Organization of Floyd County

Floyd City's backers had land behind them. In the spring of 1890 J. K. Gwynn arrived representing Carolina V. Price, a Missouri woman who owned many patented sections in the county, and had one of them platted as Floyd City. Lockney threw in with Floyd City, which won the May 28, 1890 election 55 to 33. Della Plain's side contested the result in district court and then the Supreme Court, but it stood, with A. B. Duncan as first county judge. Floydada won again, narrowly, when a new seat election was held in 1912.

What the plaque says

Organization of Floyd County Floyd County was created by the Texas Legislature in 1876. The Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company began building westward from Wichita Falls, resulting in increased settlement of the area. Ranchers T. J. Braidfoot and J. R. McLain formed a partnership in 1887 to establish a town they hoped to promote as county seat. Named Della Plain, it soon boasted homes, businesses, and civic institutions. As more homesteaders settled northwest of Della Plain, a town named Lockney was created in 1889. Soon there was rivalry over which town would be named county seat. In 1890 M. C. Williams and J. K. Gwynn selected this site for a town called Floyd City. In an election held on May 28, 1890, the voters chose Floyd City as county seat. Officers elected were: Arthur B. Duncan, county judge; John C. Hendrix, county attorney; R. T. Miller, county and district clerk; D. W. Jenkins, sheriff and tax collector; E. E. Keeley, county treasurer; L. C. Darby, tax assessor; W. M. Massie, surveyor; and C. F. Ramsey, T. B. Michael, W. R. Vandeveer, and B. P. Merrell, county commissioners. When a post office was established in September, the name of the town was changed to Floydada. (1990)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum — 23 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.

More markers nearby

• Dolphin Ward Floyd — steps away
• First National Bank of Floydada — steps away
• Commercial Hotel — steps away
• Floydada Chapter No. 31, Order of the Eastern Star — steps away