Site of Provident City

The company that sold Provident City built a large hotel in Ganado and another in the town itself to house prospective settlers, who bought tracts of five to ten acres. For a while the place flourished. A post office opened in 1910, and besides stores and churches the town had a drugstore, an undertaker, a jewelry store, a cannery for local produce and a broom factory. World War I drew men away, the Depression cost many their farms for taxes, and the post office closed in 1953. The original hotel became ranch headquarters.

What the plaque says

Site of Provident City Founded in 1909 by the Provident Land Company of Kansas City, Missouri, Provident City was the site of an early land promotion venture. Advertising in the Midwest using photographs showing exceptional farming results purported to come from this area, the company sold land, sight unseen, to many hopeful investors form its holdings of fifteen to twenty thousand acres. Eventually, over five hundred people came to Provident City. The residents were promised a railroad to connect their town with nearby Glen Flora in Wharton County, but it never progressed beyond the roadbed stage. At its peak, the town boasted some twenty-one businesses, two churches, a school, a bank, a post office, a Woodmen of the World lodge, and an amateur baseball team. Residents of the town soon realized that their land was not as favorable to farming as had been represented by the company, and would not support their families. Within four years of its founding, Provident City was well on its way to becoming a ghost town as disgruntled, bankrupt settlers left the area. The townsite and surrounding acres were bought and turned into a private ranch. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Major James Kerr — 17 mi
• Nada — 17 mi
• Ganado — 18 mi
• Garwood — 18 mi