Lefors ( ) is a town in
Gray County, Texas
Gray County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,227. The county seat is Pampa. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1902. Gray County is named for Peter W. Gray, a C ...
, United States. It is part of the
Pampa, Texas
Pampa (from the Quechua: ''pampa'', meaning "plain") is a city in Gray County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,867 as of the 2020 census. Pampa is the county seat of Gray County and is the principal city of the Pampa micropolita ...
micropolitan statistical area. Its population was 420 at the
2020 census.
History
The area around modern Lefors was near the heart of
Comancheria
The Comancheria (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land'; Spanish: ''Comanchería''), also known as the Comancherian Empire, was a historic region covering modern New Mexico, West Texas, and nearby areas that was occupied by the Comanch ...
and a common village site for the nomadic tribes of
Comanche
The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...
.
Randolph Marcy's 1852 expedition passed this way. The
Battle of the North Fork of the Red River, between the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
under the command of
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie and the Comanche, was fought near here on September 29, 1872. Cheyenne chief
Grey Beard's band was attacked near here in 1874 by the U.S. Army.
Lefors was founded in 1888 by Travis Leach, Perry LeFors, Henry Thut, and Henry B. Lovett. The town was named for Perry LeFors, who traveled with his father to the Panhandle in 1878 and later became foreman of the Diamond F Ranch, a part of the Francklyn Land and Cattle Company, which became insolvent in 1886 and became the White Deer Lands Trust Company, of which
Timothy Dwight Hobart
Timothy Dwight Hobart (October 6, 1855 – May 19, 1935) was an American businessman, best known as the manager of the JA Ranch. He was also mayor of Pampa, Texas.Lester Fields Sheffy, ''The Life and Times of Timothy Dwight Hobart, 1855-1935: Colo ...
was the agent.
In 1882, the first homestead on the future townsite was laid by Travis Leach, a rancher and surveyor, whose
log cabin
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...
served as a stagecoach stop on the mail route from
Fort Elliott and
Mobeetie to
Tascosa
Tascosa, sometimes called Old Tascosa, is the former capital of 10 counties in the Texas Panhandle. The town emerged briefly in the 1880s as an economic rival of Dodge City, Kansas. Located in Oldham County, northwest of Amarillo, Tascosa is n ...
. Henry B. Lovett, a former buffalo hunter, and Henry Thut, a Swiss immigrant whose sister-in-law, Emma Lang, married LeFors, also settled in the vicinity during the 1880s. George Henry Saunders had a ranch camp headquarters nearby.
Other settlers soon moved into the area, and in 1892, a post office was opened at Lefors with Thut as postmaster. (Postal officials required that the F be lower-cased.) Four years later, a combination school and church building was built. When Gray County was organized on May 27, 1902, Lefors was named the county seat. A two-story frame courthouse was built for less than $2,500, and Thut, who became the first county treasurer, erected a hotel. Perry LeFors served as the town's first constable. The population reached 150 in 1910, and despite its small size and the lack of a railroad, the town managed for a time to remain the county seat.
When the oil boom hit the county during the 1920s, three oil pools were discovered in the vicinity. Lefors profited from the boom, especially in real estate; the boom resulted in the establishment of an independent school district and the bringing of electricity and other modern utilities to the town.
By 1931, Lefors had incorporated, and in 1932, the town finally obtained a railroad, when the
Fort Worth and Denver extended its line from Pampa. The population increased to 809 by 1940. Several
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
denominations established churches in the community.
Eight people died when an early spring snowstorm stranded about 100 people in around 55 automobiles on the road between Pampa and Lefors on April 7–8, 1938. After between 10 and 12 inches of snow fell in the Panhandle, with 50-mile-an-hour winds creating drifts 5-25 tall, men with farm tractors and heavy oilfield equipment had to come to the rescue of the snowed-in travelers, which included two school buses rescued by the army.
The town suffered a flood in 1961, unemployment from the closure of several area
carbon black
Carbon black (with subtypes acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of coal tar, vegetable matter, or petroleum products, including fuel oil, fluid cataly ...
plants in 1964, and a tornado in 1975.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of , all land.
Lefors is on the North Fork of the Red River and State Highway 273, 12 miles southeast of Pampa in central Gray County.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2020, 420 people were residing in Lefors, which had 231 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 95.17% White, 0.4% African American, 1.6% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 4.03% of the population.
Of the 231 households, 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.0% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were not families. About 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42, and the average family size was 3.05.
In the town, the age distribution was27.2% under 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $47,833, and for a family was $38,594. Males had a median income of $28,611 versus $21,071 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $13,165. About 8.3% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The Town of Lefors is served by the
Lefors Independent School District. The school serves all children prekindergarten through grade 12. A school bond was passed to renovate the auditorium and old gymnasium. Two previous bonds were passed to renovate the secondary building and the track. The Lefors Pirates and the Lefors Bandits, the middle school team, play six-man football on the newly refurbished grounds during the fall. Lefors ISD offers football, tennis, golf, basketball, cross country, and track and field through its athletic department, as well as academic UIL.
The school is in the process of bringing more technology to the students, and has recently reached a one-to-one ratio of students to laptops in the secondary building. The elementary-school children also have access to tablets.
Lefors ISD typically enrolls about 170 students per school year, with many of them transfer students from Pampa.
Climate
According to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
, Lefors has a
semiarid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...
, ''BSk'' on climate maps.
Climate Summary for Lefors, Texas
/ref>
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Towns in Gray County, Texas
Towns in Texas
Pampa, Texas micropolitan area