Lamar Family

The Lamars prospered in Crosby County's farming boom. Farms in the county rose from 1,114 in 1924 to 1,739 in 1929, when more than 133,000 acres were in cotton, and sorghum and wheat spread as the big ranches broke up. Some farmers turned to fruit; by 1920 the county had more than 15,000 trees, mostly apples and peaches. Poultry mattered too: in 1929 county farmers owned almost 83,000 chickens and sold more than 395,000 dozen eggs, while cattle numbered more than 15,500.

What the plaque says

Lamar Family In 1892 William Percy Lamar (1889-1946) came with his parents from Tarrant County to Crosby County, settling on a 160-acre homestead. He married Sarah Elzina Henson (1892-1963) in 1912. They prospered through farming, dairying, stock raising, and business. In 1957 Elzina established the Percy and Zina Lamar Foundation. Gifts to the community include building and continued support of Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum and Community Center, a tribute to the Lamar Family and all West Texas Pioneers. Other gifts include a Masonic Hall and donations to Methodist charities. (1980)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum — 1.6 mi
  Crosbyton's museum of Blanco Canyon, built in 1958 as a copy of Hank Smith's Rock House, and the place to learn the canyon's 1871 fight between Mackenzie's cavalry and Quanah's Quahadi Comanche.
• Spur-Dickens County Museum — 24 mi
  Dickens County's museum on the main block of Spur, a town born on November 1, 1909, when the first train reached the land a New York syndicate was selling off from the Spur Ranch.
• Slaton Harvey House — 29 mi
  A 1912 Santa Fe Harvey House in the railroad town of Slaton, restored as a museum, event hall and five-room inn overlooking a working BNSF yard.
• Motley County Historical Museum — 33 mi
  Matador's museum in the 1928 Traweek Hospital, in the county seat a Scottish-owned ranch created by having its cowboys open one-day businesses to pass a state rule.

More markers nearby

• Julian M. Bassett — steps away
• Crosbyton Cemetery — steps away
• Crosby County — 1.6 mi
• Crosbyton — 1.6 mi