests. The Woodleys retired in Brownwood, where E.L. died January 12, 1952. He and Minnie are buried in Shamrock Cemetery. (2023)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tower Station and U-Drop Inn — 0.8 mi
  Shamrock's 1936 Conoco station and cafe at the corner of Route 66 and US-83, sketched in the dirt with a nail, named by a schoolboy and saved by the town.
• Devil's Rope and Old Route 66 Museum — 20 mi
  Barbed wire and the Texas road in McLean's old brassiere factory: the fence that closed the open range, from the salesmen who sold it to the Panhandle ranches it divided.
• Phillips 66 Station, McLean — 20 mi
  A 1929 cottage-style Phillips 66 station on First Street in McLean, the town I-40 went around last and whose Route 66 business district stayed much as it was.
• Old Mobeetie Jail Museum — 23 mi
  The 1886 stone jail of the Panhandle's first county seat, the buffalo hunters' Hidetown on Sweetwater Creek that ran the courts for fifteen counties before losing its fort, railroad hopes and county seat.

More markers nearby

• Shamrock's St. Patrick's Day Celebration — steps away
• First Baptist Church of Shamrock — steps away
• Shamrock Methodist Church — 0.2 mi
• Episcopal Church of St. Michael and All Angels — 0.3 mi