Barwise is a small,

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located on the level plains of the

Llano Estacado The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North A ...

about west of Floydada in western

Floyd County, Texas Floyd County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 5,402. The seat of the county is Floydada. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1890. It is named for Dolphin Ward Floyd, who died ...

. The town was founded in 1928 after the Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway Company laid tracks through the area. The rail spur that passes through Barwise extended from the Fort Worth and Denver Railway junction at Estelline to

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwe ...

and Plainview. According to the

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

, the town of Barwise was originally named after J. W. Stringer, a local farmer and the owner of the original town site.Charles G. Davis, "Barwise, TX," Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnb11, accessed December 26, 2011, Published by the

Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is a non-profit educational organization, dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, on March 2, 1897. , TSHA moved their offices from Austin to the University of N ...

. When it was discovered that another Texas town was already named Stringer, the name had to be changed. Some residents wanted to name the town “

Granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

,” but the final designation became Barwise, named after Judge Joseph Hodson Barwise of

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

. As the story goes, Judge Barwise, who served as the Assistant General Attorney for the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company from 1902–1906 and later became a member of the board of directors, was the first person off the train to register at the local hotel. Barwise was never very large. Originally the town covered several city blocks and by the 1930s it had a hotel, a general store, a fertilizer dealer, a fueling station, a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

, and two

grain elevator A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...

s. By the 1940s, the population was only 25 and the 1986–87

Texas Almanac The Texas Almanac is a biennially published reference work providing information for the general public on the history of the US state of Texas and its people, government and politics, economics, natural resources, holidays, culture, education, rec ...

listed a population of only 30. The 1990 population was still reported as 30, but in 2000 it dropped to 16. With improvements in state highways and the paving of many of the

farm to market roads In the United States, a farm-to-market road or ranch-to-market road (sometimes farm road or ranch road for short) is a state highway or county road that connects rural or agricultural areas to market towns. These are better quality roads, usually ...

across

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...

, railroads became less important for shipping agricultural products and for general passenger travel. Farm to Market Road 784 reached Barwise in the late 1950s providing additional transportation opportunities.

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

, which last owned and operated the former Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway, abandoned the tracks in 1989.William C. Billingsley, "Fort Worth and Denver Railway," Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqf03, accessed December 26, 2011, Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Today, the Barwise grain elevator and cotton gin have no rail service.

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* {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Floyd County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas

See also

References

External links