The Spur Ranch began in 1883, when the Espuela Cattle Company of Fort Worth bought 242,000 acres of railroad land in Dickens, Kent, Garza and Crosby counties. Leasing the alternate state sections in between, it fenced a range of about 569,000 acres, stocked it with sixty-one herds bought from small ranchers squeezed off the open range, and took its name from one of their brands, the Spur. In 1885 a group of London financiers bought the ranch. For twenty-two years the British company had cause to regret it, through droughts and broken cattle markets, and in 1906 it sold to a syndicate led by E. P. and S. A. Swenson of New York for five dollars an acre.
The Swensons meant to sell the land to farmers. Their manager, Charles A. Jones, persuaded Daniel Willard of the Burlington to run the Stamford and Northwestern through the ranch, and on November 1, 1909 the first train pulled into the new depot at Spur as the town opened, with more than 600 lots already sold. A mortuary and furniture store opened ten days later, and the town incorporated in 1911. By 1940 it had 110 businesses and was the main shipping point in the county for cotton, wheat and cattle.
The county museum, once housed in the old lumberyard at Dickens, the county seat, moved to Spur's main commercial block. Its exhibits follow the pioneer and ranching years of the county.
The closest stops worth working into your route
Roadside plaques and monuments within a short detour