Green Machinery Co., Inc.

The county's first motor-driven irrigation well, drilled in 1911, drew eastern capital to Hale County, and water changed what the land grew. Cotton covered 98 acres in 1910, 6,600 in 1920 and almost 64,900 in 1929, and the county's population nearly doubled in the 1920s to 20,189. By 1982 Hale County had 468,000 irrigated acres drawing on the Ogallala Aquifer. Making farm equipment became an industry in its own right; with food processing it brought in $46.7 million in 1991.

What the plaque says

Green Machinery Co., Inc. Founded by George Emmett Green (1875-1960), whose work revolutionized Texas agriculture. Mechanically-gifted, Green mastered water well development, worked as pattern maker and draftsman in pump factories, and operated a plant of his own in his native Missouri before moving here in 1909 with his wife Salome (Rich) and their children. In 1911 he dug Hale County's test irrigation well on the J.H. Slaton farm, reaching a commercial yield of 1400 gallons of water per minute. This won him fame, as irrigation had long been considered the missing ingredient in South Plains agriculture -- the key factor that would enable this fertile area to produce foodstuffs and fibers to supply millions of consumers. Once deep water was found, Green tackled related problems and invented (1915) the hollow-shaft, right-angle gear drive for irrigation pumps, which made it possible to use automotive-type engines for irrigation power. With a goal of commercial pumps at moderate prices, Green established this factory in 1911, and reduced irrigation well installation costs to a figure that farmers could afford. His descendants still own and operate the business. (1974)

Where it stands

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