Town of Amherst

The townsite itself was platted in 1923 a mile from the Santa Fe depot, and the post office opened in 1924. By 1930 the town had thirty-five businesses and a newspaper, the Amherst Argus. In 1940, with 749 people, Amherst built the first cooperative hospital in Texas. The town did not incorporate until 1970, when 825 people lived there. In 1980 it had 971 residents, five cotton gins and two grain elevators, and Plant X, one of Southwestern Public Service's largest generating plants, stands nine miles north.

What the plaque says

Town of Amherst Began in 1913 as a cattle-shipping point on Pecos & Northern Texas Railroad. Served the 300,000-acre Springlake Ranch, which was established in 1902 by W.E. "Colonel Bill" Halsell (1850-1934) and his son Ewing Halsell (1877-1965). According to local tradition the shipping point was named for Amherst College, Mass., alma mater of one of the railway officials. When, in 1923, the economy of the High Plains began to switch from ranching to farming, the Halsells divided much of their land to sell to the influx of new settlers. Farms could be bought for $25 an acre. They set aside land at the railroad depot for a town and donated lots for a school and churches. First permanent building was the Amherst Hotel, built by Halsell Land Company for prospective buyers and visitors. It also had space for a bank, general store, and office. For years it was the most popular hotel between Clovis, N.M., and Lubbock, Tex. The first general store was opened in 1923, a post office in 1924, and the First National Bank in 1925. The town's first newspaper was the "Argus". By 1930 Amherst had a population of 964. Today (1972) citizens number 835 and the economy is based on cotton and grain, hog raising and cattle feeding. (1972)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge — 21 mi
  The oldest national wildlife refuge in Texas, a ring of salt lakes in the sandhills south of Muleshoe where tens of thousands of sandhill cranes winter in a wet year.

More markers nearby

• Sod House Spring — 6.6 mi
• Rocky Ford Crossing and Community — 7.2 mi
• Replica of XIT's Giant Windmill — 7.6 mi
• In Memory of George W. Littlefield — 7.7 mi