John Ellison Burns

The freighting Burns served ended as the railroads came. The Santa Fe built the county's first line in 1910, a branch from Plainview to Lockney and Floydada. In 1928 the Quanah, Acme and Pacific reached Floydada from McBain, and that same year the Fort Worth and Denver built its South Plains line from Estelline and Quitaque to Lockney by way of Sterley and South Plains. That line runs through the Quitaque Tunnel in northeastern Floyd County, described as the only functioning railway tunnel in the state.

What the plaque says

John Ellison Burns Trained as a blacksmith by his father in Alabama, John Ellison Burns (1853-1940) brought his hand-forged tools to Texas in 1874. He settled in the new town of Lockney in 1900 and opened a blacksmith shop. As his business expanded he hired his three sons and ten craftsmen to service the freight wagons that hauled farm commodities to the railroad in Lockney. When the town developed into a rail center, the freighting business declined. However, Burns continued serving the community as a blacksmith, repairing farm machinery and implements. (1983)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway — 30 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.

More markers nearby

• The J. A. Baker Store — steps away
• First Methodist Church of Lockney — 0.2 mi
• First Baptist Church of Lockney — 0.2 mi
• Della Plain — 7.8 mi