Hackberry Groves

Maxwell came in 1886 with his family and 2,000 sheep from Floyd County. When he and Lowe secured the post office, the names Runningwater and Hackberry Grove were turned down in favor of Lowe's choice, Plainview, for the vast treeless plain around it. The town was chartered on July 3, 1888, and when the county organized that August it won the seat despite moderate competition from Hale Center. The first courthouse cost $2,500. The site lay on the old military trail Ranald Mackenzie had opened across the plains.

What the plaque says

Hackberry Groves At this site in early days stood the South Plains' most significant trees-- twin hackberry groves, on 1870s trail used by buffalo hunters, surveyors, law officers, and early settlers. On public domain, this site was unappropriated until mid-1880s when Zachary Taylor Maxwell (1848-1935), a sheep rancher, staked a quarter section claim here. Former Arkansas legislator Edwin L. Lowe, his friend, claimed adjacent 160 acres. They had surveyor R. P. Smyth plat public square half from Maxwell's land, half from Lowe's. Ranchers scoffed; one said he would eat everything ever built here. But claims were staked by others, including families of J. H. Bryan, J. C. Burch, J. M. Carter, Horace Griffin, Thornton Jones, Hugh McClelland, C. W. Marsalis, John Pendley, Poliet Smith, and J. W. Smylie. Jones opened a store. Lowe named town and became first postmaster on March 18, 1887. When Hale County was organized in 1888, Plainview fulfilled dreams of its founders by becoming county seat. Lowe died July 13, 1889; Maxwell moved away, 1892. Pioneers continued to arrive, see the green trees and rich land, and settle nearby. Other men led city to obtain railroad and highway connections, develop trade and commerce and build enduring institutions. 1972

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Lamar School — 0.3 mi
• The Old MacKenzie Trail — 0.4 mi
• Colonel C. C. Slaughter — 0.4 mi
• Schick Opera House — 0.5 mi