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.
See also
*Becton, Texas
Becton is an unincorporated community in northeast Lubbock County, about northeast of Lubbock, Texas. This small rural community lies on the high plains of the Llano Estacado in West Texas.
Becton began as a ranching community and was original ...
*Estacado, Texas
Estacado is a ghost town in Crosby and Lubbock Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Located along Farm to Market Road 1527, it was established in 1879 as a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) colony by Paris Cox and originally named Maryetta aft ...
*Heckville, Texas
Heckville is an unincorporated community located on the high plains of the Llano Estacado about northeast of Lubbock or north of Idalou in northeastern Lubbock County, Texas. This small town was named after Henry Heck, who built a cotton gin t ...
*Blanco Canyon
Blanco Canyon is a canyon located in the U.S. state of Texas. Eroded by the White River into the Caprock Escarpment on the east side of the Llano Estacado, the canyon runs for in a southeasterly direction, gradually widening from its beginning ...
*Mount Blanco
Mount Blanco is a small white hill — an erosional remnant — located on the eastern border of the Llano Estacado within Blanco Canyon in Crosby County, Texas. With Blanco Canyon, it is the type locality of the Blanco Formation of Texas and Kans ...
*White River (Texas)
The White River is an intermittent stream in the South Plains of Texas and a tributary of the Brazos River of the United States. It rises west of Floydada in southwestern Floyd County at the confluence of Callahan and Runningwater Draws. From ...
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Floyd County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas