Old Farwell

John V. Farwell was a Chicago wholesale dry goods merchant whose partners at one time or another included Marshall Field and Potter Palmer; for many years his firm was the city's leading dry goods house. A devout Methodist, he headed the Chicago branch of the United States Christian Commission during the Civil War, backed Dwight L. Moody's ministry and gave downtown land for the first YMCA building. He was an elector for Lincoln in 1860, and in 1869 President Grant made him a commissioner for Indian Affairs. He died in Chicago in 1908.

What the plaque says

Established 1886 about 1/2 mile northeast of this site. Intended to be county seat of Hansford County, created 1876, organized in 1889. Lost election to town of Hansford, which served till 1928 but is also now non-existent. Named for early surveyor John V. Farwell and members of his family, Chicago department store executives who operated XIT Ranch in this and 9 other counties - their fee in payment for building of the Texas State Capitol, 1882-86. Stones here are from the casing of a 200 foot well dug by hand to supply water to the town. (1964)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• No Man's Land Museum — 28 mi
  The Panhandle's own museum at Goodwell, kept since 1934 by a society the strip's first settlers founded, on the campus of Oklahoma Panhandle State University.

More markers nearby

• Site of Cator Buffalo Camp — 8.5 mi
• Site of Old Zulu Stockade — 10 mi
• Lindberghs Land at Spearman — 10 mi
• Hansford County Sheriff Robert E. (Bob) Martin — 11 mi