Friona Women's Clubs

The federation Friona's club joined in 1922 had grown from a call for book clubs. In 1897 the Woman's Club of Waco invited the state's literary clubs to meet, and delegates from eighteen clubs formed the Texas Federation of Literary Clubs; it joined the General Federation in 1899 and took the name Texas Federation of Women's Clubs. Its first public cause, adopted in 1898, was public libraries, and at least 70 percent of the state's public libraries were founded with women's clubs' help. Membership may have peaked in 1941, at 60,000 women in 1,200 clubs.

What the plaque says

Friona Women's Clubs By 1898, Friona and several other area townsites had been laid out as switches on the Pecos Valley & Northern Texas Railroad. Settlers soon began arriving in Friona, which incorporated in 1906. Twenty Friona women organized a club in September 1909, meeting in various places for many years while raising money for a meeting house constructed here in 1941. The group, which became part of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs in 1922, generated three other clubs. Each group performed a variety of services, including tree planting, medical aid and founding of the Friona Public Library. The clubhouse has served as a meeting place for the Women's Clubs, as well as for the larger community. (2005)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Deaf Smith County Historical Museum — 22 mi
  Hereford's county museum in an early Catholic school: the Windmill City's pioneers, a half-dugout and caboose outside, and work by the Italian prisoners held south of town in the war.

More markers nearby

• Friona — steps away
• Friona's First Barber Shop — 0.3 mi
• Friona Schools — 0.3 mi
• Site of First Church in City of Friona — 0.4 mi